The Matlock Law Firm, P.C.
Obscenity/ Pornography Crimes
Obscenity and Pornography crimes can cover a broad range of actions. The most common of these types of crimes generally involve children. With the explosion in the promotion child pornography and other illegal sex crimes comes aggressive prosecution of these crimes by both Federal and State prosecutors.
No matter which court a person finds themselves being prosecuted within, the potential punishments for such a conviction can be devastating. Criminal charges in this area can come from a number of different directions. However, in the current state of prosecutions for child pornography, typically begin with a law enforcement search of homes, computers and electronic storage media in an effort to obtain the illegally possessed items.
If law enforcement attempt to search or gain entry to any of your possessions without a warrant, they would generally need consent. If asked to provide consent, do not. Instead, immediately contact an attorney to assist in your defense. Likewise, if law enforcement conducts a search with a warrant, you need to immediately contact an attorney with experience handling these types of criminal charges.
Federal Obscenity/ Child Pornography Crimes
Obscenity crimes are prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1460 through 1469. The substantive crimes are set forth in sections 1460-1466 and 1468. Section 1467 authorizes criminal forfeiture of the obscene items, the profits or proceeds obtained from the commission of the crimes, and the property used to commit or promote the commission of the obscenity crimes.
Prosecutions involving child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children are initiated under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251 through 2260. The substantive statutes are sections 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A and 2260 and the relevant definitions are set forth in section 2256. Section 2253 authorizes criminal forfeiture, and section 2254 authorizes civil forfeiture, of the items depicting child pornography, the profits or proceeds obtained from the commission of the crimes, and the property used to commit or promote the commission of the crimes. Section 2255 provides a civil remedy for victims and section 2259 provides mandatory restitution to victims. Section 2257 creates record keeping requirements for items depicting sexually explicit conduct and section 2258 creates a misdemeanor crime for failure to report child abuse.
Sexual abuse crimes are prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. §§2241 through 2248. The age of the victim and whether force was used are two important facts that help determine the appropriate statute and punishment. Section 2247 increases the maximum penalties for repeat offenders and section 2248 mandates restitution to the victims.
Crimes involving the transportation of individuals for illegal sexual activities are governed by 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421 through 2423. Section 2424 creates reporting requirements for individuals operating homes or other places for prostitution or related activities. Section 2425 addresses the use of interstate facilities to transmit information about a minor. Section 2426 provides that the maximum term of imprisonment for a violation of a Chapter 117 crime after a prior sex offenses conviction shall be two times the term otherwise specified. Finally, Section 2427 includes the production of child pornography in the definition of "sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense" in travel cases.
Section 1305 of Title 19 prohibits the importation of obscene items and authorizes the seizure and forfeiture of such items. Sections 3008 and 3010 of Title 39 impose requirements on how and to whom sexually oriented advertisements may be mailed. Individuals who violate these requirements may be prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1735 and 1737. Section 223 of Title 47 prohibits, in certain situations, obscene or indecent telephone calls.
The Prosecution of Child Pornography Cases
By the mid-1980's, the trafficking of child pornography within the United States had been almost completely eradicated through a series of campaigns waged by law enforcement. Producing child abuse images was both difficult and expensive, and reproducing images was equally difficult and expensive. Purchasing and trading such images was extremely risky. Anonymous distribution and receipt was not possible.
Producing child abuse images has now become easy and inexpensive. The Internet allows images and digitized movies to be reproduced and disseminated to tens of thousands of individuals at the click of a button. The distribution and receipt of such images can be done almost anonymously. As a result, child pornography is readily available through virtually every Internet technology (web sites, email, instant messaging/ICQ, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), newsgroups/bulletin boards, and peer-to-peer). The technological ease, lack of expense, and anonymity in obtaining and distributing child pornography has resulted in an explosion in the availability, accessibility, and volume of child pornography.
The Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the US Attorney’s Office works with the 93 United States Attorney offices around the country and investigative agencies to vigorously combat this growing criminal enterprise. By maintaining a coordinated, national-level law enforcement focus, including coordinating nationwide and international investigations and prosecutions, CEOS attempts to deter the production, distribution and possession of child pornography by aggressively investigating and prosecuting of these crimes.
The Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces have announced a national law enforcement initiative aimed at combating the growing volume of illegal child pornography distributed through peer-to-peer (P2P) file trafficking computer networks.
The law enforcement operation, which began in the Fall of 2003, has already resulted in the execution of hundreds of searches nationwide, and the identification of thousands of suspect computers used to access the child pornography. The FBI, ICE and the ICACs have opened more than 1,000 domestic investigations into the distribution and possession of child pornography and conducted more than a thousand searches.
Hundreds of individuals have been arrested and charged with crimes to date as a result of this law enforcement effort, with coordination by the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorneys' Offices across the country. These cases have charged not only offenses related to the possession and distribution of child pornography, but also sexual abuse of children. Further, the investigations have identified several individuals who have previously been convicted of sex offenses and several registered sex offenders.
The multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional P2P initiative, combining the resources of federal, state and local law enforcement, is part of an ongoing effort to keep pace with emerging technologies that are being used to commit, facilitate and even hide crimes. Unlike traditional computer networks, which employ the use of a server to exchange files, peer-to-peer networks allow users to connect their computers directly to one another, without the use of a central server. Once a user installs a peer-to-peer software application on his or her computer, he or she can directly access and search the files designated for distribution on any of the computers that are using the network at that moment in time, and then download desired files to his or her computer.
Investigators and agents from the participating agencies used several techniques – including undercover work – to infiltrate the P2P networks and identify those who have distributed and taken possession of child pornography images.
The maximum federal sentence for the distribution of child pornography is 30 years in prison. The PROTECT Act, enacted on April 30, 2003, also created a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for this crime. If an individual committed a prior sex abuse offense, the mandatory minimum is 15 years in prison and the statutory maximum is 40 years.
Federal Obscenity Criminal Defense Attorney/ Federal Child Pornography Defense Lawyer
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