California has some of the strictest child pornography laws in the country. These laws punish those who produce, possess, transport, distribute, or sell pornographic materials showing or involving minors under 18 years of age.
Being accused of possessing, producing, or distributing child pornography is a serious crime in Palo Alto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and elsewhere in California, which means you need a Los Angeles child pornography defense attorney by your side in order to protect your reputation, dignity, and freedom.
We invited our skilled child pornography defense lawyer from the Okabe & Haushalter law firm to provide you with a comprehensive guide to child pornography laws in California and ways to defend yourself if you are being accused of distribution or possession of child porn.
This a very common question asked by people in Palo Alto and all across California. Contrary to popular belief, California law does not criminalize viewing child pornography materials.
Rather, California laws prohibit the possession, production, transport, distribution, and sale of pornographic materials that involve or show minors.
You do not necessarily need to have DVDs or other physical media containing child pornography to be charged with possession or control of pornographic materials involving or depicting underage girls or boys.
All you need to get into trouble with the law is to download or save child pornography to your personal computer or phone. While this qualifies as possession of child pornography in Palo Alto and elsewhere in California, sharing, emailing, or otherwise sending copies of this type of material is considered “distribution” of child pornography under California laws.
Many people who have been accused of distribution or possession of child pornography tend to think that they cannot avoid punishment and consequences for these offenses. But that is not the case, say our best child pornography defense attorneys in California
In order to hold you responsible for the production, possession, or distribution of child pornography, the prosecutor must establish that you “knowingly” participated in these crimes. Meaning: the prosecutor needs to demonstrate evidence that you deliberately and willfully possessed or distributed pornography-created content involving or showing minors or were aware that the content was classified as “child pornography” under California law.
Both possession and distribution of child pornography are punishable by law, and the potential penalties, fines, and prison sentences depend on the specific crime you are being accused of committing.
If convicted of possession of child pornography as a felony offense, you will be registered through the Sex Offender Registration Act. The penalties include a fine of up to $2,500 and/or prison sentence in the county jail for up to 12 months.
If convicted of distributing child pornography, you may face a fine of up to $2,000 and/or sentence of up to 12 months in county jail or state prison. If you have a previous conviction on a similar charge and you have been caught again, you may be ordered to pay up to $50,000 as a fine.
If you cannot entirely escape punishment for distributing or possessing pornography-related materials containing minors, you may be able to reduce the severity of the offense, and therefore mitigate the penalties.
Our Los Angeles child pornography defense attorney at the Okabe & Haushalter law firm explains that there are three most common defenses in child pornography cases in California:
Only a skilled criminal defense attorney in California can come up with a viable defense plan in your particular case. Do not risk your freedom and reputation – take action now. Contact the Okabe & Haushalter law firm for a free case evaluation. Call at 310-543-7708 or complete this contact form.
