Reason: Ohio’s age of consent is 16, it was legal to have sex but not to sext.
Man Faces 30 Years in Prison on Child Porn Charges for Taking Sexy Photos of 17-Year-Old Girlfriend When He was 20
A 27-year-old Cleveland man faces between 15 and 30 years in prison for allegedly producing child pornography. But no children were harmed by his actions: The man merely took consensual, sexually suggestive pictures of his 17-year-old girlfriend when he was 20.
The age of consent in Ohio is 16, so it was legal for the man, Edward Marrero, to have sex with his girlfriend. It was a crime, however, to photograph her the in the nude, because the federal definition of child pornography covers images of anyone under the age of 18.
According to Cleveland.com, Marrero accidentally admitted his conduct while on the stand in federal court, testifying in defense of a roommate who was also facing child porn charges. (The article does not clarify whether the roommate’s alleged crimes were as farcical as Marrero’s, and it does not give the context of Marrero’s inadvertent confession.) As soon as Marrero had finished testifying, the feds arrested him.
FBI agents later interviewed Marrero’s ex-girlfriend, who confirmed that she was 17 at the time the pictures were taken. A conviction will force Marrero to register as a sex offender and could land him in prison for up to 30 years. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s guide to federal child pornography law, “a first time offender convicted of producing child pornography…face fines and a statutory minimum of 15 years to 30 years maximum in prison.” Under Ohio law, which also sets the cutoff for child pornography at 18, Marrero would have faced between six months and eight years.
It defies all reason that a man could go to prison for three decades for taking a sexy picture of a teenager who was deemed fully capable of consenting to sex. This is a travesty of justice, a violation of consenting adults’ sexual freedoms, an abuse of mandatory minimum sentencing, a blow to states’ rights, and an absurd waste of the FBI’s time.
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if he is convicted there is truly no hope for the rest of us
Help us humans God please help us mankind for sure cause we’re going crazy on a daily basis with our earthly leaders and our humans laws amen
The sad thing is that if the 17-year-old girl had taken those pictures of herself, she could have been prosecuted as well. A 16-year-old boy can be prosecuted for taking nude photos of his 17-year-old girlfriend. It’s also ridiculous to conclude that every nude photo should be labeled pornography in the first place. By that reasoning, old photos taken by my mother of us kids in the bathtub were actually child pornography. Almost every family has photos like that in their family albums. Better burn them before they come after you next.
Those types of charges are already happening..
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32904451/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/parents-sue-walmart-over-kids-bath-pictures/
I find child pornography laws to be very Orwellian. The so-called justice system wants to punish “child pornographers” for what THEY think the person would do to the child. Think Minority Report; you are being punished for what you think!
It is very sad that a person can receive decades in prison for merely possessing CP, while others like Rian Rodriguez get just 18 months for actually having sex multiple times with a “child” over a long period of time. CP charges are for each photo and video while actual sex is lumped into one charge. Where is the justice? How can looking at photos and videos cause more harm to someone who doesn’t even know you are doing it than actually having intercourse with that person? It’s pure insanity!
Who are the idiots who write these laws?
And why does the whole legislature go along in lock step?
This is what happens when “do-gooder” politicians get involved. Where is this subject even mentioned in the federal Constitution? What we have in this country is that ‘everyone is in charge and nobody’s in charge’. Will it come to the day that we have to have legal counsel to go to the grocery store…wait, it’s already that way in Brevard County, Florida?
The more sex offenders means more money, more votes and more media ,,,,,,will it change? If history repeats itself which it usually does it will only get worse.