18 Year Old With Child Pornography
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Massachusetts
I am currently 19 years old, but I was charged with my crime when I was 18 years old. I had downloaded 14 videos of underage girls from limewire very shortly after I turned 18, and the state police came to my house and served a warrant shortly thereafter. I figured if I cooperated I would be let off easy so I told them exactly what I did and how I got it, so there is no doubt in the courts mind that it was me who downloaded and possessed the child pornography.
I have gone to my first court appearance (not trial) and was told I was being charged with possession and dissemination of child pornography (because I downloaded from a peer 2 peer network). I have never been in trouble in my life and have a great resume as far as community service goes, and the DA has been working around my college schedule which I was told is a good thing. This charge carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in state prison in Massachusetts. I was wondering if anyone could tell me the likelihood of me being sent to jail in light of the fact that I am a great community servant, college student, and that I hold a steady job. I'm extremely scared and worried and no one has given me idea of what may happen or the possibilities. I already have an attorney as well. My pretrial is this summer.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
When you hear the words "mandatory minimum", that is the sentence you should plan on getting.
Your only hope is that your lawyer can plead you done to a different charge.
Other than that, your college schedule is the very least of your worries.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
My lawyer is a known prosecutor of people in my situation and dealt with a case involving "The Kid's Place" child porn ring. He has very optimistic things to say and plans on trying to get me pretrial probation. Considering the my age and the age of the girls (who were all 16 and 17) and the fact that I just wanted to see girls my own age I was also trying to be optimistic. I'm hoping all the facts of my case set forth a positive image about me. The mandatory minimum is just what the law says I guess. I'm asking what the odds of the court being lenient with me are.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
You are not hearing me.
If convicted of a crime with a mandatory minimum sentence, the most leniency a judge can give you is that minimum... in this case, 10 years in a state prison.
Your only hope is to either prove yourself innocent of this charge (not likely in your case since you went ahead and confessed) or to plea bargain down to another charge that doesn't carry this mandatory sentence.
However, you are lucky enough to have been caught with child pornography during an election year.
Oh, and I would go ahead and forget about the "just wanted to see girls my own age" defense in court. Judges don't really care WHY you wanted to see child pornography and this would, once again, act as an admission of guilt... that you were actively LOOKING for pictures of children and didn't just stumble across them.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Why does the election year matter?
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Quote:
Quoting
LukeSM
Why does the election year matter?
Because no one wants to be seen as lenient on child pornographers during their reelection campaign.
Not the DA, not the judge... so you have an uphill battle.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Well I really don't see how that makes me "lucky." So either you made a typo or you are being sarcastic which I don't appreciate given the gravity of my situation. I came to these forums for help.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Cy is right on target - the word "mandatory" doesn't have as part of it's definition words like "almost", "part of", "a little bit" or anything similar. If the sentencing for a crime says MANDATORY, that's what it means. It's not up to the judge to be nice, or lenient, or take into considerating that you are a Knight of the Round Table, or how many times you've helped little old ladies get across the street, or that you're on the verge of discovering a cure for cancer. If you are convicted, you are looking at 10 years - MANDATORY. The factors you mention MIGHT mean that you get the minimum possible, but BY LAW it cannot be LESS than the MANDATORY minimum. Period.
Note too that your INTENT in committing the crime is irrelevent - the crime is the possession - NOT the reason. Even in states with a "Romeo clause" for statutory rape, like here in Florida, possession of sexually explicit materials that include images of minors will land you in jail - even if actually having SEX with a person of the same age won't.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Quote:
Quoting
LukeSM
The mandatory minimum is just what the law says I guess. I'm asking what the odds of the court being lenient with me are.
You need to consult your attorney OR sort through the sentencing guidelines for your state, and of course controlling case law.
When we talk about minimum/maximum it can be a determinant sentence or an indeterminate sentence, consecutive or concurrent, if convited of more than one crime.
There is a federal law, Truth in sentencing act, I believe, where if the state wanted federal aid to help build/maintain prisons, they needed to mandate a prisoner serve at least 75% of thier sentence. Only Certain crimes are applicable.
It may not even apply in your state.
Sometimes sentencing guildelines are not as clear as they should be I suppose??
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
This is a variation of the "yes, I know my son burned down a retirement home, but he is really a good kid" defense.
When arrested, Al Capone's mother was quoted as saying that Al was really a "good boy".
Some crimes, like child pornography trafficing, are considered so heinous that your other positives are ignored.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Ya know, when the timing of certain things dovetail some arguments so perfectly, you just have to wonder...
From our friends at the smoking gun... http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...1myspace1.html
Quote:
MAY 21--Meet Alex Phillips. The Wisconsin teenager is facing felony child pornography charges for allegedly posting naked photos of his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend on his MySpace page. When contacted by police about the two images, Phillips, 17, balked at removing the pictures of the girl. Warned that he could face jail for publishing images of the minor, Phillips told an investigator, "**** that, I am keeping them up," according to a criminal complaint filed yesterday in Lacrosse County Circuit Court. Phillips, pictured in the below mug shot, told cops that he posted the photos last week "because he was venting." The cell phone camera photos had been taken by the girl, who provided them to Phillips. Along with posting the photos, Phillips added explicit captions. While claiming that his goal was not to harm the girl, Phillips acknowledged that, "he probably should not have done this," according to the May 20 court filing. Along with the child porn count, Phillips was charged with defamation and sexual exploitation of a child. (3 pages)
Gotta love it when teenagers believe that their needs are worth any price to be paid... and then they see the price tag...
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Quote:
Considering the my age and the age of the girls (who were all 16 and 17) and the fact that I just wanted to see girls my own age I was also trying to be optimistic.
This may fly if the videos were marked in a way that noted all actors were 18 or over. Then that would definitely be girls your own age AND it would be just plain ol pornography. But the matter of the fact is that these girls ARE NOT (in any way shape or form) your age. They WERE NOT 18 or 19. They were 16 and 17 year old KIDS!
From this point on you probably should be prepared to enjoy gay sex and you might want to learn some Muy Thai or MMA and donate time to the gym. ...because you are going to get plenty of gay sex and fighting and gym time.
...after that you are going to have a really hard time finding a job and your great community service working with kids will be thrown out like yesterday's milkshake. Granted, they may actually freeze that milkshake and use it against you.
It sounds like you have the best prosecutor that money can buy; let's hope that your attorney learned enough prosecuting that they make just a good of a defense attorney and can work a deal and delay the case until AFTER the elections.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Possession is such a vague term that providing such a stiff sentence for it can result in unjust consequences. Its too easy for someone to slip an album of baby photos into their rival's bag, and then dob them into the police. I wouldn't be surprised if its already happened before. Even if it is a deterent, the mandatory sentence does not cater for the many accidents that can arise, as is your case.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
re: accidents.
...but if you accidentally downloaded porn that had kids in it, that is one thing.
...but if you purposely downloaded items marked as kiddie porn and the computer hosting them was a honeypot running limewire, and the officers were able to track your IP and subpoena your information from your ISP, and subsequently seize your PC and run Encase on it finding the honepot KP files, you are toast.
Re: 18 Year Old With Child Pornography
Quote:
Quoting
Fencer
Possession is such a vague term that providing such a stiff sentence for it can result in unjust consequences. Its too easy for someone to slip an album of baby photos into their rival's bag, and then dob them into the police. I wouldn't be surprised if its already happened before. Even if it is a deterent, the mandatory sentence does not cater for the many accidents that can arise, as is your case.
This wasn't an accident.
The OP went on the internet looking for child porn and found it.
14 times.
This was not an isolated incident.