Criminal Liability for File Sharing Involving Child Pornography
Most of the legal discussion surrounding peer-to-peer file sharing has focused on copyright infringment, but there are also significant legal issues regarding the acquisition of pornographic images.
December 17, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Criminal Liability for File Sharing Involving Child Pornography
Article provided by Shazam Kianpour & Associates, P.C.
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Upon the release of peer-to-peer file sharing technology in the late 90s, users were granted unprecedented access to music, images and videos. Whereas an individual formerly had to purchase music and movies through brick-and-mortar retail establishments, now a large group of consumers had wholesale access to thousands of media files on the Web and all of it was freely available (albeit illegally).
Initially, music files received the most attention; record labels were unhappy about the distribution of their property, and took a variety of very public actions to prevent peer-to-peer file sharing networks from flourishing. However, people have used these networks to share other types of material as well, including child pornography.
The recent Colorado Court of Appeals case of People v. Mantos focused on the acquisition and distribution of child pornography through one such peer-to-peer file sharing program, Kazaa. At trial, defendant John Louis Mantos was convicted of the felony offense of sexual exploitation of a child, a conviction stemming from the fact that he had downloaded and saved sexually exploitative material in a share-capable computer. On appeal, the court held that these actions alone were insufficient to support his conviction for this crime.
The Trial Court Found Mantos Guilty of A Felony Offense
In December 2004, John Louis Mantos' stepdaughter discovered child pornography on Mantos' computer while using Kazaa to download music. She reported her discovery to a coworker, who in turn contacted the police. On July 18, 2005, the police confiscated Mantos' computer for a forensic examination.
Mantos was charged with a felony for possession with intent to distribute sexually exploitative material and a felony for sexual exploitation of a child, as well as 151 misdemeanor counts of possession of sexually exploitative material.
At trial, he was acquitted of possession with intent to distribute sexually exploitative material, but found guilty of sexual exploitation of a child and the misdemeanor possession counts.
People v. Mantos: The Court of Appeals Reverses The Felony Conviction
On appeal, Mantos only challenged his felony conviction for sexual exploitation of a child. Under the relevant statute, it is a felony to have "prepared, arranged for, published, produced, promoted, made, sold, financed, offered, exhibited, advertised, dealt in, or distributed any sexually exploitative material."
At trial, the prosecution successfully argued that Mantos had "prepared" the sexually exploitative material by virtue of saving it within a file sharing program and allowing the images to sit in a place where they potentially could be shared. Mantos argued that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; the Colorado Court of Appeals agreed.
As with any criminal case, the outcome was highly dependent upon the factual details of the case. Kazaa, the program Mantos was using, allowed participants to anonymously download and save music, image and video files through each other's My Shared folders. If an individual set his or her My Shared folder to "share," files contained in the folder were generally available to all participants. If instead the folder was set to "not share," the files were not accessible to others.
At the time Mantos' computer was examined, the My Shared folder was set to "not share." It was impossible to know whether Mantos had ever set his My Shared folder to anything but "not share." Thus, other Kazaa users could not access his files.
Because the prosecution could not demonstrate that Mantos had shared the files and there was also no evidence to suggest that he was somehow responsible for the creation of these images, his conviction under this statute was contingent upon the prosecution demonstrating that he had "prepared" sexually exploitative material. The Court of Appeals rejected the argument that using Kazaa to access the files constituted preparing sexually exploitative material within the plain meaning of the word. Accordingly, Mantos was acquitted of the felony count.
The reversal of the felony conviction is the appropriate outcome; Mantos had not prepared or distributed the images and the felony conviction was unsupportable. However, if Mantos had simply accepted his conviction at the trial level, he would be left facing harsh penalties for a crime he clearly had not committed. For anyone accused of crimes related to child pornography, or even simply under investigation for these crimes, the advice of a skilled criminal defense attorney can prove invaluable.
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