Delaware County Child Pornography Lawyers
Anyone who gets a child pornography charge turns into a bullseye target to everyone from the police to sting operations to TV reporters to prosecutors. They will face many things that they have to overcome, even the innocent, and anyone charged will need good legal services to protect their rights adequately. They will search everything and all technology. This includes computers and phones. These images can be downloaded and viewed from the internet, and the people accused of this will face federal charges and stiff penalties.
People Can Unwittingly View Child Pornography
The scary thing about a child pornography charge is that a person can, in some cases, violate child pornography laws without being aware of it. For example, if they were viewing images on a website where they thought the people were over the age of 18, but they were under this age, they could be charged. Even though the person thought they were an adult, they could still get a charge on this.
The Humiliation
One thing about this charge is that it carries a stigma and a fair amount of humiliation. Even if a person gets wrongfully charged, they will still see the effects of it take fruit in every aspect of their life. The judgment will come from family, friends and the spouse, and the disapproval can be severe for understandable reasons. Someone who has this charge shouldn’t hesitate to hire a defense attorney as soon as possible. The first time that someone gets charged with this, they will face a third-degree felony. The second time that they get charged, they face a second-degree felony.
Thought They Were Older? That Won’t Hold Up
In the event that you get charged, even if you were to say that you thought they were older, or they represented themselves as older, you could still face a charge for child pornography. The employer can legally view these computer files and the hard drive, and if they discover such content on your laptop or phone, you face serious charges. You face federal charges if you possess it off the internet or from downloaded links to it.
Selling Child Pornography
Along with possessing, it is also illegal to photograph, sell and distribute images of this nature. Selling classifies as a felony offense.
What to Do if Charged with Child Pornography Charges?
If the police arrest you for child pornography charges, never speak with the arresting officer or discuss what happened. You should not even speak about your innocence. Never speak with the police or prosecutors without your lawyer present because these people exist to prosecute you. In many cases, they will take what you said out of context to make you look bad in the courts. Having a lawyer at your side ensures that you don’t falsely incriminate yourself. You might be saying that you’re innocent, so you have nothing to worry about and why not speak with them? However, that’s all the more reason to remain silent. If they want to question you, ask to have your lawyer present.
Searching
If the police request to search your home, you should wait till they get a warrant to search your home or computer. Don’t give them evidence for the courts that they could use against you. For those who are innocent, in this way, they don’t incriminate themselves saying something accidentally and not realizing that it will be taken out of context.
People can establish a defense for this type of charge, but one of the problems is that the stigma around the person will remain even if they get acquitted of this charge. Some of the defenses for a child pornography charge include entrapment, psychological addiction or conducting an illegal search. Having a lawyer on hand can help a person to understand their rights under these circumstances. They can also discuss the possible defenses for this charge and do their best to protect the constitutional rights of the defendant.
