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Besharov also said that the current law should be amended to grant immunity to those who in good faith deem a situation not to be child abuse or pornography. Th
by ErrantX 16y ago
Besharov also said that the current law should be amended to grant immunity to those who in good faith deem a situation not to be child abuse or pornography. That way, those who report cases of abuse of questionable merit, simply to err on the side of mandatory reporting laws, might feel less pressure to do so. In our case, maybe the responding officer, who initially commented that he didn't find the pictures pornographic, would have dismissed the case at the drugstore and not reported us to child services.
This is the key takeway - and the thing that really needs to change.
In this case, like some many others, the process really broke down at that point.
But it is incredibly difficult, I imagine, to make such a call. If it later turns out you just let a child pornographer go free you will be proverbially screwed; both by the LE services and the media. We ask completely the wrong people to make these choices; inexperienced officers with a lot to lose if they make the wrong call.
- pstuart 16y agoI think that such a call should be relatively straightforward. A picture of a naked child is not pornography unless there is explicit sexual context, i.e., touching of genitals, etc. Otherwise, a naked child in a bathtub, pool or such activity is the picture of innocence itself. If there was doubt, bring it before a jury of one's peers as opposed to some back-room morality police.
- flostre 16y agoIf it later turns out you just let a child pornographer go free you will be proverbially screwed; both by the LE services and the media. Not to mention your conscience.