Child pornography can be any content that depicts a child in an inappropriate and sexual manner. A wide spectrum of child porn exists, but all of it is illegal.

18 U.S.C. § 2252A is the federal law that speaks to this crime. According to the text of the statute, it is criminal to knowingly possess, distribute, or receive child pornography. Penalties upon conviction include fines and imprisonment of at least ten or fifteen years at minimum. Sentences can be as high as forty years behind bars.

Crimes of this nature are extremely serious and are often prosecuted in federal court. New Yorkers will usually find themselves in a local federal district court here.

All child pornography offenses are culpable, but sentencing laws are currently a subject of controversy because there are generally no distinctions allowed in law for the specific type of crime committed.
For example, a teenager who texts a sexually explicit photograph of himself to a friend or girlfriend is still legally guilty of distributing child porn. Many would argue that this act should not carry the same consequences as the distribution of more “hard-core” porn.

As another example, someone who downloads child porn from a file sharing network and then leaves it in a shared file folder without disabling the sharing feature could also be legally guilty of child porn distribution.Supporters of the stringent laws argue that no child pornography offense is a victimless crime: in all situations, a minor was placed in an inappropriate and harmful context. Downloading or otherwise acquiring or distributing the content further promotes the industry and encourages additional abuse.

Prosecution and conviction rates in this area have increased in recent years; prosecutors are more aggressive than ever in combating this crime. If you have committed any offense related to child pornography, you are now more likely than ever to be caught.

However, since sentencing guidelines have become so controversial, you could successfully respond to charges by retaining a skilled defense attorney to marshal evidence and arguments on your behalf.In several cases, a deviant infatuation with child porn indicates a need for therapeutic intervention, not criminal penalties. Your attorney could fight to ensure that you receive the help you need instead of a protracted prison term that could inflict further damage.

In other cases, such as that of the teen and his inappropriate text, your attorney could rely on experts in the field who stridently oppose a strict reading of the current laws. Lawmakers could not have intended to put this boy behind bars for ten years and a good attorney could guard against that possibility.

Child pornography is one of the most serious offenses in our modern world. The impact on the victims is devastating and often lifelong, and so the criminal penalties are severe. The best option for evading legal consequences is clearly avoiding all associations with this type of content. If you do have a regrettable incident in your past, you can begin to change your life around by seeking legal counsel. Call our Long Island federal criminal lawyers at (516) 204- 7611 for a confidential review of your case.