Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Update | Cut, Copy, and Paste Not Florida Porn Violation

Complete Opinion Here

Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney reports a decision of the Florida Court of Appeal where, "composite images which were crudely prepared by cutting and pasting a photocopy of the head of a minor onto a photocopy of an adult female." do not constitute violation of the Florida Statutes. Section 827.071(5) proscribes the possession of child pornography, in pertinent part, as follows: It is unlawful for any person to knowingly possess a photograph, motion picture, exhibition, show, representation, or other presentation which, in whole or in part, he or she knows to include any sexual conduct by a child. The possession of each such photograph, motion picture, exhibition, show, representation, or presentation is a separate offense. 

The court ruled "If the legislature had intended to proscribe the possession of composite images that simulate lewd and lascivious exhibition of the genitals, it could have included a provision doing so.  In fact, child pornography has been defined in the federal statutes to specifically include composite images." See 18 U.S.C. § 2256(8)(C) (2008).

The Tribune reports, "The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 overturned a federal law that made computer-simulated child pornography illegal. The high court ruled that because the computer-generated depictions were not the product of the actual sexual abuse of children they were protected by the First Amendment."

You can call Casey at 1-877-793-9290 for a free phone consultation.
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Sources: http://www.2dca.org/opinions/Opinion_Pages/Opinion_Page_2010/December/dec0310.shtml

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/dec/03/031558/child-porn-conviction-of-ex-polk-principal-overtur/news-breaking/