The above looks like Lauren Book must’ve got herself arrested as a political stunt.

Ha. Didn’t her pediatric doctor also get arrested for the same stuff. Registry not keeping her kids or her safe from potential danger is it?

Did his (alleged) childhood sex abuse claims come before or after these charges were brought? Asking because it’s not clear in the article.

It’s an infuriating double standard. The idea that one who claims (not even proves) childhood sexual abuse must be coddled and given everything they want (i.e., Lauren Book) or given a pass for every mistake or wrongdoing (i.e. Jason Vukovich), yet it’s irrelevant when the claimant has been charged with sex crimes (as here).

Prosecutors always ask for (and receive) the maximum penalty in CP cases. This guy obviously isn’t well-connected enough to avoid the charges, so it’s likely that he isn’t well-connected enough to get less than the max for whatever charges he ends up being convicted for, claims of childhood sexual abuse notwithstanding.

Yes, CP is a threat to children. But the physical, mental, or emotional damage is caused by those that produce it, not those that viewed it.

If viewing CP is as detrimental to those depicted as we have been led to believe, then the same argument must apply and subsequent charges must also be brought against every LE officer, prosecutor, judge, jury member, ICAC and NCMEC employee that ever had involvement with a CP case or “operation” (i.e., sting) – they’ve all viewed the same CP as the defendant in any given CP case.

To say viewing with intent to investigate or prosecute is different than intent to sexually gratify is like saying that an LE officer who hits a child with a car going 55 mph on his way home after being relieved of duty obviously injures or kills the child, but hitting one answering, say, a domestic violence or armed robbery call somehow leaves the child unscathed. The logic is completely absurd. This is not to diminish the effects of CP on its victims. Rather, it’s pointing out the true source of those effects.

No one person or group )like a legislature) can solve a problem if they can’t or won’t correctly identify it. It’s problematic when the same government that the public expects to fix this particular problem has an interest in the problem’s continued (perceived) prevalence.

The problem with that reasoning is that the feds are the ones running and keeping the sites up [moderator’s note: citation needed]. They’ve been doing it since they took over Backpage umpteen years ago. I’d bet the NCMEC has a degree of involvement with that as well.

Some more details came out

Yes, we can all agree that CP is truly harmful and heinous. However, can we agree that school children being blown to pieces seems to be okay with our lawmakers, yet they do zip about it and yet turn their wrath on non contact offenders. They should be hunting down the producers of CP instead of the customers. Looking at CP is an illness. Producing and distribution is done because it pays. Don’t think that there aren’t some very powerful and prominent people behind the production and distribution business.

[moderator’s note: The Federal sentencing range for distribution of child pornography is 5-20 years; for production, 15-30 years].

Amen! I have zero sympathy for him. Nothing is a powerful as getting a taste of your own bitter and hateful medicine. I’m sure he will use his experience of being abused as a child to try to minimize his crime; no doubt something he refused to take into account while he was busy going after others in this same scenario with a vengeance.