child pornography, lack of jail time

Many are shocked at a criminal sentence which seems incredibly light for charges of child pornography, with no jail time at all given to the 20 year old defendant. The two defendants in the case and the victim are all unnamed in the media due to a publication ban which forbids the media from identifying the individuals. The man sentenced was under 18 years old when the crime occurred, and his case was handled by the juvenile court so his identity is protected. The case centered around the male taking pictures of a friend who was engaged in sex with a minor. In the photo the girl is seen vomiting out of a window, and the friend is engaged in a sex act with the female while giving the camera a thumbs up.

The child pornography case became high profile, especially after the female in the picture committed suicide due to being bullied when the photo was circulated among her friends and peers. The age of the victim when she killed herself was just 18 years old. Defense attorneys requested that the impact statements from family members of the victim be disregarded because the family blamed the defendant for the suicide of the girl, and pointed out that the defendant was not charged with this. The judge responded “Are you seriously trying to say that you don’t want this court to consider what happened to (the victim) after this photo was taken? The defendant received no jail time, just 12 months of probation and a sexual harassment class in order to keep the conviction from staying on his record.