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Canadian Man Guilty of Possessing Pornographic Anime

James Corey Hammond, a resident of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, has plead guilty to charges of child pornography for possessing videos, photos, and anime that depicted underage males engaged in sexual activities. His sentencing date is set for March 16, and under Section 163.1 of Canada's Criminal Code, he may be punished by as much as five years in prison.

Canadian law defines child pornography as "a photographic, film, video or other visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means, that shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years."

Hammond is at least the third Canadian or U.S. resident to recently face charges of child pornography for possessing anime or manga images. Virginia resident Dwight Whorley's conviction for possessing both pornographic photographs of children and anime images has recently been upheld by two of the three judges of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, although the dissenting judge issued an opinion where he argued that possession of pornographic drawings alone should not be prosecuted. Whorley's defense may file to have the case reheard before the full court, and potentially, the U.S. Supreme Court. Iowan Christopher Handley is set to go on trial sometime in the last two weeks of March. He faces as much as 20 years in prison for receiving in the mail and possessing manga that depicts minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct that is found to be obscene.

Source: Chronicle Herald