Federal Child Pornography Lawyer

Federal Child Pornography Charges

Child pornography can be charged in either state or federal court. Federal authorities tend to prosecute child pornography charges when the investigation involves hands-on abuse of a child by the person accused, a large number of images, widespread distribution of the material, or federal investigative agencies. Federal charges tend to be associated with more severe penalties than state charges, including harsh mandatory minimums in cases involving the receipt, distribution, and production of child pornography.

Federal child pornography crimes fall under statutes like 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251-2256, which define child pornography crimes and list associated criminal penalties. The most common federal child pornography charges include:

• The creation, production, or manufacturing of child pornography. If you took part in the creation of child sexual abuse material, you can face serious legal penalties, including a 15-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence, extensive fines and restitution, and having to register as a sex offender.
• Possessing child pornography. If you possess child pornography in any format—whether on your phone, on the cloud, in messenger apps, in chat rooms, on hard drives, or in printed format—you can be charged with violating federal child pornography laws. “Possession” of child pornography is the only federal child pornography law that does not come with a mandatory minimum sentence, but federal authorities will almost always charge “receipt” of child pornography along with possession, as receipt of child pornography carries a 5-year mandatory minimum prison sentence. The difference between receipt and possession is that if a person knows that the file they are about to receive constitutes child pornography and deliberately receives it anyway, that is “receipt,” whereas a person who might not know what the file contained but who keeps it afterwards would be guilty of “possession.” Often, the two are charged together, as a person who knowingly received child pornography generally knowingly possessed it for a period of time. Even deleted files can be charged under federal child pornography laws.
• Promoting child pornography. If you are found to be promoting or advertising in any way for the receipt, distribution, or creation of child pornography, you could be charged federally with advertising for child pornography.
• Distributing child pornography. If you are found to be guilty of distributing child pornography, you can be charged with a federal crime that carries a 5-year mandatory minimum prison sentence. Distribution means sharing or sending the material in any way. It does not require selling it or receiving anything in exchange.

The consequences of these crimes will depend on whether there are any aggravating factors in your CP case, which can enhance the sentence. These may include:

• The images or videos involve very young children, bestiality, or sadomasochistic abuse.
• The materials involve videos as opposed to still images, as videos are given greater weight under federal sentencing laws.
• The defendant was involved in hands-on child sexual abuse in the creation of the images.

Federal child pornography crimes are associated with strict criminal penalties. Federal child pornography production crimes, also called manufacturing child pornography, come with a potential sentencing period of up to 15 years. Individuals found guilty of receiving, distributing, or sharing can face sentencing periods of five to 20 years. Those found guilty of possessing child pornography can face up to 10 years in prison. The penalties are more severe for anyone with a prior conviction. The federal government invests heavily in the criminalization of child pornography, using large amounts of resources to investigate such crimes and identify and arrest perpetrators. Federal agencies such as the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have large anti-child pornography units dedicated to these investigations and prosecutions full-time. Additionally, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) catalogues and monitors databases of known child pornography images, which online platforms regularly screen for and report to authorities.