“Child sexually abusive material" (aka: child pornography) means any depiction, picture, film, slide, video, electronic visual image, computer or computer-generated image or sound recording which is of a child (under age 18) or appears to include a child engaging in a sexual act. An image may also include unexposed film or a negative.
A separate criminal charge may be supported for each image that is possessed or stored on a device. An image may include deleted files.
Child pornography crimes are punishable under state and federal laws. All child pornography crimes, including soliciting a minor for immoral purposes, are felonies. In addition, both local and federal (FBI), law enforcement task forces operate sting and undercover operations to crack down on child pornography, shut down websites that are predatory or exploit children and investigate computer related crimes. In 2009, the Macomb Sheriff Department implemented a computer crimes unit known as Macomb Area Computer Enforcement (MACE).
How do the police catch people with child pornography?Special police units monitor the activity of visitors to inappropriate file sharing, peer to peer (P2P), websites and chat sites. Law enforcement officers may impersonate a child, or a person interested in buying or trading child pornography. Once approached on-line by someone soliciting sexual acts from a minor or child pornography, the arrest process is initiated. The police are able to track the identity and whereabouts of the person by contacting the web provider with an Internet Protocol (IP) address. This is followed by an arrest of along with seizure of computer equipment, smart phones, storage devices, photographs, videos and other related evidence. On the law enforcement side, once a computer or storage device is seized, a computer forensics technician will begin the process of locating images and reviving deleting images.
ABC News reported the following on January 30, 2012 in an online newscast, Digital Detectives Dig Through Data Deluge: “Computer files or remnants of such files can be recovered months or even years after they have been downloaded onto a storage medium, deleted, or viewed via the Internet.”
Penalties for Engaging in Child Sexually Abusive Activity or Possession of Child PornographyMichigan’s child pornography statute can be found at MCL 750.145c. The penalties for child pornography are dependent upon whether a person is engaged in production, distribution or possession:
The Michigan Penal Code has other statutes which make it crime to solicit a minor for immoral purposes or use a computer to commit a crime.
Potential Defenses to Fight a Child Pornography CaseA person charged with possession of child pornography may be entitled to advance one or more of the following defenses. The expertise of a computer forensic technician may be necessary to assist with technical aspects of certain defenses.
Retaining a criminal defense lawyer should be your first priority if you are the subject of a criminal investigation or face child pornography charges. Law enforcement officers follow a regimented pattern in the way that they investigate a person accused or arrested for a crime. Once the police have gathered evidence, they will attempt to get a confession from the accused party. Even when the accused party denies wrongdoing, the police will use the interview as an opportunity to establish pertinent facts that may be incriminating. Following an interview, the accused will be asked to submit to a polygraph examination.
This You Tube video has had over 6,000,000 views and is an excellent resource on your 6th Amendment right to remain silent.
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