Child Pornography Defense Attorney

Your activity on your computer while in the privacy of your home can become the basis for a prosecution for child pornography.  Local, State and Federal law enforcement has banded together to form the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force to pool their resources to investigate online activity relating to the possession, receipt, distribution and production of child pornography.

Conviction for possession of child pornography will occur if the evidence proves that an individual has knowingly possessed depictions of a minor under 18 years old engaged in explicit sexual conduct.  Child Pornography prosecutions related to possession of images and videos but also receipt, distribution and production of child pornography.  Conviction for child pornography will involve a wide range of potential jail sentences including harsh mandatory minimum time ranging from 5 years to 25 years.

If you’re facing charges for possession of child pornography, you’ll want to seek out immediate legal representation from an experience child pornography defense attorney at Leary Law‘s office.

If law enforcement is able to establish the identify of the minor in any photos or videos you possess, then establishing that individual’s age is as simple as verifying the individual’s date of birth through official documentation or testimony.  For instance, if you engaged in conversations with an individual known to you and that individual sent you images or videos, then the police simply have to confirm that individual’s birth date.  This can be accomplished by obtaining the individual’s birth certificate or interviewing the individual victim.

When the identity of the individual is not known to you or to the police based upon how you came in to possession of the photos or videos, the police will attempt to verify the identity of the individual by other means.

As law enforcement has expanded its investigation and prosecution of child pornography and internet crimes, a database of known child pornography images has been compiled from these investigations.  Sometimes referred to as photoDNA, known images and videos of child pornography will contain a digital signature, often referred to as  a Hash Value in the meta data of the computer file.  This value contains a series of numbers and letters unique to the image which allow law enforcement to identify potential images of child pornography and track their presence when the images are shared on different internet sights.

Working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the ICAC task force has compiled a database of known images from multiple decades of investigations.  Even if images and videos are shared across multiple platforms, websites or file sharing servers, the images will contain a digital signature which can be traced against the database maintained by NCMEC.  This database is referred to as the National Child Victim Identification Program.  Images are contributed to this program from federal, state and local law enforcement.  Images seized from you as a result of a search warrant and examination of your computer devices can be submitted for analysis against the database to determine if the image is a known image of child pornography.  In some cases, law enforcement has been able to track down the identity of the individual victim portrayed in the image.

A careful examination of the evidence gathered against you in a child pornography case is vital to understanding how to build a defense, which is a part of the reason you should not wait to hire a child pornography defense attorney.  In either of the examples above, a thorough review of the computer evidence utilizing a computer forensic expert is necessary to establish whether law enforcement can connect you to the crime of possession, distribution or receipt of child pornography.

Contact a child pornography defense attorney at Leary Law immediately after any contact with the police.  Many child pornography charges begin as a result of law enforcement tracking a download of illegal images by someone via their internet connection.  The police area able to track the location of the internet connection which will typically direct police to an internet service provider from whom they can determine the street address connected to the internet signal.

Often, law enforcement will receive a tip from an email provider such as Google or Microsoft, or a social media company such as Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook or Apple iCloud that distribution or presence of illegal photos or videos exists on their servers.  These companies will contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with a report of what was identified and in many cases, whose account is involved in the potential illegal activity.  From there, the police are attempting to follow the trail of connecting this information to the individual who controls the account.

Most people think that child pornography charges involve adults manipulating underage children or minors to be in sexually explicit images or videos.  However, the laws associated with child pornography will also punish exchange of videos and photos between minors.

With the improvement of technology, most people have a smart phone which provides a powerful device at the touch of your fingers to be a camera, a video camera, an internet connection, email and social medial access and instantaneous connection with friends, families and strangers.  In addition, the increasingly popular use of messaging and social media apps creates instant connections between minor children and their friends making the sharing of illegal videos and images that much easier.  The power of these devices in the hands of a minor or child can lead to dangerous consequences.  Many people are familiar with guarding against adult predators of children.  However, parents must also be aware that your minor child’ use of a smart phone could also lead to your child being prosecuted for child pornography.

Child Pornography is defined as a phone or video which depicts a minor is a sexually explicit way.  If your minor child is taking naked pictures of themselves and sharing the pictures or videos with another person, whether an adult or another minor child, this can be prosecuted as Distribution of Child Pornography.  Unfortunately, we see cases in which sexually explicit pictures are shared by one minor child to another.  In addition, if those pictures are videos are passed to other minors including friends and classmates, multiple charges can arise against anyone involved with the creation, distribution or possession of those images.  Even when shared between two minor children of a similar age, this can be prosecuted as possession, receipt, distribution and even production of child pornography.

Prosecution of child pornography cases in juvenile court can result in time in the detention center, convictions for misdemeanor or felony charges and lifelong consequences.  Understanding how juvenile court works and how best to defend your minor child against these allegations is important.

If you know your child has been taking illicit images and exchanging them with friends and classmates, contact a child pornography defense attorney at Leary Law immediately to understand the consequences of your child’s actions.  If your child has been in receipt of images or videos of a classmate, friend or other minor in a sexually suggestive manner, you should seek the advice of an attorney immediately.  If your child has been questioned by their school regarding this activity, call Leary Law to understand the criminal and academic consequences of this behavior to your minor child’s future.

Attorney Christie Leary  understands the unique and sensitive challenges presented by sex crimes charges. Whether you are an adult or a minor, whether you have been accused of soliciting minors through the internet or downloading child pornography, whether you are accused of taking sexually explicit photos or videos of others, you can count on Leary Law to assess your circumstances and background, develop a comprehensive plan of action and vigorously defend your rights.

We must have a full and complete understanding of the facts of your case.  Even if you dispute the charges brought against you, it is important to understand that the police are accusing you of doing.  In your consultation, we will gather detailed background information about your history and have a lengthy conversation with you about what you believe law enforcement may know about you.

Often people will contact Leary Law believing they may be under investigation prior to any charges being filed.  If you believe you are under investigation, call Leary Law immediately so that we can understand your circumstances and determine whether you may be charged and how best to defend you.

Especially in cases in which the victim is known to the accused, the victim might have motivation to fabricate the charge to say that they were sexually assaulted against their will, when in fact they were not.  The person might have other motivations to say otherwise and make a police report. If a lawyer suspects this to be the case, then they will consider hiring an investigator early on in the process.

Understanding the relationship of the parties, the nature of any contact whether in person, via phone or electronic communication provides valuable information.  It is critical to know as much evidence as soon as you can to figure out what the government can prove in a particular case.  Knowing both the strengths and weaknesses of a case also factors into developing a defense strategy.  For instance, if it is a case involving unknown parties you have to ensure that they can prove that the person charged with the crime is the person that actually perpetuated the offense. Commonly what you will see in sex offense cases is the issue of consent between two parties who know each other.

If the case arises from online activity or electronic communication, analysis of how law enforcement can identify the perpetrator of the sex act is very important.  Understanding what technological devices law enforcement used to track an illegal communication or exchange and how the police identify the individual to be charged is a crucial piece of information.

In cases involving in person contact, technology evidence might play a role in the case.  At the same time, identifying key witnesses may also be important.  It may be necessary to hire a private investigator to conduct witness interviews or a forensic computer consultant to examine computer evidence obtained by the police.  By interviewing witnesses, we may identify and explore inconsistencies of a complaining witnesses’ account of the event. By understanding the evidence, Leary Law is able to build a defense in your case.

You need to become very aggressive in getting information outside of what the government provides you by using subpoena power or private investigators. That complaining witness has probably talked to friends, or she’s contacted friends on Facebook, or texted people like family members and co-workers.  So you want to have the case investigated and go and interview all those people and get as much information possible on what they are saying to determine if there are material inconsistencies in their stories.

A child pornography defense attorney can assist you in obtaining this information which may be critical to your case.

Obtaining effective legal counsel is extremely important to acquiring an effective understanding of your rights under the law and ensuring that those rights are fully protected. Leary Law, P.C. offers a free consultation to review the facts of your case and recommend the best course of action. Call our office at 703-359-7111.