Child+Porn+Punishment

=__Punishments for Internet Child Pornography Offenders__=

Additional Information About:

 * "Virtual" Child Pornography
 * The Censorship of Internet Child Pornography

Each country has its own approach to the law, however, and there is little international coordination despite the fact that pornographic material can be sent instantly anywhere in the world over the Internet.

The laws against child pornography in different countries around the world stipulate the sanctions and penalties that can be imposed on persons found guilty of child pornography acts, in accordance with each respective country’s policies on sex offenders. This section discusses some of such penalties and punishments inflicted on child pornography offenders in the nations focused on in this paper, namely, U.S., Canada, U.K. and Asia (Japan, Thailand, and South Korea).

As stated earlier, the United States has had many laws created with the increase of Internet child pornography. Even though all the laws were created to protect minors, it is important to note the difference in each in terms of their penalty for non-compliance.

The Child Sexual Abuse and Pornography Act of 1986 raised its minimum sentences for repeat offenders from imprisonment of a minimum of two years to not less than five years (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children). However, Canadian law states that transmitting, making available, exporting and possessing child pornography is a crime that carries a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment. Accessing child pornography on the web is punishable by up to five years imprisonment. It does not criminalize someone who inadvertently stumbles upon these sites. The person must have knowledge that it is located on a particular site and must have the intention to access the material (Youth Criminal Justice Act). Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada introduced an omnibus bill to protect Canadian children (Youth Criminal Justice Act).

The Omnibus bill will make it illegal for anyone to communicate with a child on the Internet for the purpose of committing a sexual offence. The crime of Internet luring has a maximum penalty of five years in prison (Youth Criminal Justice Act). It is in response of pedophiles using Internet chat rooms and false identities to entice children from their homes.

The Justice Department said Internet servers will be ask to shut down sites offering child pornography or delete the child porn, making the Internet Service Provider delete the contents from their server. The Justice Department admitted the law can only apply to sites in Canada. The vast majority of child porn Websites are based in other countries (Youth Criminal Justice Act).

The government may seize any equipment or materials used in the creation of child pornography. They have the ability to strengthen sentencing and ban pedophiles from going to certain places for up to a lifetime (Youth Criminal Justice Act). The use of the Internet for the purpose of locating children is a possibility to this list of bans.

A look at the sentencing given to a few child pornography offenders in the UK will give some insight into the kind of legal penalties that are associated with the violation of the laws against child pornography in this country.

For the possession of indecent pictures of children lead sentenced to three months' imprisonment. To incite sexual abuse of the innocent, results in three years in jail. For storing and exchanging of explicit e-mails and obscene pictures and drawings of under-aged children results in six years imprisonment.

In Japan, the laws against child pornography state that violators will face up to 3 yrs in jail or a fine of up to 3 million yen (US$28,000) Also, for children who offer their sexual services online, the maximum punishment is a fine (ASCL). According to the Mainichi News website, “businesses that violate the revised law and let minors use their services will be ordered to suspend or close down their operations. Those that disregard the order will face up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 1 million yen.”(News Archives- Mainichi Interactive, ’02)

Thailand now has laws that send those guilty of child prostitution and child pornography away for up to 15 years, instead of only imposing fines on such offenders.

Of all the pornography related crimes in Russia, the one with the most severe punishment is Article 135, that of lewd conduct. In Russia, violations of article 242 of the Russian Federation’s Criminal Code is “punishable by a fine in the amount of from 500 to 800 times the amount of the minimal labor wage or in the amount of the labor wage or other income of the convicted person for a period from 5 to 8 months, or by imprisonment for a term of up to 2 years” (“Russia”, online). Lewd conduct is punishable by fine in the amount of from 300 to 500 times the minimal amount of the labor wage, or in the amount of the labor wage or other income of the convicted person for a period of from 3 to five (5) months, or by limitation of freedom for a term of up to two (2) years, or by imprisonment for a term of up to three (3) years.' Forcing an individual to commit actions of a sexual nature as defined by Article 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is a less severe crime. It is “punishable by fine in the amount of from 200 to 300 times the amount of the minimal labor wage or in the amount of the labor wage or other income of the convicted person for a period of from 2 to 3 months, or by correctional work for a term of up to 2 years, or by imprisonment for a term of up to 1 year” (“Russia”, online). Committing sexual relations and other actions of a sexual nature with a person under the age of sixteen (16) is another severe offence. Not at all taken lightly, Article 134, “punishable by limitation of freedom for a term of up to three years, or by imprisonment for a term of up to four years (“Russia”, online).