• 22
  • July
    2011

Few areas of law are as sensitive as sex crimes involving minors. These offenses often carry harsh sentences in addition to a stigma that can haunt convicted offenders, guilty or innocent, for life.

Child pornography is considered to be any image or material that depicts a person under the age of 18 years engaged in or simulating an act of sexual conduct. While charges can be brought at the state or federal level, most child pornography crimes related to the internet are charged as federal crimes. Federal law prohibits:

•· Possessing this material

•· Distributing or exchanging it

•· Employing children to participate in it

•· Advertising it

•· Developing, duplicating or printing it

Federal charges for distribution or advertising child pornography are punishable by five to 20 years in federal prison, while federal charges for possession can result in a fine and/or up to ten years in prison. As with state charges, these sentences increase with prior convictions or multiple crimes.

It is a federal crime to possess, receive, distribute or produce child pornography in a way that affects interstate or foreign commerce. Federal charges may be brought if an image, or even the materials used to produce it, has been transported across state lines or via U.S. mail.

Federal lawmakers have taken advantage of the Internet's complexity to claim jurisdiction for nearly all charges involving online child pornography. It is a federal crime to email this material to someone in a different state or even over a server in a different state.

These charges can turn your world upside-down but they don't have to mark you for life. If you have been charged with a crime involving child pornography, contact an experienced defense attorney.