Tag Archives: Topic: Child Pornography

Catholic Culture: The Diocese of Kansas City, Missouri, has agreed to pay $600,000 to settle a lawsuit stemming from child-pornography charges against a priest of the diocese.

Blog of the Legal Times: The thorny question of how to calculate restitution to victims of child pornography came back before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week, with the U.S. Department of Justice defending a proposed formula.

Cassell, Paul G., Marsh, James and Christiansen, Jeremy M., The Case for Full Restitution for Child Pornography Victims (2013). George Washington Law Review, Forthcoming; University of Utah College of Law Research Paper. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2260479

Findlaw: The appellate court, however, agreed with the First and Tenth Circuits that downloading images and videos containing child pornography from a peer-to-peer computer network and storing them in a shared folder accessible to other users on the network amounts to distribution under federal law. | U.S. v. Richardson IV

U.S. v. Benoit, No. 12-5013 (10th Cir. April 2, 2013)

ULaw Today: Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Amy and Vicky, two child pornography victims, in an appeal brought by the Utah Appellate Clinic. | In re: Amy & Vicky

Reuters: A federal appeals court rebuked a Connecticut judge on Tuesday for allowing his views on Facebook and the growth of child pornography to influence the sentence he handed a woman in a case unrelated to the Internet.

How Appealing reports on the ruling in U.S. v. Fast . . .

Sentencing Law and Policy Blog: Thanks to a helpful reader, I have learned that earlier this week a representative of the US Department of Justice sent a lengthy and detailed letter to the US Sentencing Commission concerning its recent huge child pornography federal sentencing report (basics here and here).

Sentencing Law and Policy Blog: A helpful reader alerted me to a notable ruling by a Sixth Circuit panel today in US v. Gamble, No. 11-5394 (6th Cir. Feb 27, 2013) (available here).  Here is how the majority opinion gets started . . .

Sentencing Law and Policy: I noted in this prior post the must-read opinions from a split Second Circuit panel in US v. Broxmeyer, No. 10-5283 (2d Cir. Aug. 27, 2012) (available here), in which the panel upholded the reasonableness of a 30-year sentence for possession and attempted production of child pornography.

Emily Bazelon at the New York Times: In October, the Fifth Circuit ruled in Amy’s favor, in a 10 to 5 decision. The court also accepted the theory of joint and several liability, finding that this means of allocating shared responsibility can ensure “that Amy receives the full amount of her losses, to the extent possible, while also ensuring that no defendant bears more responsibility than is required for full restitution.”

Pittsburgh Tribune; The legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania said the organization might sue over the filing of “sexting” charges against two Greensburg Salem Middle School students.

U.S. v. Laraneta, No. 12-1302 (7th Cir. Nov. 14, 2012) (Opinion by Posner joined by Williams and Sykes)

The court held that a possessor of child porn images is not jointly liable for the total amount of restitution owed to victims by distributors of such images, because the amount of harm caused by possession is less than that caused by distribution. The Court also held that there is no right of intervention for child porn victims where claims of restitution are denied, but rather the appropriate remedy is to seek mandamus at the court of appeals pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3771(d)(3).

How Appealing links to coverage of the ruling and provides some additional information. | U.S. v. Boland

Washington Times: My stepfather used threats against my mother to gain my complete surrender to him and his pedophile sex trafficking ring.

Blog of the Legal Times: How much restitution is a victim of child pornography entitled to? That’s the tough question before U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington.

Blog of the Legal Times: The technological restraints imposed against Legg, convicted in an online child exploitation sting, are at the center of a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Legg is serving a 30-month prison. His lawyer today urged the appeals court to find that the restrictions go too far.

Appellate Daily: Paul Cassell, a former federal judge, represents child pornography victims in a series of federal appellate cases. In October alone, Cassell notched a win and a loss in two circuit courts and argued in another. The case he won created a circuit split about restitution for victims, which the U.S. Supreme Court will almost certainly be asked to review.

WSBTV.com (includes video): According to records obtained by Channel 2 Action News, Lindsey Boyd was just 14 years old when a picture of her appeared on the cover of the video, which claimed to show “college girls exposed.” Boyd said neither she – nor her parents — gave consent, or even knew.

AP: Child pornography victims can recover money from people convicted of viewing their abuse without having to show a link between the crime and their injuries, a federal appeals court ruled Monday. | In re: Amy Unknown (For the reasons above, we reject the approach of our sister circuits and hold that § 2259 imposes no generalized proximate cause requirement before a child pornography victim may recover restitution from a defendant possessing images of her abuse)

Lorelei Laird at the ABA Journal: Under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, the government must notify Amy and other child pornography victims anytime anyone is arrested by federal authorities for possessing their images. Her attorney, James Marsh of New York City, says his office has received at least 1,500 required notices of federal prosecutions for possession of those images. “The day after we were retained in 2008, we had someone open up all these notices she received in the calendar years 2006 and 2007,” Marsh says. “It took two days just to open the envelopes.” Using the restitution provisions of the Violence Against Women Act, Marsh has begun utilizing the courts to request financial restitution from those convicted of possessing images of Amy’s child sexual abuse.

National Law Journal: A divided federal appellate court has affirmed the 30-year prison sentence given to a former field hockey coach for soliciting pornographic images from a girl he coached and sharing them with another teen girl with whom he sought to have sex. | United States v. Broxmeyer, 10-5283-cr

Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy: When the government seeks to establish probable cause that evidence or contraband is inside a home, it sometimes has to deal with concerns of “staleness.” Staleness refers to the possibility that evidence or contraband previously located in the home is no longer there, because over time evidence can be moved or destroyed. In today’s opinion in United States v. Seiver, Judge Posner argues that concerns over staleness are rarely relevant in cases involving digital evidence. The issue arose in a child pornography case . . .

AP: A Minnesota football coach accused of taking pornographic videos of his children is offering a simple explanation: The images are nothing more than innocent family antics, unfairly misinterpreted by authorities as having the darkest possible motive.

Lori Handrahan at Washington Times: In April, I said the Colombian scandal exposed a national security problem, the epidemic of U.S. government employees viewing porn — child porn — on government networks. I suggested readers type “Transportation Security Administration,” “U.S. State Department,” “Pentagon,” “Immigration and Customs Enforcement” and “child porn” into Google’s search field to understand the scope. I neglected to include “Missile Defense Agency.”

Lollar, Cortney, Child Pornography and the Restitution Revolution (August 3, 2012). Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 2013; Washington University in St. Louis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-08-02. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2123527

Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy: Imagine a defendant in a child pornography case has two computers in his home. Each computer contains twenty images of child pornography. Has the defendant committed one single crime of possessing forty images? Or has he committed two crimes of possessing twenty images each?

PhoenixFamilyLawNews: While Baland’s wife has already told Gilbert Police her side of the story, if she tries to testify at her husband’s trial, Baland could probably stop her. Under Arizona’s marital privilege law, a person cannot testify in a criminal proceeding against his or her spouse without the spouse’s consent.

Reuters: A federal appeals court on Thursday threw out the conviction of a medical researcher because child pornography found in his home was improperly seized by authorities, who had a warrant for a different apartment in the same building. | United States of America v. Voustianiouk, No. 10-4420

Christian Science Monitor: Sexting – often thought of only in a legal context – needs to be considered from a youth perspective in order for parents to more fully protect them from its consequences.

Reuters: A New York man imprisoned for possessing and receiving child pornography cannot argue that he was wrongly convicted because he never stored the images on his computer, a federal appeals court has ruled. In an opinion on Monday, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York considered for the first time whether viewing forbidden images on the Internet constitutes knowingly receiving and possessing them. | U.S. v. Ramos, No. 10-4802-cr

AP: Brazilian police say they have begun breaking up a ring that used Internet file sharing to distribute child pornography in 34 countries.

Reuters: In response to a recent ruling by the state’s high court, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers have agreed to pass legislation that would outlaw the viewing of child pornography.

CNN: Eighteen victims of child pornography were rescued during a nationwide sweep by federal law enforcement agencies, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Friday.

AP: Seven men have been convicted and sentenced on various charges in the case, while two who pleaded guilty are awaiting sentencing, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

LifeSiteNews: Pope Benedict XVI has dismissed former Canadian Bishop Raymond Lahey from the clerical state, meaning he has been stripped of all the rights and duties of a bishop or priest, and is prohibited from dressing in priestly attire. However, he must maintain celibacy. Lahey has accepted the Decree of Dismissal, which also requires him to pray the Liturgy of the Hours . . .

Reuters: The New York State Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to make it a crime to view child pornography on the Internet, as lawmakers rushed to close a loophole opened by a state appeals court just a week earlier.

Washington Times: In the wake of a New York court ruling that says it’s not illegal to “merely” view online child pornography, child advocates are urging Internet-savvy federal prosecutors to take over these kinds of cases as two state lawmakers rush to fix the law.

Morality in Media: In response to the ruling of the New York Court of Appeals yesterday decriminalizing the purposeful viewing of child pornography on the Internet, Patrick Trueman, President of Morality in Media issued the following statement . . .

Reuters: Viewing child pornography on the Internet without taking further action such as printing or saving files does not necessarily constitute possession, NewYork’s top court ruled on Tuesday. | People v. Kent

ULaw Today: The case involves an important issue of whether child pornography victims can recover all of their losses (e.g., psychological counseling and lost income) from one defendant or must apportion their losses out among multiple defendants. | USA v. Amy Unknown, No. 09-41238 (5th Cir.) Opening Brief

AP: On one side of the debate, many federal judges and public defenders say repeated moves by Congress to toughen the penalties over the past 25 years have badly skewed the guidelines, to the point where offenders who possess and distribute child pornography can go to prison for longer than those who actually rape or sexually abuse a child.

Daily Mail: Insecure and desperate for male attention, Becky was just 15 when she began meeting strangers for sex via the internet. Sadly, her story is becoming all too common…

Telegraph: The FBI said putting Toth on the list was the culmination of a lengthy process including surveying its 56 field offices for candidates and approval by top FBI officials.

Findlaw: [Defendant] . . . argued that viewing and search for child pornography doesn’t qualify as receiving the images. The jury disagreed and convicted Sturm on both counts. Sturm appealed. This week, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Sturm’s convictions. | U.S. v. Sturm

Findlaw: What’s an appropriate sentence for a defendant who pleads guilty to possessing over 7,100 images of child pornography? While the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to answer that precise question this week, it ruled that a one-day sentence and a $100 fine landed on the lax side of the child pornography sentence spectrum. | U.S. v. Robinson

How Appealing quotes and links to the AP and the earlier 5th Circuit opinion: A federal appeals court in New Orleans has agreed to rehear two cases in which a victim of child pornography sought restitution from men who viewed sexually explicit photographs of her on the Internet.” | In re: Amy Unknown.

News from The Associated Press: Police arrested 112 people in 22 countries after a yearlong investigation into child pornography, Europol said Friday, warning that technology is making combating the spread of child abuse images ever more difficult.

Christian Legal Fellowship: Last Thursday, the Government of Canada initiative to require mandatory reporting of internet child pornography by internet service providers came into force. Bill C-22 was an EFC-supported measure which received Royal Assent in March. Today, as a result, suppliers of internet services, electronic mail services and social networking sites operating in Canada are required to report any tips or concerns about the presence of child pornography on their service to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

News from The Associated Press: Only 1 percent of kids aged 10 to 17 have shared images of themselves or others that involve explicit nudity, a nationally representative study found

CBC News: Police are warning dozens of Nova Scotia teenagers that sharing nude photos of themselves could lead to criminal charges.

Federal courts have disagreed about how to enforce a law that requires people convicted of possessing child pornography to pay restitution to the victim, even if they didn’t know the victim. But the Supreme Court refused to take up the case Monday.

Carson Holloway at Public Discourse: The Supreme Court has helped to foster a culture that encourages the sexual exploitation of children.

Europa: Child abusers and viewers of child sex images on the web will face tough penalties in the EU, under new rules approved by Parliament on Thursday. The directive will also require EU countries to remove child porn web sites, or, should this prove impossible, allow them to block access to those pages within their territory. Studies suggest that between 10% and 20% of minors in Europe may be sexually assaulted during childhood.

News from The Associated Press: A Swedish court on Tuesday convicted 23 women and one man of child pornography offenses in what investigators called a unique case because of the number of female perpetrators.

KRMG.com: State lawmakers are looking into the possibility that the punishment for a crime may be too harsh.
A state prosecutor says sexting’ among teens is on the rise.

KMBC Kansas City: The complaint specifically alleges that Ratigan, while an employee of the diocese, created child porn involving the plaintiff in the case and many others. When the diocese became aware of Ratigan’s photographs, the diocese and Finn failed to report Ratigan to the police. Instead, they “aided and abetted” Ratigan over a six-month period by covering up his conduct, duplicating and distributing the images he created and collaborating to destroy evidence, the suit alleges.

Monsters and Critics: Proceedings opened Tuesday in a Swedish district court on charges against a man and 23 women over possession and distribution of child pornography.

Sentencing Law and Policy:: The Second Circuit has today issued an important new opinion in the on-going saga concerning whether and how the kids victimized by being featured in illegal child pornography can secure restitution awards from defendants who downloaded these pictures via the internet. The panel opinion in US v. Aumais, No. 10-3160 (2d Cir. Sept. 8, 2011) (available here), gets started this way . . .

Toledo Blade: How long can a computer hard drive be left behind before it is considered abandoned and subject to search by police without a warrant? That was the question before the Ohio Supreme Court Wednesday as it weighed the child rape, child pornography, and other convictions of Dennis Gould, 47 . . . | Hat tip: How Appealing for providing a link to the documents, summary of the case, and video of the arguments.

Patrick A. Trueman at Public Discourse: Ending child pornography is as much a matter of vigorously prosecuting those who distribute adult pornography as it is a matter of prosecuting child pornographers. Presidential candidates should pledge to initiate adult pornography criminal cases and fund research into the adult-child pornography link.

LifeSiteNews.com: Dr. Judith Reisman, a researcher on pedophilia and an expert on the insidious effects of pornography, told LSN that she is unsurprised that such a young man would be involved in child pornography. “Our government leaders allow pornography to pollute our once great nations and act surprised that we are breeding inhuman men, women and children unlike any that have existed before,” she said.

AP: Dutch police say they have uncovered huge caches of child pornography on “hidden” websites, including four based in the United States.

The Christian Institute: The parents of a teenage girl are suing a prominent clothing store in America for selling t-shirts showing a sexually suggestive picture of their daughter. It is the latest development in a series of controversies surrounding the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood.

OneNewsNow.com: Residents of Asheville, North Carolina, are upset about a recent public topless event that is apparently legal. So a movement has been initiated to prevent it from happening again in the future.

Boston.com: The Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled the Sex Offender Registry Board can’t require an individual to register as a “Level 2″ sex offender based solely on a conviction of possessing child pornography.

72 charged in online child porn ring – CBS News: Seventy-two people have been charged–of which 52 were arrested–in an worldwide online child pornography enterprise, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Pole Dancing Class For 7-Year-Olds Slammed: Family campaigners have blasted a British fitness group for teaching pole dancing to girls aged seven — and putting pictures of them on the internet. The photos show youngsters upside down on poles dressed in shorts, crop tops and vests.

LifeSiteNews.com: America’s top pornography opponent is sponsoring a series of webcast events focusing on how pornography harms one of its most forgotten victims: children. Morality in Media’s (MIM) four-week “Be Aware: Porn Harms” National Awareness Campaign enters its second week on July 18th.

CNET News: Law enforcement representatives are planning to endorse a proposed federal law that would require Internet service providers to store logs about their customers for 18 months, CNET has learned.

The Blog of Legal Times: An assistant U.S. attorney spent time daily viewing pornography while on the job, and the prosecutor’s computer contained at least one image of child pornography, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said today, citing information from the U.S. Justice Department’s inspector general.

federal judge has blocked a state law meant to prevent the spread of child pornography, saying it violates the First Amendment and is too broad in its scope.

A Milpitas man who used a computer to paste photos of his 13-year-old daughter’s head onto bodies of women in graphic poses shouldn’t have been convicted of possessing child pornography because the pictures didn’t show minors engaging in sex acts, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

WSJ.com: New York state lawmakers are advancing a bill that would create an “educational reform program” for teenagers who get in trouble for creating and sharing pornographic images of minors.