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Irregular News for 07.31.06
New York, NY -- One of the strongest tools local law enforcement officials use to prosecute pedophiles was snatched away from them this week when a state appeals court ruled that sending children sexually explicit e-mails is only illegal if the e-mails include photographs.
The decision by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, Second Department, hung on the meaning of the word "depict." Jeffrey Koslow, a Manhattan lawyer who was convicted last year of attempted disseminating indecent material to a minor, appealed his case saying that his e-mails did not "depict" sexual conduct because they contained only words, not pictures.
The fact that the appeals court agreed with him means that local law enforcement officials who work to lure pedophiles on the Internet by pretending to be children will now have to convince those pedophiles to e-mail them sexually explicit photographs in order to secure a felony conviction.
"Unfortunately, there is a whole world of criminals out there who use words to lure children into meeting with them," said Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice. "To say that those words are not enough is incredibly disturbing."
Prosecutors in Rice's office said they prosecute about 25 to 30 pedophiles a year for disseminating indecent material to minors or the attempt to do so, both felonies. About 90 percent of the time, the person being charged has not mailed photos, prosecutors said.
Emily Constant, former chief of the Suffolk DA's Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit, said the disseminating indecent material charge is one of the easiest ways to nab pedophiles and investigators must now get suspects to e-mail photos. But she says, "Pedophiles are cautious."
A spokesman for the Westchester District Attorney's office, where Koslow was originally charged, said they will ask the state Court of Appeals to consider the case.
Rice said the state legislature could also act by writing new legislation making sexually explicit e-mails to children illegal even when they don't include photos.
"Our laws are not sufficient to protect our children as it is," she said.
source
New York, NY -- One of the strongest tools local law enforcement officials use to prosecute pedophiles was snatched away from them this week when a state appeals court ruled that sending children sexually explicit e-mails is only illegal if the e-mails include photographs.
The decision by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, Second Department, hung on the meaning of the word "depict." Jeffrey Koslow, a Manhattan lawyer who was convicted last year of attempted disseminating indecent material to a minor, appealed his case saying that his e-mails did not "depict" sexual conduct because they contained only words, not pictures.
The fact that the appeals court agreed with him means that local law enforcement officials who work to lure pedophiles on the Internet by pretending to be children will now have to convince those pedophiles to e-mail them sexually explicit photographs in order to secure a felony conviction.
"Unfortunately, there is a whole world of criminals out there who use words to lure children into meeting with them," said Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice. "To say that those words are not enough is incredibly disturbing."
Prosecutors in Rice's office said they prosecute about 25 to 30 pedophiles a year for disseminating indecent material to minors or the attempt to do so, both felonies. About 90 percent of the time, the person being charged has not mailed photos, prosecutors said.
Emily Constant, former chief of the Suffolk DA's Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit, said the disseminating indecent material charge is one of the easiest ways to nab pedophiles and investigators must now get suspects to e-mail photos. But she says, "Pedophiles are cautious."
A spokesman for the Westchester District Attorney's office, where Koslow was originally charged, said they will ask the state Court of Appeals to consider the case.
Rice said the state legislature could also act by writing new legislation making sexually explicit e-mails to children illegal even when they don't include photos.
"Our laws are not sufficient to protect our children as it is," she said.
source
