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NEWS: Virginia Man Gets 20 Years for Anime Child Porn


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Tondog38



Joined: 13 Jan 2003
Posts: 89
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:06 pm Reply with quote
GOOD! He deserves it.
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Maceart



Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Posts: 76
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:15 pm Reply with quote
Guess he didn't know when to blur the line between reality and fantasy...

He wasn't arrested ONLY for lolicon hentai. He also downloaded pedophilic material. Now that's just wrong.
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PandaMan



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:21 pm Reply with quote
Exactly. The guy is a creep and should be locked away for a long time. He was a past offender, and even had real pictures/stories with the "obscene cartoon pictures" the DOJ refers to. It's really a slam dunk case for the DOJ, I mean who is going to side with this guy?

The big thing to note is the guy was on parolle, had real pictures with him, and etc. The DOJ could of nailed him on any one of these, yet they, like any other big name orgonization, wanted to make the headlines with the new protect law that goes after loli/shota con.

Lets break it down.

Normal Anime Fan(watches hentai, things like bible black, and watches stuff like Shana and other shows with young characters) - Nothing is going to happen to you. The law states that is has to be intercourse. So no, seeing Shana in the shower isn't going to land your ass in jail. Unless the show has hardcore sex in it, you're fine.

Loli/Shota con fan(the people at various img boards) - I dunno really. I mean you'd have a interesting issue if they went after someone who had loli/shota con that someone could look at and tell it wasn't real. But not being a loli/shota fan, I couldn't tell you.

But in general, the guy was a past sex offender, had emails from parents that touched their kids, and even had real pictures. So before we all get hot and bothered about this, don't worry so much.

If the DOJ wanted to go after anime and hentai, they wouldn't was their time on one person. You'd see companies like Rightstuf, Geneon, ADV, and hentai companies get indited and etc.



I reccomend reading the FBI article on it, especially this part:

Quote:
FBI Agent Gerald Kim, who led our investigation in Richmond, said the cartoons were extremely graphic. “There was no doubt about what was being depicted,” Kim said.

The Japanese anime was just part of the case against Whorley. Our cyber experts found digital photographs of child porn on the same VEC computer. Whorley had also used it to send explicit e-mails to a young girl and for other e-mails describing the sexual abuse of children—further violations of federal obscenity laws. In the end, we were able to link Whorley to the pornography, e-mails and other evidence on the computer. He was convicted of a total of 74 counts of obscenity and child pornography.
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space clam



Joined: 11 Oct 2003
Posts: 636
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:07 pm Reply with quote
Tondog38 wrote:
GOOD! He deserves it.


You bet he does. If he was going to do this he should've at least thought to use a NON-gov't terminal.
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VileRiot



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:09 pm Reply with quote
I do believe I need to read the article before actually saying anything. Maybe the person who started the topic would be so kind as to publish a link, I don't feel like searching for it...
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fxg97873



Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 211
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:15 pm Reply with quote
Okay, here I go...

I still don't understand why the DoJ had to include the drawings/cartoons in their case. They had enough to convict the guy just using the real photographs.

Doujinshi artists beware. Your sketches composed of paper and pencil could technically land you in jail due to your exploitation of...paper and pencil.

There's a reason the first version of this Protect Act was struck down by the Supreme Court. It was due to its references to "drawings" and such. An impairment to free speech and expression.
The Act was then modified too only include "obscene" drawings and such...but what the heck is obscene anyways?!
Community Standards? Apparently the DoJ gets to set that standard for us.

If we all lived in a town that was somehow some big giant 24/7, 365 day anime and manga convention then I guess we've be okay?

Freedom of Expression seems to erode every year due to people's hysteria and obsession with all things sex and security related.

Unfortunately, the guy that got convicted is such a sick as*hole that not even his mom would defend him and as such the conviction part dealing with the drawings and cartoon will stand unchallenged and will set a precedent.

God Save America.

mk2000
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Cowpunk



Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 168
Location: Oakland - near the Newtype Lab
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:18 pm Reply with quote
Does anyone know which anime (or manga) titles he had?
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Ostsol



Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:21 pm Reply with quote
fxg97873 wrote:
I still don't understand why the DoJ had to include the drawings/cartoons in their case. They had enough to convict the guy just using the real photographs.

They probably wanted to explain the extent of the man's collection and the fact that he was expanding upon his sources. It certainly goes toward showing that he is not on his way to rehabilitation (not that jail really helps either, but anyways).

Cowpunk wrote:
Does anyone know which anime (or manga) titles he had?

Probably alot of doujinshi. There's lots of that stuff out there. There's also alot of hentai with characters of indeterminite age though look rather young, plus even some shows from the 80s that are quite blatantly lolicon.
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camelot187757



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 426
Location: The Nacirema Dream (17 and counting Asuka)
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:32 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Quote:
GOOD! He deserves it.


You bet he does. If he was going to do this he should've at least thought to use a NON-gov't terminal.


Yes lets completely blame the matter on the man and not the anime company themsleves. Far be it from us to consider where it came from or where it was produced but rather to all BAND-WAGON on the Holier-Than-Thou "I'm better than that guy" train so you can all feel better about yourselves.

A lot of people are so insecure about themselves.


Last edited by camelot187757 on Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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RedWordSmith



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 1
Location: IL
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:40 pm Reply with quote
One thing that disturbs me about this story (besides what the guy was doing) is that Google News seems to be emailing it to me from a lot from different sources, so it's being widely reprinted, due to the press release by the DOJ.
Has anyone seen this in a newspaper or the like?
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PandaMan



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:47 pm Reply with quote
Link.

Take a look for yourself. Google news has 9 sources so far.
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VileRiot



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:19 pm Reply with quote
Well, I think I have a better understanding at least. I don't see why this is really such a big deal personally. The only thing this guy is guilty of is using a public computer for what should be a private matter. From the articles he's a sex offender... so he deserved it for that.

But this is a different case. (and no I don't condone what he did, I just don't care what someone does in PRIVATE, but using a public computer (or just one that's not his) for something like that is something that kind of bugs me.)
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Tempest
I Run this place.
ANN Publisher


Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10419
Location: Do not message me for support.
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:30 pm Reply with quote
VileRiot wrote:
Well, I think I have a better understanding at least. I don't see why this is really such a big deal personally. The only thing this guy is guilty of is using a public computer for what should be a private matter.


No.

Using a public computer is why he got caught, not the crime.

He's guilty of

1) Downloading real child porn
2) Sending explicit material to a minor over the internet
3) downloading virtual child porn*
4) violating his parole

As for #3, where the law stands is still very much in question. Our research shows that the law states that virtual child porn is ony illegal under the protect act if it is indistinguishable from the real thing. But the articles and government statements regarding this case make no mention of how realistic looking the material in question is. Its simply referred to as "anime." Typically, anime child porn doesn't look realistic.

Quote:
I do believe I need to read the article before actually saying anything. Maybe the person who started the topic would be so kind as to publish a link, I don't feel like searching for it...


Everything discussed in the Talkback forum refers to articles published on the front page of ANN.

-t
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VileRiot



Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 4:39 pm Reply with quote
I do believe I was saying what I believe. I don't necessarily follow what the law says to say if someone really violated something or not. Now I didn't read anything that said violating his parole. That would be something, I guess I can see how they got the sentence now.

However I still don't get why it's such a big deal.

edit: I just saw that it was posted on the front page, still new here and all.
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MiwaSatoshi
Old Regular


Joined: 14 Aug 2003
Posts: 81
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:06 pm Reply with quote
People are worried about this case setting a precedent. Here's a predecent to set: DON'T GET INVOLVED IN CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.

The lolicon was NOT the primary reason for this man's incarceration, but in this case, it clearly indicates that this was no one time accident, that he was willing to look for both "virtual" and real child pornography.

Sure, I imagine the vast majority of fans of lolicon probably do know to separate their fantasies from reality, but for those who don't ... it's clearly indefensible. Child pornography is clearly not a victimless crime, and there is a clear and present danger of lolicon desensitizing folks to pedophilia and the fans trying to rationalize this paraphilia as somehow socially acceptable when it is certainly not.

If any of you want to continue to defend this guy "because he's a fan", then be my guest, but frankly, that's a very bad reason to dismiss the very real crimes he has been convicted of.

If you're going to get outraged, then wait until someone gets convicted specifically because of lolicon art and for no other reason.

Also remember that Tsutomu Miyazaki was also a fan of lolicon doujinshi, and that predilection was used as evidence to support the case determining his motive for his crimes, but lolicon doujinshi still remains legal in Japan.

In the end, however, if the people of Virginia see fit to ban lolicon doujinshi in their state, it is their prerogative. Lolicon is not, and has never been a civil right -- "freedom of speech" is often placed aside when the majority of voters consider something obscene -- though I imagine this sort of legislation would not be as prevalent in a state that is more concerned with personal and individual freedoms than Virginia, which is historically rather conservative.

I'm not being self-righteous or anything like that, while I dislike lolicon intensely, it is ultimately the individual's choice to get involved in something like that. But this is simply the reality behind the matter, and those who choose to ignore it do so at their own risk.
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