by Pancho Villa

Created on: June 07, 2008

Kiddy Porn or Family Photo?

Can you tell the difference between a kiddy pornographic photo and a family photo? If you cannot tell the difference or do not know the legal difference, you should not be taking photos of your minor children or grandchildren.

The child pornographic laws have changed. While I applaud child pornographic laws, I also believe that we (the public) are entitled to specific definitions of what is child porn.

Presently child porn is in the eye of the beholder. What Grandma might consider "cute", a hardened criminal investigator might consider child pornography.

The test is not what is in the mind of the child or the person taking the photo. The test is can a law enforcement officer create a sexual fantasy out of this photo?

Consider the following:

Consider a family backyard cookout. A photo of a boy and girl (brother and sister) six to eight years old both with little to no clothes in the wading pool and holding sausages to be grilled. They are not touching each other or doing anything with the sausages.

If you had been there, you would have heard the boy say, "I want this one".

Is this child porn? A photo lab in Burbank California decides to error on the safe side and calls the police. The safe side is to call the police because if he does not and it is child porn, he could be liable also.

The Burbank police decide the photos are disgusting, not funny, indecent, degenerate and criminal. The police took one look and decided YES this is child pornography and they set out to arrest the couple (the parents).

At this time there is no way to legally differentiate between family snapshots of a naked child and child pornography.

From the moment a child is born, parents and grandparent alike are recording for posterity some of our most embarrassing moments. At around six months, we are photographed lying on our tummy, naked. At nine months to fourteen months, we are photographed naked sitting on a potty. Get the picture?

David Urban took photos of his wife and 15-month-old grandson, both nude as she was giving him a bath. A photo lab turned him in and he was convicted by a Missouri court.

A gay couple decided to shave their bodies and then take pictures of their lovemaking. A photo clerk at Walgreen's decided one of them looked to young and called police. The couple is suing the Fort Lauderdale Police.

It seems that we as a nation are confused when it comes to protecting kids from sexual predators. In our hast to protect the children we have completely and utterly

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>