anyuser
01-11-2009, 02:51 PM
Man Jailed after writing sex stories – for himself
OTTAWA -- A man got the minimum sentence of 14 days in jail Thursday for possessing child pornography — stories about sex involving teen girls and incest he wrote himself and never tried to publish or share.
Judge Hugh Fraser called the facts in the case of Michael Jay Thomas “rather unique” because it dealt only with written material.
Thomas, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography. The 10 stories found on a computer hard drive are now sealed.
“We don’t have real, live victims in this particular case,” defence lawyer Catherine Huot said in sentencing submissions.
The law defines child pornography as material whose “dominant characteristic is the description, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity” with someone under 18.
Under the law, an accused could try to argue artistic merit as a defence.
The Crown had sought three to four months in jail.
Thomas was charged after police were contacted in December 2008 by employees of Future Shop — where he worked — regarding written material found on a demo computer.
His resume was in the same folder.
Thomas admitted that he’d written some of the stories and also edited material he found on the Internet.
Fraser concluded the collection was small, involved teens and Thomas poses little risk to kids.
He went to the Royal Ottawa Hospital for help on his own. A psychiatrist did phallometric testing and found him to be a low risk to reoffend. He was even lower risk where “live children” are concerned.
Thomas had no criminal record and has already suffered, Fraser said.
He’s lost his job; his wife of 16 years “wants nothing to do with him”; and his religious community, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, are aware of what he’s done.
Thomas has to submit a DNA sample to the national registry and will be a registered sex offender for a decade.
During a two-year probation order, he has to take any treatment suggested by a psychiatrist, stay off the Internet and away from girls under 18 without supervision.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2009/10/29/11575651-sun.html
megan.gillis@sunmedia.ca
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also see: Your Obscene Printed Manga is Illegal (http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66719)....
U.S. Manga Obscenity Conviction Roils Comics World
* By David Kravets Email Author
* May 28, 2009 |
* 12:00 am |
* Categories: Crime, The Courts, porn
In an obscenity first, a U.S. comic book collector has pleaded guilty to importing and possessing Japanese manga books depicting illustrations of child sex abuse and bestiality.
Christopher Handley, described by his lawyer as a “prolific collector” of manga, pleaded guilty last week to mailing obscene matter, and to “possession of obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children.” Three other counts were dropped in a plea deal with prosecutors.
The 39-year-old office worker was charged under the 2003 Protect Act, which outlaws cartoons, drawings, sculptures or paintings depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and which lack “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” Handley’s guilty plea makes him the first to be convicted under that law for possessing cartoon art, without any evidence that he also collected or viewed genuine child pornography. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Comics fans are alarmed by the case, (.pdf), saying that jailing someone over manga does nothing to protect children from sexual abuse.
“This art that this man possessed as part of a larger collection of manga … is now the basis for [a sentence] designed to protect children from abuse,” says Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. “The drawings are not obscene and are not tantamount to pornography. They are lines on paper.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/manga-porn/
OTTAWA -- A man got the minimum sentence of 14 days in jail Thursday for possessing child pornography — stories about sex involving teen girls and incest he wrote himself and never tried to publish or share.
Judge Hugh Fraser called the facts in the case of Michael Jay Thomas “rather unique” because it dealt only with written material.
Thomas, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography. The 10 stories found on a computer hard drive are now sealed.
“We don’t have real, live victims in this particular case,” defence lawyer Catherine Huot said in sentencing submissions.
The law defines child pornography as material whose “dominant characteristic is the description, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity” with someone under 18.
Under the law, an accused could try to argue artistic merit as a defence.
The Crown had sought three to four months in jail.
Thomas was charged after police were contacted in December 2008 by employees of Future Shop — where he worked — regarding written material found on a demo computer.
His resume was in the same folder.
Thomas admitted that he’d written some of the stories and also edited material he found on the Internet.
Fraser concluded the collection was small, involved teens and Thomas poses little risk to kids.
He went to the Royal Ottawa Hospital for help on his own. A psychiatrist did phallometric testing and found him to be a low risk to reoffend. He was even lower risk where “live children” are concerned.
Thomas had no criminal record and has already suffered, Fraser said.
He’s lost his job; his wife of 16 years “wants nothing to do with him”; and his religious community, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, are aware of what he’s done.
Thomas has to submit a DNA sample to the national registry and will be a registered sex offender for a decade.
During a two-year probation order, he has to take any treatment suggested by a psychiatrist, stay off the Internet and away from girls under 18 without supervision.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2009/10/29/11575651-sun.html
megan.gillis@sunmedia.ca
--------
also see: Your Obscene Printed Manga is Illegal (http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66719)....
U.S. Manga Obscenity Conviction Roils Comics World
* By David Kravets Email Author
* May 28, 2009 |
* 12:00 am |
* Categories: Crime, The Courts, porn
In an obscenity first, a U.S. comic book collector has pleaded guilty to importing and possessing Japanese manga books depicting illustrations of child sex abuse and bestiality.
Christopher Handley, described by his lawyer as a “prolific collector” of manga, pleaded guilty last week to mailing obscene matter, and to “possession of obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children.” Three other counts were dropped in a plea deal with prosecutors.
The 39-year-old office worker was charged under the 2003 Protect Act, which outlaws cartoons, drawings, sculptures or paintings depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and which lack “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” Handley’s guilty plea makes him the first to be convicted under that law for possessing cartoon art, without any evidence that he also collected or viewed genuine child pornography. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Comics fans are alarmed by the case, (.pdf), saying that jailing someone over manga does nothing to protect children from sexual abuse.
“This art that this man possessed as part of a larger collection of manga … is now the basis for [a sentence] designed to protect children from abuse,” says Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. “The drawings are not obscene and are not tantamount to pornography. They are lines on paper.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/manga-porn/