What's the Law?

I have a question for all the lawyers out there… Are there any laws against sending pr0n to minors? Some perv ([email protected], South Tampa, Florida) sent naked pictures of himself to my little sisters email account! It would seem to me that there has to be some law prohibiting behavior like this. I’ve already contacted AOL, of course they won’t do anything about it… Anyway- I’m sorry to ask this here, I figured if anyone would know- it would be an AO member… Thanx Guys/Gals- I really appreciate this- I’m sort of angry :-(

I am not a lawyer so take what I say with a grain of salt but what your describing to me sounds illegal. I imagine that if you talk with the local DA, police department or FBI they will do a much more detailed follow up then AOL.

Cheers,
-D

I would be very angry too. If you need advice, I would suggest you contact your local law enforcement or attorney to go over your options.

From http://www.mcap1.com/definitions.html :

Quote:

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Material Harmful to Minors
Material Harmful to Minors encompasses most pornography and can be legally regulated to keep sexually explicit films, magazines, or videos out of the hands and view of children under 18. Magazines such as Penthouse, Hustler, R-rated videos and many sexually explicit programs on satellite, cable or broadcast television, may fall into this category. Most states regulate this material to prevent access to minors through blinder racks at news stands, "adults only rooms" or "under 18 not permitted" signs. Unfortunately, these laws have not been enforced and children (ages 12-17) continue to be among the largest consumers of pornography in the U.S. While such material is illegal to minors, adults may legally possess this non-obscene, yet pornographic, material regardless of how strongly people feel about its offensive content and potential harm to society

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Another: http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1998/80-wwwporn.htm

http://www.stanford.edu/~mrubens/pornsite2/legal.htm

I wish you the best of luck.

albn

Thanx a lot, I'm going to follow this through- i'll keep you updated...

greetings,
i'm not sure about the laws over there (here it comes) 'but', i gather that it comes down to how much money you have. seriously, there seems to be a law for almost everything, almost everything is a crime. if you have enough money, you can even influence the fine detail of some laws. so get out the check book and get incontact with a lawyer, that is of course if you are hoping to take this guy to court and 'do him' for the crime. of course money will only get you so far, at some stage or another you are going to have to prove that it was this guy that sent the pics (unless you have LOTS of money). proof for this sort of thing can be indefatigabily painstaking to gather from the point of view of the user. without getting into it here: you would have to get ip addresses and other information from companies mail servers or isp's in an attempt to to source the email to coming from an ip address that at the same time was logged into an isp as a phone number (assuming he is on dialup) to get a name and address for the person, and you have to take isps and others to court just to get this information, not to mention that it could have been a 'spoofed-anonomously remailed at random time-in another country' kind of email of some kind!!!
so...what is the law?
(_(_)

tampabay420-
Please contact the police and do not delete the email as it is evidence. Take a look at this link for Florida state info-

http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes

look under TITLE XLVI - "crimes" then chapter 847 (subsections .012 and .0135) OBCENITY There are many other sub-sections that may apply.

For some federal info check out-

http://gsulaw.gsu.edu/lawand/papers/fa01/caldwell/

I hope they lock this animal up for a long time. Keep us posted!

captfb

I'm not sure on how the laws work regarding porn sent to email, either. I know people are being prosecuted almost weekly for various types of internet crime, mostly stalking or similar types. If this creature lives in Florida and you live in another state, then there's a real possibility that if the local police won't get involved, the FBI might, since it involves a minor, porn, and would be interstate. If the locals won't do anything, a quick phone call to the Feds might work. Also, as somebody mentioned, definitely keep the emails. If they'll act on it, those emails will be needed.

Edit: I like you're posting this person's name, too. Let the world know who he is, and what HIS email addy is. Dirt bags like that ought to be public knowledge.

Does anyone know about laws in the UK?
A similar thing happened to me on MSN but they basicly told me if they weren't there to see the chat, they couldn't do anything. I told them to go and chat to him, acting like a young girl and that they'd see how sick he was, but I think they just ignored that. hmm

Acts such as this are considered CHILD ABUSE! Since it's going over the internet, I think the FBI would be your best bet. They take these cases seriously. And chances are he's sending those pictures to other people as well. Don't let it slide by. Report it and follow up on it.

FBI Crimes Against Children Site:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/crimesmain.htm

Report the incident to the CIC rep in your local FBI Field Office:
http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

That same guy saw me in a chat room and emailed me his picture. He wouldn't leave me alone! I finally TOS'ed him. I hope it works!

You might want to start with a federal statute, 18USC§1470:
"Sec. 1470. - Transfer of obscene material to minors



Whoever, using the mail or any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly transfers obscene matter to another individual who has not attained the age of 16 years, knowing that such other individual has not attained the age of 16 years, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both."

Also look at the child abuse statutes.
Good luck.

You know what you could do.......is just block the emial address...the block option is there for a reason.

No need to get into all this legal stuff. It is probably just porn advertisments, everyone gets them. Just simply block the email. And if the pervert is sending pictures through AOL, I think theres a button you can "Tell AOL" and they should do something about it. I don't think calling them would help, they can't do anything from there.

It seems that i do not have the funds for justice! I can not afford a lawyer and the cops don't care... You can call the Tampa Police Dep at (813) 276-3200... they'll give you same run-around they gave me... Anyway- i really appreciate all of the feedback from you guys/gals- esp. the legal info (much props)...

.EOF

tampabay, check with the ACLU. I'm not a huge fan of theirs, but they do some good things. If you have proof in the form of the email and explain to them what occurred, they might do something. Cases like this are high profile, and that's what they like. If they won't take it, ask if there are any pro bono attorney's that they know of who might. Some will take such work for free.

First of all there is more information that you probably need in order to prosecute the guy. I don't know exactly how old your sisters are, but if they are under the age of 18 and they had told the guy who sent the pictures that they were, then the guy is guilty. Unfortunately even at that it's pretty impossible to put this guy in jail or even get him fined. You would have to know that his information on his email is correct because you don't even know who the guy is. Then if a lawyer (if there was a court case) is good which he most assuringly would be your sister would have to testify, and you would probably need a scripture of what the guy talked to them about on the internet. The problem is the guy probably didn't give correct info on his account along with the fact that he would lie saying he did it anyways. Reasonable doubt or the judges convition is near impossible. Sorry man.

Fracture