Criminal charges related to child pornography are difficult to deal with for several reasons. These charges often carry harsh penalties, and the stigma defendants face, even when charges do not stick, can be overwhelming. Talk to a lawyer about how you can defend yourself.
An attorney can help you review your case and determine which defense strategies might be the most effective in your case. Perhaps the alleged pornographic material was seized illegally and should not be used against you. Maybe the supposed child porn was found on your computer, but you were not the one who downloaded it, and you did not know it was there. Even if refuting the existence of child pornography is not possible, you can defend against prosecutors trying to overcharge you. Perhaps you are charged with distributing child pornography when the alleged pornographic material was never actually distributed. We can help you fight to reduce your charges. In some cases, there is no child porn, and the whole thing is a terrible misunderstanding.
Ask our Atlantic City child pornography possession lawyers for a free, private case evaluation immediately by calling the Law Offices of John J. Zarych at (609) 616-4956.
What if the Pornographic Materials Did Not Actually Depict Children in Your NJ Child Porn Case?
One possibility is that pornographic material was indeed found in your possession, but none of it depicts children. This can be a problem when people have pornography in their possession that depicts adults who appear to be young. When pornographic material appears to show minors, there is a rebuttable legal presumption that they are under 18.
However, you can rebut this if you have evidence that they are an adult. It is not a defense that you mistakenly believed the person in the pornographic material to be an adult even though they were not. This means that even if you downloaded pornographic material from a legitimate website, and that website guaranteed that all content depicted adults, you can still be charged if someone under 18 was involved.
Even so, this might be a way to rebut the above-mentioned presumption. Legitimate production studios of adult content often take steps to verify a pornographic actor’s age. If you downloaded their content and are now being charged with possession of child porn, we might reach out to the website or production studio to get some answers. It is possible we can verify the ages of all parties depicted in the pornographic material.
Defending Yourself Against Illegal Searches in NJ Child Porn Cases
One important consideration in any defense strategy is the behavior of law enforcement. The police have a lot of power, and it might feel like they can walk all over your rights in the name of their criminal investigation. In reality, police power is more limited, and an overreach of authority might lead to serious violations of your rights that our NJ child pornography possession lawyers can use to build your defense.
One important aspect of police power is their power to search private property and seize evidence. While the police often do this as part of criminal investigations related to child pornography, they can only do so under certain circumstances. In short, the police must have a search warrant. They need a valid exception to the warrant requirement if there is no warrant. If there is no exception, their action might be deemed unlawful.
If the police search your property and seize your belongings unlawfully, the evidence they seize is tainted and should be excluded from your trial. We can file pretrial motions to suppress tainted evidence. If enough evidence is excluded or key evidence that serves as the lynchpin of the prosecutor’s case is excluded, the case against you might be greatly weakened. In some cases, prosecutors drop charges because they no longer have enough evidence to support them.
What if You Did Not Know You Had Child Pornography in Your Possession in NJ?
According to N.J.S.A. § 2C:24-4(b)(5)(a), a person may be charged with a crime if they knowingly possess with the intent to distribute, store, maintain, or distribute child pornography. A person may also be charged for knowingly possessing, viewing, or otherwise having under their control an article of child porn. The key word here is “knowingly.” Perhaps the police discovered child pornography in your possession, but you have no idea where it came from. If that is the case, we can challenge your charges by arguing that your possession of the illicit materials was unknowing.
This problem is not unheard of. Many people are shocked to find that their computers are being used to store child pornography. Often, this situation arises when multiple people have access to the same computer. Perhaps you allow your roommate to use your laptop, and they have been using it to download child pornography without your knowledge. Hiding files on a computer is not difficult, and it is easy to conceal the illicit files from others. This may be a defense to charges for simple possession, but likely will not make sense as a defense to distribution charges.
If this scenario sounds similar to what is happening to you, your best bet might be to cooperate with the police and allow them to search your computer just make sure you contact an attorney first. We should make it a point to hand your computer over to the police before someone else can erase any evidence. Police departments often have skilled forensic investigators who know how to search computers for digital evidence. They might determine precisely when certain illicit materials were downloaded. We might build a strong defense if we prove you were not using the computer at that time.
How to Fight Overcharging in Child Pornography Cases in NJ
Sometimes, criminal charges cannot be completely refuted. Rather than eliminating all criminal charges, your better option might be to focus on reducing charges and penalties. This might be a viable defense tactic if prosecutors overcharge you.
Crimes involving child pornography tend to be emotionally charged. Law enforcement often investigates these crimes quite vigorously, and prosecutors might impose charges greater than the evidence warrants. For example, a defendant might be found to be in possession of child pornography on their computer, but the prosecutor charges them with possession and distribution or even manufacturing the illicit materials.
If you are facing severe charges that the evidence cannot support, we can work to eliminate or reduce them to something more appropriate. If a defendant possessed articles of child pornography but did nothing else, they should be charged with nothing else.
Contact Our NJ Child Pornography Possession Lawyers Immediately
Ask our NJ child pornography possession lawyers for a free, private case evaluation immediately by calling the Law Offices of John J. Zarych at (609) 616-4956.
