N.C. Court Upholds Child Porn Conviction

Story

N.C. Court Upholds Child Porn Conviction

Special Report - November 19, 2007
The North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of a man for possession of child pornography on his computer. According to the opinion filed on November 6th, the defendant's girlfriend sent an email to the FBI accusing the Defendants of possessing child pornography, which led to the State Bureau of Investigation obtaining a search warrant and searching the man’s house and seizing his computer. He was convicted of nine counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and sentenced to 60 days imprisonment, intensive supervision for six months, and 36 months of supervised probation.

The Court of Appeals found that the warrant was issued properly. The issuance of the search warrant was based on several factors, including the man's criminal record that included sexual crimes. The Court also held that the conviction did not require “knowing possession” of child pornography. All that was required is that the Defendant was aware of the character or content of the materials and that he was in possession of them. Having the images on his computer was enough to show possession.

“It is important for people in North Carolina to realize that child pornography is against the law,” said North Carolina Family Policy Attorney Tami Fitzgerald. “Images viewed or stored on a person’s personal computer are all the evidence that is needed to be convicted.”