Ride the Lightning

Virginia Supreme Court Rules Sending Child Porn Photos to Yourself Is Distribution

October 27, 2014

Virginia Lawyers Weekly reported that the Virginia Supreme Court ruled, in an unpublished order released on October 17th, that e-mailing sexually explicit photos of a minor to yourself constitutes the distribution of child pornography.

The court affirmed Donald Hausen's conviction on two counts of child porn distribution. His fiancée discovered the images on his computer and reported them to the police. Hausen took the images with his cell phone and e-mail them to himself using his Hotmail account.

Under Va. Code Sec. 18.2-374.1:1(c), the "electronic transmission" of child pornography is a criminal act. Hausen's conduct, as the court noted, fit within the statute and constituted the distribution of child pornography.

This is the first time I've seen this set of facts, but clearly the court got it right.

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