you answered my post about a month ago-he was the one that had downloaded from limewire and it had some child porn videos and it went through his college's website =they called the police-he got arrested-that was a year ago=we just went to vt for the arraignment and he was charged with 2 counts of child porn -one a video and another a picture and they threw the book at him. he is a kid that is 20 years old has never been in trouble doesn't drink smoke or do drugs but he choices are fight it and maybe go to jail for 5 years or take a deferred setence whch means he goes on probation for 2 years and then it gets erased-but during those 2 years he is a convicted felone and would have to register as a sex offender -we live in nm now and if he decided to do the probation out her that sex offender record would follow him for the rest of his life. he is not a sex offender or a pedophile he is a studpid kid that made a stupid mistake but that mistake may have ruined his life forever before he even got to have one.
any comments appreciated

They didn't throw the book at him. They don't have the authority. Only a
judge or jury can do that, and in this case it looks like a jury is the way to go.

I'd fight it, and make sure the newspapers see how the prosecutor and police
are behaving. The purpose of any real prosecution is to bring criminals
to justice, not rack up notches on the old gunbelt by going after kids who fall
afoul of politicized causes by accident.

The balance in a criminal case is whether or not there is a reasonable doubt,
so don't let those scumbags tell you that "confessing" falsely is in any way the
right thing to do.

Dollars to donuts there's an election coming up, isn't there? Get the reporters
to draw recollection to that prosecutor in that Duke University bogus r4pe
case. Get the judge to put a publication ban on the boy's identity and go for
the throat of those guys while the odds are with you. Don't let them trick you
into silence for any reason. Take advantage of the privacy the judge
gives you to put their faces on papers and TV as many times as you
can. Even if the judge refuses a publication ban, don't hesitate to go to war.

Don't get scared. Get angry. They're going for an easy victim, so you go for blood.
Remind them of the stakes and make sure they know you are more determined
to fight their crime than they are to manufacture one for their own
benefit. They may have money but you have the time and genuinely care,
and that's your advantage.

Of course, get a lawyer to see if the above advice will work in your state.
Some of them are still in the stone age when it comes to real justice.

There's your pep talk, now find a lawyer who agrees with it. Start with the
law students at your boy's college and they'll get things rolling for free and
help you find a defender who values justice over money.

Have fun, and good hunting.

Thank You So Much For Responding And I Do Have A Lawyer In Vt Where It Happened And Nm Where We Live. The Vt Lawyer Sucks But The Nm One May Be Able To Help Us I Am Into This So Far For 20,000. I Read The Police Report And The Charges. They Say He Has A 14 Minute Video And A Picture--again Only 2 Counts -i Am Sure They Can Prove That But It Was Something He Got Off Of Limewire When He Was Downloading Regular Porn--just Like All The Other Posts Talk About When You Search For Reular Porn You Get Kiddie Porn And In My Son's Case It May Have Ruined His Life-

Janegb88

First of all, I would like to wish you and your family all the best as you go through this tough time of trying to rescue your son from his moment of thoughtlessness.

Secondly, I am not a US citizen and so not familiar with US law but here in the UK the law is based on intent, meaning that you intended to do what you did (there is some fancy Latin name for this). Now consider this, as lots of files on the P2P network have been deliberately misnamed, by who no one knows, and so by checking the names on these illegal files it can be shown that your son was not after them but really after legal files. And also most experienced P2P/Limewire users will tell you that most of the time we don’t really know what we are downloading until it’s downloaded or take special precautions (such as Bitzy).

Therefore, if what you say is true, it would be hard pushed for any (proper) legal system to convict on what was an accidental download.

Another small thing to remember, whenever you download stuff USING Limewire you are actually downloading from other P2P users individual PCs, and possibly servers, and P2P users live all over the world.

Anyway, hope your authorities see sense and drop this case against a clearly naive youngster.



UK Bob

Being newish to file sharing I have also had the misfortune to be confronted with horrendouse stuff like this and is quite terrifying. The thought that you have been logged somewhere against it is scary to say the least even accidentaly.
What can you do, who can you go to i have no idea.
As you dont know where it came from you dont know who to alert?
A very depressing state of affairs on a very depressing subject. Which the only solution (you may disagree) is not to file share which is the way I will go.
I am sure it will reduce eventually over time, till then i will give it a miss.
Mach1, a damaged person now.

Hmm what measure's are being taken to minimize the exposure of "bs" like this ???

It has helped me alot browsing the forum to see people working safely to eradicate it best they can and passing on info to help combat this s**t.
It also allowed me to find links to sites that you can report it to.
Here is a couple-
http://www.ic3.gov/
Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), combating child abuse images and criminal material online

Yes you can get arrested for accidentally opening child porn on limewire. My brother has been living with this nightmare and we are looking to find others that have been wrogly accused. my brother is not a criminal and has always lived as an extraordinary person, volunteering for various groups and charities. He is a well educated man with a successful career. While looking at adult porn on limewire he opened a file containing child porn and his life has been changed forever. He spent a night in prison, is a convicted felon and ow is a registered sex offender with nightly curfews and visits from the police. It is all very wrong when he is not a criminal and it is a flaw in the system of file sharing. Please is you know of any other cases please contact me and advise others to be careful....file sharing is dangerous!

It took about 6 months before being arrested, then almost a year through the court system. It has been incomprehensible to think the state would invest so much time and money when he is not a true criminal. It now seems like the state wanted him to be a part of the sex offender program because he would boost their numbers for success stories. It really depends on the state. I live in a different state than him and similiar cases are misdemeanors and not a big deal where as his is a felony and he has to register.

ok so he was downlaoding regular porn and a child porn image opened and he deleted it instantly and did not think much of it because he deleted it quickly. His computer then broke so he brought it in to be serviced and the image was discovered and reported to the police. Then 6 months later he started getting calls from a police detective...he travels for work so he was not always home. He was asked to come in and talk to them and then it all got rally scarry. We got a lawyer and when he went in they arrested him and held him for the night. The whole thing was out of control....his case was in the same court as real violent offenders...cold blooded murderers. It was a hellish experience for him and as we found out later his face was even on the news...all for an accidental download of one stupid image!!!! My advice to you is to destroy the computer if it breaks rather than have it serviced. I do not wish the experiences of my brother and family on anyone. Also many judges and lawyers are of an older generation (as are potential jurors) and are unfamiliar with the idea of file sharing and do not understand it. there was a computer forensics specialist involved but the image hung around in the hard drive despite the fact that it was deleted. this was all in the state of Illinois.
So now my brother is a convisted felon, on probation and a registered sex offender. He has a curfew and receives visits from the police at all hours of the night and weekly meeting with other sex offenders which he is finding to be traumatic more than anything.
He had not previus criminal history and had an impressive background and now his life may never be the same again. I hope I am able to help you in any way and answer your questions.