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Police across the country troll the internet looking for individuals possessing and distributing child pornography. When suspected or confirmed child pornography is found, law enforcement officers obtain the IP address being used and further investigation is imminent. Law enforcement will begin to serve subpoenas or deliver warrants to obtain additional information. You might get notice from an email service provider or a social media company. But, more likely, you will not know you are under investigation until police arrive to search your home or office. If this happens, call Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Kansas City child pornography defense attorneys right away.

What Can Investigators Find in a Computer Search?

The amount of information that agents can find on computers, tablets, smartphones, and external storage devices is mind-blowing. They often find recently “deleted” files. Deleted emails and online chats can often be recovered. Many times, examiners find years’ worth of internet history, including search terms, websites visited, and images that automatically download to your hard drive. They often can determine what files were recently viewed or played. Documents found on a computer often show revisions made and a timeline of all changes.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) software and online file sharing services, such as Limewire, BitTorrent, KaZaA, Frostwire, Bearshare, Megaupload, and The Pirate Bay have become tremendously popular. These programs allow users to share files, including music, movies, and pictures. While they are a convenient and an easy way to obtain free downloads, they come with significant risk. A large percentage of files are misnamed. Users often “select all” files for download. Because of this, users can inadvertently download illegal child pornography. The default settings on the software can cause users to unintentionally distribute these illegal files to other users. The result is exposure to prosecution for distribution of child pornography, a crime that carries a minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and triggers lifetime sex offender registration.

What Should I Do if My Computer or Cell Phone Is Seized?

As soon as your home or business computer or cell phone is seized, call our Kansas City defense attorneys immediately. We know computer forensics and the law regarding computer searches. Our Kansas City child pornography defense lawyers know how to:

• Suppress evidence found during an improperly executed search
• Effectively cross-examine government forensic examiners
• Identify defenses that an attorney unfamiliar with computer forensics will simply miss
• Successfully defend charges of possession of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and distribution of child pornography throughout Kansas and Missouri

What Should I Do When Facing a Child Pornography Investigation in Kansas City?

When executing a warrant, police will almost always attempt to elicit a confession because the mere presence of child pornography on a hard drive does not prove knowing possession of the images. JHC’s Kansas City child pornography defense attorneys will serve as a protective barrier between you and law enforcement in exercising your right to remain silent. We can also employ a variety of other strategies for your defense, such as leveraging the use of a polygraph, employing your own experts to challenge forensic evidence, and analyzing the source of the accusations.

Defending a Child Pornography Case: Our Kansas City Child Pornography Defense Attorneys Can Help

Our Kansas City child pornography defense attorneys have extensive knowledge of and experience with child pornography laws at the state and federal level. We know that the presence of child pornography on a device does not necessarily mean a crime has been committed. We have proven that child pornography images were never viewed but were instead innocently labeled files obtained as part of a mass download of images. Sometimes the images in question are unintentionally saved by the user’s internet browser. We know specifically what to look for in building your case and quickly identify relevant defenses that effectively avert and/or mitigate federal and state child pornography charges.

Sentencing In Child Pornography Cases

If the prosecution can prove its case, it is imperative your attorney understands the applicable sentencing guidelines and statutory sentencing requirements. In federal court, receipt, distribution, and production of child pornography offenses can carry mandatory minimum sentences ranging from five to thirty years’ incarceration. Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s Kansas City child pornography defense attorneys know the child pornography sentencing guidelines inside out. We know how to structure plea agreements to minimize prison time and which guideline enhancements are vulnerable to attack. We also know what kind of information persuades judges to vary below the guideline sentence.

Contact Our Kansas City Child Pornography Defense Attorneys

Don’t delay—call one of Joseph, Hollander & Craft’s child pornography criminal defense lawyers today.

FAQs

What is child pornography?

Child pornography is an umbrella term used to refer to all child sexual exploitation material (CSEM). It includes images and videos of minors involved in sexually explicit conduct. For the legal definitions of child pornography, see our answer to “What is the legal definition of child pornography?”

What is considered child porn?

Clients and parents of clients whose phones have been seized or searched based on the exchange of pictures and videos involving nude teenagers or teens involved in sexual conduct often ask us, “Is that considered child porn?” It can be. Legal prohibitions on child pornography were drafted to prohibit the possession, distribution, receipt, and production of any visual depiction of a minor (someone under the age of 18) involved in sexually explicit conduct—regardless of whether the minor consented or participated in the production or distribution of the image or video.

For the legal definitions of child pornography, see our answer to “What is the legal definition of child pornography?”

What is the legal definition of child pornography?

Federal statutes do not define the term “child pornography.” The statutes that prohibit the possession, distribution, receipt, and production of child pornography refer to visual depictions of minors engaging in “sexually explicit conduct.” A minor is anyone under 18 years old. And “sexually explicit conduct” includes actual or simulated sexual intercourse; bestiality; masturbation; sadistic or masochistic abuse; and lascivious exhibition of the anus, genitals, or pubic area of any person.

Kansas law prohibits the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography with reference to its statutory prohibition on sexual exploitation of a child. Like federal law, Kansas statute applies to depictions of minors—meaning anyone under 18. But it defines “sexually explicit conduct” slightly differently, to include actual or simulated exhibition in the nude; sexual intercourse or sodomy; masturbation; sado-masochistic abuse with the intent of sexual stimulation; and lewd exhibition of the genitals, female breasts or pubic area of any person

Under Missouri law, “child pornography” is defined as:

(a) Any obscene material or performance depicting sexual conduct, sexual contact as defined in section 566.010, or a sexual performance and which has as one of its participants or portrays as an observer of such conduct, contact, or performance a minor; or

(b) Any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct where:

1. The production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
2. Such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, in that the depiction is such that an ordinary person viewing the depiction would conclude that the depiction is of an actual minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; or
3. Such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to show that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct. “Identifiable minor” means a person who was a minor at the time the visual depiction was created, adapted, or modified; or whose image as a minor was used in creating, adapting, or modifying the visual depiction; and who is recognizable as an actual person by the person’s face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique birthmark or other recognizable feature. The term “identifiable minor” shall not be construed to require proof of the actual identity of the identifiable minor.

V.A.M.S. 573.010(4). Missouri’s definition of “sexually explicit conduct” mimics the federal definition of the same.