It is illegal to produce, possess, distribute, trade, or sell pornographic materials that feature, exploit, or portray a minor. Child pornography is considered any visual image that depicts a child or minor simulating or actually engaging in the sexually explicit activity. More broadly, it is any visual image that depicts a naked child in a sexually suggestive way or that exposes a child’s genitals.
Examples of pornographic visual image types include:
Every day, alleged offenders across the nation are arrested for a litany of crimes related to the depiction of children in sexual situations. While these crimes are certainly detestable, it is every American’s right to receive a fair trial, because not everyone who is accused is necessarily guilty. A seasoned attorney will have the experience in child pornography defense to help accused clients face their charges with the courage and confidence needed to find success in court.
Convictions associated with child pornography can destroy an individual’s reputation, relationships, career—and, indeed, a person’s entire future. Laws and penalties under California Penal Code § 311 have broadened in the last decade to curtail and punish the use of computer technology and the Internet for the proliferation of child pornography. As a consequence, law enforcement agencies set up “sting” operations to catch allegedly guilty individuals.
Internet pornography sting operations can lead to entrapment, which often plays a part in the arrest and conviction. As a result, an entrapment defense can often be used to fight these types of charges. Even when entrapment by law enforcement has not occurred, individuals can unknowingly download pornographic material due to spam, pop-ups, and Internet viruses. Charges of pornography possession may still be filed regardless of whether or not the downloading was intentional. Entrapment, mistake, and of course, innocence are only a few of the defenses that make any charge related to child pornography worth fighting.
Peer-to-peer sharing is a method of sharing files with other computers over the Internet. When two computers connect to a peer-to-peer website, they can directly share files with one another. In the past, peer-to-peer websites were associated with the illegal downloading of music. More recently, peer-to-peer websites have been cited in child pornography distribution cases.
Child pornography is an area of criminal law where an attorney is absolutely essential if the offender is going to have any chance at freedom or even minimized charges. Our firm has represented many clients in such cases throughout the years. Through our hard work, we have been able to deliver dependable defense strategies backed by investigative research and other information available at the time. Our top concern is seeing the fair treatment of you through your trial, which includes affording our clients the respect of a thoroughly considered and competent defense executed by a skilled attorney. What’s more, we have found consistent success representing the accused in a wide area of criminal cases including child pornography.
Contact a San Francisco child pornography lawyer at our firm for aggressive help.
