by Marc Neff
Appeals Court Tosses Conviction Based On Illegal Child Pornography Investigation
A federal appeals court has recently overturned a man’s conviction and 18 year prison sentence because of an illegal government investigation. The illegal search and investigation stems from a Naval Criminal Investigative agent using a software program to search private computers throughout the State of Washington for child pornography. The Department of Justice justified the search by arguing...
by Marc Neff
When Child Pornography is Not Child Pornography
There has been an increase in crackdowns on alleged child pornography, especially on the Internet. One must consider the ramifications of assigning the label “child pornography” to distasteful, yet perfectly legal, photos, films or digital renderings. Earlier this year, the Huffington Post published a poll concerning 13 year old French model Thylane Loubry Blondeau. Blondeau was in the news...
by Marc Neff
Supreme Court Limits Restitution Payments to Victims of Child Pornography
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea to make it easier for victims of child pornography to collect money from people who view their images online, throwing out a nearly $3.4 million judgment in favor of a woman whose childhood rape has been widely seen on the Internet. The case involved a woman known in court papers by the pseudonym “Amy.” Her losses for psychological...
by Marc Neff
US Supreme Court Struggles with Child Pornography Restitution
Justices at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday grappled with the difficult question of whether a person convicted of downloading and possessing two computer images of child pornography can be forced to pay $3.4 million in restitution to the child-victim depicted in the two illicit images. The justices are examining how judges are to award restitution payments to victims identified in...
by Marc Neff
Pennsylvania seeks to Increase Penalties for Child Pornography Crimes
The Pennsylvania State Senate recently approved a bill to increase the degree of child pornography crimes. The bill was approved in response to the Jerry Sandusky and Catholic clergy molestation scandals that have occurred in Pennsylvania. Under the new bill; producing, disseminating or viewing child pornography would be considered more serious crimes if the material depicts indecent contact...
by Marc Neff
Ninth Circuit: Deleted Computer File Not Enough For Child Porn Conviction
In the recently decided case, U.S. v. Flyer, No. 08-10580 (2-8-11), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined that deletion of an image alone is insufficient evidence to support a conviction for knowing possession of child pornography on or about a certain date under US federal law. In an undercover operation, the FBI had downloaded various files containing child porn through a...
by Marc Neff
Third Circuit Upholds Warrant in Child Pornography Case
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently found that a search warrant in a child pornography case was sufficient, even if not based on a detailed description of the computer hard drive being searched. In US v. Miknevich, 2011 US App. LEXIS 3824 (3d Cir. March 1, 2011), the Court considered whether the affidavit providing the basis for a search warrant in a child pornography case need to...
by Marc Neff
Child Pornography Victim Seeks Restitution From Those Convicted of Possessing her Images
When Amy was a young girl, her Uncle sexually abused her by forcing her to pose for sexually explicit photographs and sharing those photographs with other pedophiles. Her photographs, which became known as “the Misty Series”, were some of the first photographs to ever surface in the internet world of child pornography and remain popular amongst child pornography viewers even today. Amy has...
by Marc Neff
Third Circuit Holds Government Contracted Psychologist May Be Subpoenaed To Testify Favorably For Defendant at Sentencing
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently decided the case of United States v. Olhovsky, ruling that the sentence imposed by the District Court upon the Defendant was unreasonable. Nicolau Olhovsky was sentenced to six years imprisonment after pleading guilty to charges of possessing child pornography. In 2004, an undercover law enforcement officer was investigating an Internet Relay Chat...
by Marc Neff