You may accidentally download these materials through a virus, hacking or other scheme.
Child pornography is universally reviled in our society, and for good reason — it involves the exploitation of innocent victims. Both state and federal law provide harsh sentences for people convicted of child pornography offenses. Yet there are situations where a person could be charged with possession of child pornography even if he or she is truly innocent.
According to a Los Angeles criminal lawyer, in most cases, if a person has child pornography on their computer, it is because they looked for it and downloaded it. However, there are times when an accusation is essentially false — because the person who had child pornography on their laptop, phone or tablet never knew that it was there and never knowingly downloaded it.
There are a number of ways that a person could get child pornography on their devices. For example, they could download attachments from an email without verifying the source, or be hacked by another person. They may also get a virus or malware that infects their computer. For these reasons, everyone should be careful to never open attachments from unknown senders, to use virus-scanning software, and to never let anyone use their computers.
In California, child pornography is defined as any matter or material depicting sexual conduct by a person under 18 years of age. It is against the law to send, transport, duplicate, print, exchange, advertise or posses child pornography. It is also illegal to hire or persuade minors to participate in the making of child pornography.
Most child pornography offenses in California are wobblers, which means that they can be charged as either misdemeanor or felony offenses. When charges as a misdemeanor, California child pornography charges are punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $2,500. When charged as a felony, the consequences include between sixteen months and eight years in California state prison and as much as $100,000 in fines. Importantly, both felony and misdemeanor child pornography convictions in California require lifetime sex offender registration. The severity of the consequences of a child pornography conviction means that if you have been charged with this offense, you will want to retain a skilled Los Angeles criminal lawyer as soon as possible to fight the charges.
There are a number of potential defenses to child pornography charges in California. First, your Los Angeles criminal lawyer may argue that the files were on your computer inadvertently by hacking, an attachment or virus — and that you played no role in downloading them to your device. Second, your lawyer may argue that you were entrapped by a police officer who enticed you to download the material, if the facts support that defense. Third, your attorney may be able to argue that the search of your computer was not legal. Depending on the facts of your specific case, there are a number of arguments that may be made to defend against these very serious charges.
At the Chambers Law Firm, we strongly believe that every client deserves the best possible defense. Contact our office today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com to schedule a free initial consultation with an experienced Los Angeles criminal lawyer.
