LAS VEGAS CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ATTORNEY
The repercussions of being accused of criminal charges related to child porn can be devastating and can place an individual in a compromised position in which his or her reputation may be irreversibly destroyed. Despite the overwhelming nature of these charges, an accused individual can take active steps to reduce the impact these charges may have on his or her life and career.
Because even allegations connecting an individual to child porn can lead to a permanently ruined reputation and can get that individual fired from a job or expelled from a community, it is very important to defend yourself immediately at the first signs of accusation. If you are accused of charges related to child pornography, speak with us before the situation gets out of hand.
Penalties for Crimes Involving Child Pornography
Child pornography charges can be brought against you for the production, advertisement, or possession of any form of pornography involving minors under the legal age of 18.
These are felony charges that carry severe penalties:
- Using Or Promoting The Use Of Children In Pornography—Even With No Intent To Distribute It—Is Punishable By Life In Prison And A Fine Of Up To $100,000.
- Advertising Child Porn Can Result In 15 Years In Prison And Fines Up To $15,000.
- Possessing Child Pornography Can Carry Fines Up To $5,000.
A first offense can result in a prison sentence of up to 6 years, while subsequent offenses can increase the sentence up to life imprisonment. Convicted individuals are also required to register as sex offenders—often for the rest of their life. It is thus vital you obtain the help of a skilled defense attorney if you are facing any of these charges or are under investigation.
Child Pornography Can Be a Federal Crime
The federal government is actively involved in sting operations to locate and prosecute individuals suspected of trafficking child pornography. This includes regularly monitoring the Internet looking for child pornography offenders. Child pornography is considered any image of a child engaging in a sexual act. The violation of federal laws prohibiting the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, and/or transportation of child pornography is punishable by a minimum of 5 years in prison.
Additional penalties can include the following:
- Monetary Fines
- Asset Forfeiture
- Mandatory Sex Offender Registration
A person found guilty of violating federal child pornography laws who also has prior pornography or sexual abuse convictions involving a minor could be facing a minimum of 15 years in prison.
Child Porn Offenses Involving Internet Chat Rooms
One particular danger of the Internet is that it allows individuals to operate anonymously under assumed identities. In chat rooms specifically, this anonymity can be particularly dangerous as it gives individuals a false sense of security. It is very easy to think that what you say in a chat room does not have any consequences or has no relation to reality. An individual may say something in a chat room they would not normally say outside of the Internet.
With this in mind, if you stand accused of criminal charges as the result of something you said in a chat room, it is very important to speak to a lawyer immediately. In many cases involving chat rooms, the accused individual may not have actually done anything wrong. On the other hand, authorities may have employed unfair techniques to entrap an otherwise innocent individual.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Sharing
Peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing is a popular method of sharing data on the internet. Members of a peer-to-peer network act as servers to each other with each member able to access files from another with no intermediary server. The United States Department of Justice has identified P2P as a way that child pornography files are being stored and shared between computer users. In an August 19, 2008 press release, the DOJ announced that after an 8-month investigation in coordination with local police it had arrested 52 individuals for using P2P to exchange child porn.
Okabe & Haushalter: Defending Your Rights
At Okabe & Haushalter, we can aggressively defend your rights throughout every phase and aspect of your case. Our firm will take immediate action to investigate the facts of the case and pursue potential evidence in order to build a strong defense strategy. We will review the evidence of the prosecution as to its validity, admissibility, and potential impact on how we address your defense. There are certain defenses that may be built on in the attempt to protect your freedom.
First, a lack of intent undermines child pornography charges; for example, you may have received child pornography without having ordered or requested it. There is also the question of the material itself and whether it in fact has literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, rather than comprising pornography. These factors may help you escape prosecution or conviction.
Do not hesitate to contact a Las Vegas child pornography attorney for help attempting to avoid the severe penalties of a conviction. We can help you protect your legal rights!
Former Prosecutors Now Defending You
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.
Penalty Enhancements in Child Pornography Cases
- Penetration Enhancement: If The Porn You Possessed Involved Images Of Children Being Sexually Penetrated, You Can Face Enhanced Charges. Enhancements Can Translate Into Worse Penalties Such As Extended Jail Time, Fines, And Sex Offender Registration.
- Prepubescent Enhancement: If The Material That You Were In Possession Of Includes Depictions Of Children That Appear To Be Prepubescent In Age (Meaning They Haven’t Gone Through Puberty), This Can Enhance Your Charge With Worse Penalties. Images That Depict Prepubescent Children Are Considered To Be Worse And Can Create Penalty Enhancements.
- Quantity Enhancement: Quantity Enhancement Means You Had In Your Possession A Larger Than Normal Quantity Of Pornographic Images Depicting Children In Sexually Lewd Or Explicit Acts. Having Such A Large Quantity Of Illegal Pornographic Material May Suggest To Law Enforcement That You Had Intentions To Sell Or Distribute The Material.
About Peer-to-Peer Sharing (P2P)
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.
Defending Your Rights & Reputation
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 Las Vegas child pornography lawyer at our firm for aggressive help.