Criminal lawyers in Fort Lauderdale encounter possession of child pornography cases all the time. Since the Fort Lauderdale and Broward County are such large metropolitan areas and have such huge populations, the number of child pornography cases prosecuted every year are just as great.
Given the nature of these cases and the fact that the alleged victims are always children, law enforcement has invested huge sums of money in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting these cases. In Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, possession of child pornography is prosecuted by a special unit in the State Attorney’s Office. This unit is called “SBU,” which stands for “Sexual Battery Unit.”
The lawyers in this unit are typically much more experienced than regular felony prosecutors. These attorneys are also typically more experienced in dealing with victim crimes. In fact, many sex crimes attorneys in the State Attorney’s Office are former domestic violence prosecutors.
Again, the reason for this background is due to the nature of the offense.
To successfully prosecute possession of child pornography in areas like Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, law enforcement needs attorneys that know how to handle complicated cases that involve instances of alleged victimization.
As a criminal lawyer who has litigated victim crimes in Fort Lauderdale both as a prosecutor and as a criminal defense attorney, I can tell you that this background is equally important for the defense. As a former domestic violence prosecutor myself, I understand the prosecution’s perspective on victim cases such as possession of child pornography.
Possession of Child Pornography as a Victim Crime
As a criminal defense lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, I regularly encounter clients who are charged with possession of child pornography. Based on my experience handling these cases, I can tell you there is usually a big difference between a person who possesses child pornography and a person who manufactures it or distributes it for commercial gain.
People accused of possession of child pornography view themselves in a different light than people who actually victimize children. They see their offense as strictly voyeuristic and not hands on.
However, the law does not view possession of child pornography in this light.
When it comes to investigating and prosecuting child pornography cases, law enforcement routinely refers to something they call the “Cycle of Victimization.” In this cycle, as one can imagine, the end user who may never lay hands on a child, is viewing an image, movie, or other depiction that was recorded while a child was being abused by another person. In this regard, even though the instant act of voyeurism is not one that involves touching or molesting by the offender, it is still predicated on a prior act of abuse by a third party.
Since the production of child pornography is based on the ultimate abuse of a child, the law considers possession of child pornography to be a victim crime.
In fact, Florida Statute 847.002 requires law enforcement officers to report discoveries of child pornography to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who maintain a database of victims. The National Center tries to identify the children depicted in the images and keeps records based on their findings. This activity is called the “Child Victim Identification Program.”
Pursuant to this statute, any investigator who discovers images/videos containing child pornography during the course of a criminal investigation, must do the following:
- Provide the recovered images to the Child Victim Identification Program.
- Request the law enforcement agency contact information for any images/movies which contain an identified victim.
- Provide case information where the investigator identifies a previously unidentified victim.
- Submit the law enforcement contact information to the prosecution regarding any identified victim.