When people hear the phrase child pornography, they tend to think about some old man shifting through naked pictures of children in a dark private room. Although, yes, that image is still very reflective of someone who is a pervert, child pornography is way more accessible than it ever was. The reason for this accessibility is because teenagers today are freely taking sexually explicit pictures of themselves and sending them to each other. Today we call this sexting. It sounds harmless and more like a tease, but it is actually child pornography.
Today we have access to cameras just by swiping or tapping an app on our phones. We have been a culture obsessed with taking pictures, posting pictures, liking pictures, etc. There are whole sites dedicated to just posting pictures like Instagram. Technology has turned us all into these micro-documentarians who want to document all the things in our life. Yet, we fail to tell our children what is appropriate and not appropriate.
Just because you are a 15 year old looking at other 15-year-old images, does not make it not child pornography. What’s worse is that with the cell phones lasting longer and being more pervasive, we have teenagers who are using the same cell phone and keeping it for many years. This means any sexting that happened when you were a minor at 17 is still on your phone as an adult at 18. When you are a minor the penalties you face are different than when you are an adult. The penalties are more severe when you are an adult facing punishment for child pornography.
As a minor you may face time in juvenile hall, confiscation of technological devices, suspension or expulsion from school, loss of academic opportunities, loss of athletic opportunities, loss of higher education opportunities, loss of a job, and court-required community service or counseling. As a minor, you are facing some serious obstacles that will not only delay your future but completely change the course of your future.
For an adult, your charges are real jail time, heavy fines, curfews, restraining orders from interacting with any minors, and the worst which is having to register on the sex offenders registry. The California courts have no leeway. Any image of a minor is an image of a child regardless of the intended audience. Even if that image was from high school and you just forgot.
If you have been charged with Child Pornography then you are not alone. Our San Francisco child pornography defense attorney is here to help guide you through this situation. We are here to correct the wrongs and ensure that the justice you receive is reflective of your individual situation. We are not here to judge you. We understand that not everyone is perfect and sometimes we discover ourselves in situations that we never thought fathomable. Call 310-543-7708 or click here to start a discussion with our highly reputable Child Pornography Defense Attorneys today.
