posted on 2005-03-27 16:07:57
New child porn law applies to cartoon and could send previously convicted individual back for life [Updated 3/27 @ 9:20pm EST]
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A convicted sex offender, who pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography in 1999 and is due to be released from prison on April 1st, could spend the rest of his life in prison for downloading anime that depicted children having sex. According to a report on Richmond based WRIC channel 8 News, the man downloaded at least 20 images of anime pornography involving children being forced to have sex. The images were downloaded on a computer at the Virginia Employment Commission.
Provisions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA), a 1996 law that banned virtual child pornography, were thrown out by the US Supreme Court in 2002 on freedom of speech grounds. However WRIC reports that this individual is the first to be charged under "a new child pornography law that can apply to cartoons." The report did not specify whether this was a federal or state law, however the US Attorney's Office was cited as being involved. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
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[Update @ 9:20pm EST]
Additional information concerning this case suggests that the individual was originally convicted on federal charges of receiving child pornography. As a part of his parole, he was prohibited from viewing any pornographic material. As such, the case against this man appears to be due to a parole violation, not a "new child pornography law", as the original article suggested. ANN will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Thanks to Mikhail Koulikov for the additional link. -C