I am a convicted felon writing this
letter as a prisoner in a federal correctional institution. I'm
currently serving 41 months (3 years, 5 months) for 1 count
possession of child pornography. Upon my release I will have to
register as a sex offender living under a lifetime of supervision,
but I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
My name is Johnston Blackhorse, I'm a
33 year old Navajo Native American. I was a professional animator and
graphic designer for a video slot machine company in Las Vegas
earning 60k a year and would often do freelance animation and design
under my own name or the family signature “BLKhorse”.
Aside from my professional and
freelance animation/design work I was a small-time pornography artist
drawing under the names: Rule34Rox, Bhawk and Natas_01 formerly known
as Natis_01 (both pronounced nay-tis underscore zero one). To appease
the demanding student loan powers that be I drew all sorts of porn
using these names to supplement my income.
As Rule34Rox I drew rule 34 porn.
“Rule 34” refers to a joke list of rules concerning the internet.
In this list, rule 34 of the internet states; if it exists, there is
porn of it. This means I would draw pornographic parodies of existing
cartoons, video games and comic book characters.
As Bhawk I drew furry porn, meaning I
drew anthropomorphic (humanized) animals and beasts having sex. Don't
knock it! It helped pay my bills.
As Natas_01/Natis_01 I drew loli
(short for lolita) art which is pornographic drawings of young girls
having sex or in other words, I drew child pornography art. Rest
assured I never used any real children or photos of children in the
production of my loli art making it completely fictional.
I want to make it clear, I'm not in
prison for my loli art (child pornography drawings). I'm in prison
for possessing real child pornography. How I had come to possess real
child porn is a long story so I'll attempt to make the summary as
brief as possible.
I've been drawing for as long as I can
remember but developed an early fascination with pornography after
being in several inappropriate situations as a child and thus began
drawing my own porn. When I learned of pornographic artwork and
animations it thrilled and inspired me more. I enjoyed viewing drawn
porn and drawing my own porn because not only did it peak my artistic
interests, I found it sexually stimulating.
Throughout the years as I grew I kept
my pornographic drawings a secret for fear of ridicule and punishment
but later found acceptance among the online community where I
received praise and commissions for my work. With the internet I was
able to maintain anonymity so I kept drawing and sharing.
Eventually I came to know a woman,
though she had no idea of my loli art she expressed to me her disdain
of such artwork and informed me of it's supposed illegality. It was
then I quit drawing loli art, retired the name Natis_01 and withdrew
from the loli art community to begin a relationship with this woman.
In the fourth year of this (my first)
relationship I became unhappy, but rather than resolve my issues or
end my relationship, I turned to alcohol. Being drunk I sought
familiar erotic comfort in the pornographic art I enjoyed in the past
and secretly began viewing loli art on the internet again.
One night I became blackout drunk
during one of my loli art viewing sessions and passed out at my
computer. I was later shaken awake by my girlfriend who exclaimed I
was looking at child porn and it was then I confessed to being a
former loli artist. Needless to say our relationship was over at that
point. She soon moved out and notified the feds afterwards.
In the months to follow my ex would
continue to call, text and email me to deliver verbal abuse and
psychological torture, but above all she would contact me to extort
money. As this pattern continued I slipped deeper into an alcohol
fueled depression until my ex talked me into suicide.
It was at my weakest moment I began to
think; if viewing and drawing loli art got me in this much trouble I
may as well see the real thing before I kill myself. I then proceeded
to search for and download real child pornography using file sharing
software. Shortly thereafter I was arrested and later informed my
artwork wouldn't have gotten me in trouble since there are no victims
involved in my loli art.
So long story short; I was a
heartbroken, depressed, drunk and suicidal pervert who downloaded
real child pornography and wound up in prison for it.
To get a more detailed account of my
story in comic strip form check out my blog at
johnstonblackhorsetheoneandonly.blogspot.com which is managed by my
lovely sister. Give it a visit, have a few laughs, shed a few tears,
leave an anonymous comment to share your thoughts and keep the
discussion going.
Before I continue I want to apologize
in advance for my humor, which might be offensive to some, but it's my
coping mechanism. If I didn't poke fun at my own predicament I
wouldn't be alive today, yet some people don't understand this. I
don't want to seem like I'm not remorseful for my crime because I am
and I've shed my tears and shared my grief with those closest to me
who have stuck by my side. I've rebound from a very dark mindset
coping the best way to know how and that's through laughter.
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Purse.
Purse who?
Pursuant to Meagon's Law I'm required
to inform you I am a convicted sex offender
(again, I apologize).
Anyway, the purpose of this letter
(I'm hoping becomes an article *fingers crossed*) is to address the
overcriminalization of sex offenders in this country, especially
those charged with either receipt, possession or distribution of
child porn found on the internet.
I know the topic of internet child
porn is a very sensitive issue but because it is a highly sensitive
issue we are too quick to give complete control of the matter to
conservative lawmakers and government officials just to free
ourselves from the discomfort. We have turned a blind eye to this
topic for far too long allowing lawmakers to enact overbearing laws
and punishments, though well meaning, are doing more harm than the
good that was intended.
I understand these laws were meant to
be deterrents to help prevent the possession and distribution of
internet child porn but when these strict laws were enacted I doubt
lawmakers had the foresight to predict how widespread and accessible
this illegal content would be.
Technology and internet technologies
are advancing every year at an exponential rate much faster than
lawmakers can keep up thus rendering many of these laws archaic and
draconian. With today's technology and the internet anyone can
unintentionally come to possess internet child porn. It's because of
this unfortunate matter-of-fact coupled with current laws that
results in too many average people winding up in prison whose only
guilt is their haphazard websurfing or habitual arbitrary downloads
which we are all guilty of at one point or another (some of us on a
constant daily basis...you know who you are).
I'm sure many people out there would
prefer to remain in their comfortable ignorance but I believe this
overcriminalization has led to many innocent people needlessly being
swept into the prison system and there will be many more to follow
unless we change these overbearing laws.
Now when I say “innocent people”
I'm not referring to myself for there is no denying the fact I did
knowingly download internet child pornography. The people I'm
referring to as innocent are the many individuals sitting in prisons
who were bullied into signing guilty plea agreements after the
massive manipulative misconstrusion of meager evidence that was used
against them by conviction hungry prosecutors.
The problem facing those charged with
possessing internet child porn is since this subject matter is
considered so abhorrent these individuals are arrested, bullied into
plea deals, convicted and sentenced to prison without a second
thought to the circumstance of their offense. When, in fact, there are
many individuals who unintentionally come into possession of internet
child porn. Yet they suffer more, if not the same punishments, as a
hands-on child molester or producer of real child pornography.
The
reason for this is since real child porn displays the sexual abuse,
exploitation and victimization of real children this material carries
the stigma that whomever is caught with child porn or anything
likened to child porn is believed to be capable and willing to commit
the acts portrayed in these images when that is simply not true in
the major majority of these cases.
There are many people who accidentally
access a child porn website or unknowingly download child porn
content, yet to the prosecutors and judges involved, this is enough to
label these unfortunate people monsters, child porn addicts and
dangerous risks to society and children. With these laws up for
interpretation by crooked conviction hungry prosecutors and
heavy-handed judges it has become open season on anyone who seems to
have committed a child porn offense.
When someone comes into possession of
internet child porn they are eventually arrested and brought to court
where they become defendants facing serious criminal charges. In
federal court defendants are assigned public defenders who often put
forth minimal effort in defending their clients, the defendants.
Thus, allowing prosecutors to use whatever intimidation tactics they
see fit in order to bully defendants into signing guilty plea
agreements. In many cases, defendants will sign years of their
freedom away rather than risk facing longer prison sentences if they
were to choose to fight their case whether or not their possession of
child porn was intentional.
After a plea deal is signed
prosecutors begin to argue through conjectural allegations that since
these defendants are guilty of possessing real child porn they are
one step away from perpetrating a hands-on offense with a real child
victim and therefore deserving of a longer prison sentence for being
“at risk.” So for the sake of these non-existent hypothetical
victims heavy-handed judges render their verdict effectively tearing
apart real families in order to put these so called “sex offenders”
in prison for possessing images and extending their prison sentences
based on speculation of a violent crime they are “at risk” of
committing.
I don't know about you but preemptive
incarceration by extending a prison sentence for a crime not
committed sounds very unconstitutional to me...and speaking from
first-hand experience it feels very unconstitutional. I had signed a
guilty plea agreement for two years in prison but since I'm
considered “at risk” of becoming a hands-on sex offender the
federal court saw fit to extend my sentence by one year and five
months for a crime not committed. No matter how you slice it,
extending a prison sentence for fear someone might commit a more
serious offense based on conjecture seems unjustified, but hey, maybe
that's just me.
Now I want to make it clear, I'm not
in support of real child pornography or the producers responsible for
making such content. As a convicted sex offender who knows he was
guilty of possessing real child porn, I'm speaking out against the
overgeneralization of sex offenses leading to the overcriminalization
of sex offenders, thus causing the use of prison as punishment for the
mere receipt, possession or distribution of child pornography. I'm
against the justice system's views of what constitutes as a sex
offense, the hasty erroneous assumptions of what “sex offenders”
might be capable of, the court systems overzealous pursuit of
convictions behind the guise of protecting children and the
unjustified fear and intimidation tactics used by law enforcement and
our so called justice system that has led to the needless mass
incarceration of many non-violent first time offenders.
I know a lot of you are probably
thinking, “Of course this guy is speaking out against
overcriminalizing sex offenders. He's only sorry he got caught with
internet child porn and just wants to get out sooner so he can
re-offend. The perv!”
That's not true... Well, everything
except the “perv” part. I have to admit I am pretty perverse when
it comes to a lot of the pornographic art I produced. Like this loli
character I created named, “Slutty Suzy Stickypants” who I based
on a popular cartoon character with a similar name. This loli
character was so popular that she spawned her own erotic fan-fiction
which is a pretty interesting read. I enjoyed the fan-fiction so much
I agreed to draw fan art of one of the many supporting characters.
It's kind of weird when you think about it because I drew fan-art for
a fan-fiction written by a fan of a drawing I drew.
However, I've digressed. Where was I?
Oh, yeah! Yes, I am perverse and yes, I downloaded real internet
child pornography in a drunken suicidal depressive state, but being
arrested and placed under house arrest during my one year court
process is probably the best thing that has happened to me in years.
It was during my one year of house
arrest with the support of close family and friends along with
voluntary group therapy I was able to pull myself out of suicidal
depression, lose 80 pounds of unhealthy weight, quit smoking, quit
drinking, write a manuscript of short stories, begin writing a second
manuscript, start sketching a graphic novel and I even taught myself
how to juggle... I had a lot of time on my hands.
Despite all my vast improvements in
physical and mental health as well as conquering my self-destructive
habits, I was still sentenced to prison where all my progress has
ground to a screeching halt. In prison any self improvements can only
move forward at a snail's pace done on the prison's time by the
prison's schedule surrounded by prisoners, many of whom, don't take
too kindly to sex offenders. As far as I've seen, prison only serves
to hinder rehabilitation, not assist it.
Don't get me wrong. Prison is a fine
place for those guilty of severe heinous crimes such as: murder,
rape, excessive violence, armed robbery, and to a lesser extent,
identity theft... Those jerks.
Prison is the bee's knees for these
severe offenders and I speak from first-hand experience. I never have
to face the indecision of what to wear as long as I'm always in the
mood to wear prison uniforms. I'm given a great place to sleep in the
form of a bunk which I really appreciate (my ex took my memory foam
bed leaving me to sleep on the floor for one year after our break up
and the one year during my house arrest...I was too broke from paying
bills and my ex's extortion money to buy a new one). The prison food
is okay when it's not spoiled but the milk at breakfast is always a
crapshoot since it's either spoiled or on the verge of spoiling. The
healthcare is also...not non-existent? But really, if you end up in
prison don't get sick or your two year sentence will become a death
sentence. (Ha it's funny 'cause it's true. No seriously there are
people dying in here). And thanks to PREA (the Prison Rape
Elimination Act) prison rape is down by what I assume is some large
percent because I've dropped the soap a countless number of times
during my incarceration and haven't been sodomized yet (knock on
wood). I guess I'm not too pretty for prison after all...please don't
rape me.
So prison is a fine place for the
worst of the worst but is the mere receipt, possession or
distribution of images really prison worthy trespass where one is put
on supervised release for 5 years to life afterwards and labeled a
sex offender for the rest of one's days?
In the past I didn't have an opinion
and when I caught my case and received my sentence I accepted prison
because who was I to argue against the federal justice system? It's
only after I came to know other defendants and inmates charged with
similar sex offenses that I have came to the conclusion, prison is
too excessive a punishment for a low level sex offense.
I believe wholeheartedly people guilty
of a non-violent sex offense are much better served on house arrest
where they can be surrounded by a support net of close family and
friends, have access to proper therapy and healthcare needed and all
the while continue to be productive members of society.
There are many people in prison for
non-violent and victim-less sex offenses who are first time offenders
with no criminal record or history of violence but the problem is
those found guilty of possessing child porn are considered violent
sex offenders due to the nature of these images and the victims
involved in the production of this content.
I would understand this reasoning if
someone were guilty of the immediate sexual abuse of a victim in
these images or was in some way directly involved with the production
of real child porn. But these people are so many degrees removed from
the direct production and victimization that charging these
individuals as violent sex offenders is superfluous, especially for
those whose child porn possession was unintended.
Furthermore, how can one be considered
a violent offender when there was no malice of forethought in
committing a violent offense when one is unaware of the illicit
content on the other end of a simple mouse click or keystroke? Should
a keystroke be equated with unwanted physical contact?Is a mouse
click analogous to uninvited sexual penetration? Should we all face a
prison sentence for our supposed violent offenses every time we sit
at a computer?
About those that have an admitted
child porn addiction, many of them attest to having no desire to go
hands-on with a first-hand victim since they themselves were former
victims of childhood sexual abuse. For those individuals, prison only
serves to agitate their addictions where they mingle with some of the
more severe child porn addicts and hands-on child molesters who boast
about their child porn collections or brag about their sexually
abusive acts involving minors. Worse yet these negative influences
instruct other offenders in how not to get caught so easily if they
choose to re-offend or encourage them to go much further with lurid
detailed stories of their former illicit sexual exploits.
Yes, there are individuals truly guilty
of their possession of child porn and many of them admit to having an
addiction to child porn but prison is no place to receive treatment
for these addictions. There are some offenders in prison who sought
help on the outside but there is little aid for these addictions in
the free world and due to mandatory reporting laws many of those
seeking help were quickly apprehended, prosecuted, convicted and
placed in prison.
I'm sure there are hundreds of
thousands if not millions of individuals in the free world who
suffer from an addiction to child porn but are too afraid of these
mandatory reporting laws concerning child porn that result in
persecution, prosecution and incarceration thus leaving them to
suffer in their quiet solitude allowing their addictions to go
untreated and unchecked.
Should prison really be considered for
those caught with child pornography or those who willingly come
forward seeking help for child porn addiction? Should prison be
considered at all for a sex offense where there was no sexual contact
between two parties or no sexual abuse of an immediate victim?
I'll share three glaring examples of
the many cases in which I believe prison is severely unnecessary.
Read them and judge for yourself whether or not these prison
sentences are justified.
* * *
There is a young man, let's call him
“Jay”, who is 22 years old, serving 6 years in prison after being
arrested at 18 for 7 child porn images he mistakenly downloaded at
age 16.
When Jay was 16 he, like any other
hormonal computer savvy teenage boy, had an interest in pornography
and used his laptop to download pornography images via free file
sharing software available to anyone owning a computer with an
internet connection. Unfortunately in Jay's mass arbitrary download
of hundreds of pornographic images he had unwittingly downloaded 7
child porn images. Upon realizing his mistake, Jay deleted all
pornography without viewing any of these images so as not to risk
exposing himself to any illicit content but the feds had tracked the
download. Shortly after Jay's 18th birthday he was arrested and would
spend the next 3 years on house arrest for the duration of his case.
During his court process Jay's
prosecutor first offered a plea deal of 3 years in prison to which
the judge, overseeing this case, threw out stating it was too harsh a
sentence for one so young. The persecutor agreed to return with a new
plea agreement with less severe penalties but instead waited knowing
this judge was close to retirement.
The prosecutor sat on Jay's case for
years until the first judge retired and was replaced with a new judge
who wasn't so lenient when it came to sex offense involving child
porn. It was then the prosecutor returned with the new plea agreement
bearing a prison sentence for 6 years to which the new judge found
reasonable. Jay not wanting to risk a longer prison sentence had no
chance but to sign this harsher plea deal.
After 3 years of house arrest, Jay at
21 was sentenced to 6 years in prison with 5 years probation for 7
images he mistakenly downloaded at age 16. Images that to this day he
has not seen with his own eyes.
The young man was completely unaware
of the illegal content he had downloaded but was quick to delete
those files after realizing his blunder and in those 2 years leading
up to his arrest at age 18 had no repeated incidence of this nature
nor did he violate during his 3 years house arrest. Jay admits he had
pornography addiction but it's only to regular legal porn he was
addicted. He finds the idea of child porn or any form of pedophilia
so detestable that when confronted with the evidence being used
against him he refused to expose himself to any of the 7 images he
mistakenly downloaded all those years ago.
Personally I believe Jay is in need of
some counseling for his pornography addiction but as far as
reprimanding goes for his offense, what do you think? Does Jay sound
like a man who deserves to suffer prison for an honest mistake?
* * *
This next case involves a man in his
late 30's, let's call him “Wayne”, who was sentenced to 15 years
for 2 child porn images.
Wayne is a Native American who had
served 3 years in the regular Army and 5 years in the National Guard
before settling down, getting married and having 3 children. Wayne
was computer illiterate but was taught by his wife how to use their
family computer. She helped him create his own personal folder and
taught him how to surf the web and download images to his personal
folder. As Wayne became more accustomed to using the family computer
and being an admitted “leg-man” he began to download female
celebrity leg photos to his personal folder which is pretty average
male behavior (I'm a Japanese anime/manga T&A man myself but
that's probably not that average...yeah it's a pretty safe bet I'll
be single for a long while after this).
One day Wayne noticed several new
images downloaded to his personal folder he didn't recognize. Wayne
opened the first of these images and saw it was a selfie photo of an
underage teen female. As Wayne opened a few more of these selfie
photos he realized the racy nature of these images, immediately
stopped viewing them and deleted his entire personal folder
determined to dispose of all these questionable photos. With his
folder and the selfies deleted, Wayne thought that would be the end
of it but he was arrested soon after.
Warrant-less, law enforcement took
Wayne and the family computer into custody, collecting all images
from the computer including the images in Wayne's deleted personal
folder. Unknown to Wayne, law enforcement has the ability to
un-delete images for use as evidence. Using this technology law
enforcement was able to gather a total of about 12,000 images from
the family computer, 15 of which were the selfie photos of the
underage teen female recovered from Wayne's deleted personal folder
and of these 15 only 2 were considered pornographic.
Now think about that for a minute. Law
enforcement was able to gather 12,000 images and only 2 were
considered pornographic and just to underline the bias nature of
these cases the other 11,998 images consisting of photos of Wayne's
family, friends, home, vehicles, landscape and downloaded celebrity
leg shots were all considered “erotica”. It just goes to show,
once you are suspected of possessing child porn you are no longer
seen as an average person but instead viewed as a sexual deviant in
the eyes of the court. Nevertheless Wayne's lawyer fought hard for
him in his local tribal court and just as it seemed he was cleared of
all the charges...the feds swooped in and picked up Wayne and his
case.
Once Wayne's case went federal, what
seemed like an assured victory turned into utter defeat. What came to
follow is a disturbing display of the massive misconstruction the
federal justice system will utilize in order to gain a conviction.
Wayne's federal prosecutor took the
details of Wayne's case and distorted the truth in order to suit her
want for a conviction. Remember the 12,000 images law enforcement
gathered and only 2 were labeled child porn? Well the local
newspapers in Wayne's district would later read, “local man, Wayne,
found with child pornography, over 12,000 images found”.
Technically the facts are correct, but the wording is extremely
misleading. Regardless, Wayne's federal prosecutor used these dirty
tactics with threats of a longer prison sentence to pressure Wayne
into signing a plea deal.
Another factor working against Wayne
is the federal public defender assigned to him refused to fight as
hard as his local tribal lawyer. Wayne's lawyer was astonished at the
public defender's inability to get Wayne's charges dropped despite
having all the necessary notes and paperwork to do so. Instead, it
seemed the federal public defender served Wayne up on a silver
platter allowing the federal prosecutor to steamroll him into a plea
agreement of 15 years. The only reason Wayne bears the burden of
possessing 2 images of child porn is the generalized fact these
images were recovered from his deleted folder on a family computer
that was accessible to anyone, friends and family alike.
The most disturbing fact in Wayne's
case which some of you might have glazed over is the warrant-less
arrest and seizure of Wayne and the family computer. Wayne has spent
2.5 years in prison with still no warrant for either his arrest or
the seizure of the family computer.
Wayne is a happily married husband and
father of 3 who served 8 years in the US armed forces. His only
proclivity was admiring leg-shot photos of legal aged celebrities.
Does Wayne seem like a man addicted to child porn or pornography in
general? Keep in mind that out of 12,000 images seized there were
only 2 pornographic selfies of an under-aged teen female that Wayne
attests to not downloading personally. Does Wayne deserve his 15
years in prison or any prison time at all?
* * *
Another case relayed to me, if it be
true, is an extreme example of the massive manipulative
misconstrusion the federal justice system is capable of. If it not be
true, this story isn't a far cry from where the justice system is
heading.
This case involves an elderly
gentleman 73 years young, let's call him “Casey”, arrested by the
US marshals for the alleged possession of child pornography. When
Casey demanded to see the supposed evidence being used against him
the marshals produced vacation photos of his grandchildren. Vacation
photos taken by his wife, the grandmother and his daughter, the
mother of his grandchildren at play in their swimsuits.
Casey exclaimed the charges were
ridiculous and attempted to leave. The marshals took this as
resisting arrest and proceeded to brutally beat Casey into
submission. Casey defended himself as best he could but was later
hospitalized with severe bruises, fractured ribs and a concussion.
After recovering from his injuries
Casey would attempt to fight his case still surprised the prosecutor
continued to misconstrue the vacation photos of his grandchildren as
child porn. On top of this he was being charged with endangering the
lives of the US marshals, who brutalized him, when he was “resisting
arrest”.
Eventually Casey being of such
advanced age agreed to sign a plea deal for the minimum amount of
prison time available to him. He is expecting to serve 12-15 years in
prison for possessing photos of his grandchildren misconstrued as
child porn and resisting arrest.
If this case be true, has the
overcriminalization of child porn become so bad that grandparents and
parents are at risk of being arrested, prosecuted and convicted for
possessing innocent photos of their children or grandchildren? If
this is really the case, a photo of a child needn't be pornographic
to be labeled child porn.
In these few examples are these men
really deserving of a prison sentence? This is just a very small
example of the egregious miscarriage of justice in the federal court
system when dealing with people who are seen as sex offenders. How
many more of these cases are in this prison that I am in? In this
state? This country?
I also believe the tactics and
practices of these prosecutors have to be called into question.
Prosecutors working with impunity are too willing to use highly
questionable tactics to gain a conviction. In the many cases I have
come into contact with so far I have seen the manipulation of
evidence, the misconstrusion of the truth, the fabrication of
testimony, the coercion of false testimony and the relocation and
padding of evidence from one case to another making defendants appear
worse than they actually are.
These crooked prosecutors must face
serious inquiry for when they use these unjust tactics to fulfill
their want for more convictions they not only destabilize the lives
of defendants, they also tear apart families, effectively destroying
family support structures impacting all lives involved.
Prosecutors are are supposed to use
truth in the pursuit of justice, not the misconstrusion of the truth
and manipulation of evidence in pursuit of convictions. The pursuit
of justice and the pursuit of convictions are two very different
things but it seems many prosecutors are unaware of the difference.
We hold these people in their position
of law up to a higher standard of morals and justice. When
prosecutors are found guilty of using unethical tactics in pursuit of
convictions they should have to face prison sentences themselves for
the unjust ruining of lives. Besides, these prosecutors don't have
the criminal mindset to cover up the traces of their misdeeds so I'm
sure simple cross-reference of their files and cases should bring to
light the extent of their violations.
I'm sure, if we take away prosecutors'
impunity we will have fewer people like Jay, Wayne and Casey in
prison.
Aside from federal prosecutors'
rampant miscarriage of justice, the major underlying issue here is
fear. When we hear the words “sex offender” we automatically
assume the worst of the worst because we are conditioned to think of
rapists and hands-on child molesters when we hear this phrase uttered
thanks to fear marketing by today's media.
Thanks to fear marketing we believe
the overcriminalization and imprisonment of individuals caught with
child porn is justified because fear leads us to the hasty conclusion
that these offenders will eventually commit a violent hands-on
offense when that is simply not the case. Through fear, society had
attained an unwillingness to bear the burden of understanding and
seeking proper treatment for anyone remotely accused of committing a
sex offense. As a result we give into common misconceptions becoming
all too comfortable with the ill-conceived notion of using prison as
a “cure-all” for any lewd conduct akin to sexual behavior deemed
unfit for society by conservative law-makers and the US justice
system.
When it comes to sex offenders in
federal court it seems there is no innocence before proven guilty.
Guilt is already assumed where one has to prove their innocence,
making the federal justice system an assembly line of convictions.
In order to better handle these cases
and to it no more families are needlessly torn apart we have to
discuss these matters to understand this problem, dispelling these
misconceptions so we can seek proper solutions rather then sweeping
all these individuals into prisons en masse.
My goal is to stop this runaway train
of convictions and overcriminalization by writing letters to
enlighten the people and change the minds of law-makers. So let's
first disarm these conviction hungry prosecutors by dispelling the
misconceptions they utilize in court, shall we?
Misconception #1: Those who come
in contact with internet child porn were searching for internet child
porn.
The first misconception we'll address
is the idea that all those found with internet child porn were aware
of or actively searching for internet child porn when in fact there
are countless individuals who stumble upon this material through
haphazard web-surfing or arbitrary downloads on P2P (Peer to Peer)
file sharing networks.
In haphazard web-surfing an individual
might click on a web-link not knowing where it leads only to be taken
to a child porn website. Unbeknownst to the individual in that
instant the computer has automatically downloaded and stored the
child porn images from that website to the computer's internet memory
cache. By interpretation of the law that person is now guilty of
possessing child pornography.
But, how can one be held accountable
for the automatic functions of their computer or the websites they
come in contact with? For people who surf adult websites one
of the hazards are pop-up (or pop-under) browser windows which lead
to more adult websites. This is an automatic function of many adult
sites which sometimes triggers a chain reaction of more pop-up adult
sites with some featuring very illicit pornography.
So again, how can one be responsible
for the automatic functions of technology in the instance one's tech
leads them to websites they didn't intend to see?
Makes me wonder what tied-down
bureaucratic zealot will impose a law making the browsing of
pornographic websites illegal. I wonder who would adhere to such a
stringent law?...NOBODY, THAT' WHO! Come on, I am not going to stop
viewing porn. Not only have I drawn porn to supplement my income but
I'm sure pornography and a bottle of lotion is going to be the
closest I'll ever get to being intimate with another woman again once
I become a registered sex offender. Yes, my hopes for another
relationship after prison are very minute, but I've come to terms
with that...I should consider buying stock in Kleenex and Jergens
when I get out. Sigh Moving on.
For those found of P2P file sharing
networks such as Limewire or Torrent an individual in the habit of
arbitrary downloads might unknowingly select a file containing child
porn and be completely unaware of the illegal content being
downloaded.
When using P2P file sharing software
there are no preview images to display the content of a file before
download. All a P2P user has to go on is a title and small
description of the file which is provided by other users of the P2P
network. Often a file containing child porn content will have a vague
title or small description giving little to no clues as to its
illegal content unless one is aware of specific the keywords used to
describe this material.
I doubt everyone is aware of keywords
such as: LS magazine, BD Magazine, r@ygold and pthc. These are just a
few examples of the terms used to download real child porn which are
all pretty vague unless you know what these terms mean. I didn't even
know their meaning until I looked them up at urbandictionary.com
during my drunken suicidal episode, but be warned these are only a
few of the keywords used to search for real child pornography.
A user of P2P file-sharing software is
at greater risk for multiple criminal charges due to the fact that
once an illegal file is begins downloading it automatically starts
sharing that same file among the P2P network during and after the
download process. Once the download of an illegal file is complete a
P2P user by interpretation of the law is guilty of receipt,
possession and distribution of child pornography whether or not the
user was aware of the illegal content being downloaded and uploaded.
Well depending on certain files one
can't be sure of what the content is until the file has completed
it's download so how can one be guilty of receipt, possession or
distribution of child porn when they were unaware of the content of
the files being downloaded/uploaded? Furthermore, how can once be
held responsible for the automatic functions of file-sharing software
used when it begins to upload and share unknown illegal content
through its automated programming?
Misconception 2: Those who
posses child porn paid for it.
Another common misconception used in
the court is the false idea that all those found in possession of
child pornography had purchased this illegal material when in fact
child porn is widely available for free on the internet and P2P
networks.
The reason many child pornography
cases go federal is due to the use of a computer with internet access
causing the child porn in question to cross state lines where the
federal argument is; when illegal content crosses state lines via the
internet it effects interstate commerce thus falling under federal
jurisdiction.
Now I'm just a simple Navajo bumpkin
what knows how to draw real purdy 'n' such, but doesn't interstate
commerce or commerce in general entail a transfer of funds or monies
in exchange for a commodity or service? Yet, in all child porn cases
I have come across (including mine) there was no exchange of money
for child porn. So how can one effect interstate commerce with
something acquired for free?
Perhaps I'm too simple to figure it
out but there are prosecutors who argue the exchange of money for
internet child porn occurs when one in possession of internet child
porn pays for their internet connection.
Now that might be a valid argument,
however nobody pays for an internet connection for the sole purpose
of downloading child porn. They are paying for the general use of the
internet. Furthermore, internet service providers aren't in the
business of providing child porn. They are in the business of
connecting people to the internet. Therefore the argument of internet
child pornography effecting interstate commerce falls flat.
Misconception #3: A simple
deletion of illegal child porn content will prevent criminal charges
being filed.
To those who believe a simple deletion
of illegal content will prevent criminal charges, be warned that
deletion brings little relief.
Law enforcement utilizes special
recovery software that can locate deleted file fragments and resemble
them for use in court. Such is the case with Jay and Wayne who had
deleted what little child porn they had thinking it would rectify
their situation but the deleted file fragments of this child porn
only laid dormant in their computer hard drives until reassembled by
law enforcement software and used in court as if Jay and Wayne were
guilty of actively collecting this illegal content.
Well shouldn't the act of deleting an
illegal file be seen as an effort to right a wrong or correct a
mistake especially if there are rare or no other occurrences of this
nature? If the only evidence of child porn used in court had to be
recovered from deletion shouldn't the case be viewed in a different
light? Sounds reasonable to me.
Misconception #4: Only perverts
and pedophiles distribute child pornography.
All these misconceptions pale in
comparison to the outrageous fact that the FBI themselves are the
biggest distributors of the very same child porn content people are
getting arrested for.
It was very recently the FBI took
control of a child porn website. Instead of dismantling this illegal
site, the FBI managed it for 2 weeks distributing child porn hoping
to track whomever might download this content. The FBI has also been
distributing child pornography in vast quantities in P2P file sharing
network strings for some time now with the same goal of tracking
anyone who happens to download from their computers.
Are these tactics ethical? Should the
FBI be allowed to distribute mass quantities of child porn in order
to arrest anyone who might browse through or download their content?
Whatever the case may be, these
tactics are ridiculous because in essence the FBI is chasing the same
sinister shadow that they themselves are guilty of casting. How can
we trust a federal justice system that condemns people for
downloading content that federal agents are distributing?
On top of this the FBI has been
compiling a list of millions of individuals who have come in contact
with FBI distributed child porn thus making a waiting list of unaware
people being primed for persecution and incarceration. Could you or a
loved one be on this list?
I know I speak for many others when I
say I'll probably never trust another government agent or government
authority again...those dirty child porn peddlers (That's right! I
said it! What are they going to do? Throw me in prison? Ha!)
At this point I believe something
needs to be said about the sex offender registry. The sex offender
registry's original purpose was to track and monitor predatory sex
offenders guilty of hands-on sexual abuse. Presently the registry has
been expanded to include all sex offenders causing the registry and
authorities who monitor it to spread their resources thin rendering
the system useless.
The reason for this is the plain and
simple fact that one doesn't need to have sex or make sexual contact
to be labeled a sex offender. The registry is needlessly being used
on a massive number of non-predatory “sex offenders” ranging from
those found guilty based solely on hearsay those caught urinating
outdoors within city limits and those found simply with receipt,
possession and/or distribution of nothing more than images or videos.
Now people will argue when people view
child porn it re-victimizes the victims. Being a former victim myself, though
my abuse wasn't documented, I agree what happened to these victims is
horrible and shouldn't have happened but to say someone who downloads
this content actively re-victimizes these victims is an excessive
notion.
I understand the continued download
and sharing of this content may prolong these victims' emotional
suffering but if that's the case, shouldn't the FBI be held
responsible for the continued wide spread distribution of these
images from FBI run child porn websites and P2P file sharing stings?
Currently if a defendant is found
guilty of possessing child porn with an identified victim/victims the
defendant is required to pay restitutions to the victim/victims in a
dollar amount determined by the court which I assume is some high
number.
Requiring defendants to pay
restitutions to victims of child porn is a fine idea on paper but
what of the defendants who came into possession of child porn
unintentionally? What about cases in which the FBI was responsible
for the initial distribution? I know I'll be ridiculed for this next
question but I'll play devil's advocate; who's making sure some of
these former victims aren't distributing this content trying to gain
more restitutions?
So the idea of having defendants pay
restitutions to victims of child porn is a fine idea in theory but in
practice there are too many unknown variables and unintended
consequences.
Besides, I'm sure these former victims
grew more resentful toward the FBI for the constant reminders of
their childhood abuse whenever they are identified in a new child
porn case.
*Phone rings* Former victim of child
porn answers phone
Former Victim- “Hello?”
FBI Agent- “Hello, this is the FBI
calling. Is this (Former Victim's name)”
Former Victim- “Yes, this is she.
What's this about?”
FBI Agent- “Do you remember all those
images and videos made of your childhood sexual abuse?”
Former Victim- “I try to forget and
move on with my life but since you brought it up...Yes, I remember.
Why?”
FBI Agent- “Well we've arrested
another pervert with your images so we're calling to get a victim
statement and see if you want to seek restitutions.”
Former Victim- *exasperated sigh* “No.
I don't want anymore restitutions. I just want the FBI to stop the
spreading of these images so I can forget and move on with my life.”
FBI Agent- “Oh...whoops.”
Former Victim- “...What?”
FBI Agent- “Well in order to catch
people downloading your child porn we had to distribute your child
porn. ”
Former Victim- “WHAT!?”
FBI Agent - “Yeah, it's made our job
a whole lot easier. We distributed your child porn to hundreds of
thousands of people, tracked some of the downloads and made a few
arrests so far, but don't worry. We'll get all these perverts
someday. We just called to let you know we caught another pervert
and we'll probably call again soon for another victim statement. Bye.
”
*CLICK*
Former Victim- “...”
These former victims needn't be
reminded of their traumatic past and should be left out of the FBI
investigative process. If anything, these victims should be given
government issued trust funds with a college grant so they can move
on with their lives. If restitutions are still needed, I believe the
FBI should pay the majority of that bill for their exploitative use
and distribution of victims' pain and suffering to make arrests.
If I'm wrong then the FBI can cry me a
river and I'll sail any on the S.S. Boohoo. I know I sound like a
dick but what do I care at this point? I'm a convicted felon
sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release as a sex offender.
People are always going to have a low opinion of me right off the bat
so I may as well call it like I see it and be a dick about it too.
*sigh* I'm so going to get shot and/or stabbed.
Well as long as I'm discussing common
misconceptions, outrageous truths and criticizing hypocritical FBI
tactics I may as well bring up another disturbing trend that has been
weighing on my mind since I learned of it several weeks ago.
I've learned there have been several
individuals going to prison for fictional child pornography drawings
much like the drawings I produced as the loli artist Natis_01. Even
though real children or photos of real children aren't utilized in
the production of this art, people are still going to prison over
victim-less artwork due to a law called the 2003 Protect Act.
This 2003 Protect Act is an obscenity
law making any drawing, painting, sculpture or literary work illegal
if deemed obscene by the government. In the past, as long as child
pornography artwork didn't utilize real children in its production it
didn't qualify as child porn making it not illegal.
The 2003 Protect Act makes the
possession or production of child porn art, even the possession of
Japanese adult cartoons or artwork featuring fictional child
characters having sex, illegal. With this law in place a handful of
individuals have already gone to prison for the collecting or
production of this material in the US.
There are a few reasons I find the
2003 Protect Act very disturbing. First and foremost this Protect Act
tramples on my constitutional right to freedom of artistic expression
as an artist. Second is apparently the Protect Act was enacted back
in 2003 whereas I made my loli art debut as Natis_01 back in 2004,
oblivious to this new law making every fictional child porn drawing I
made as Natis_01 illegal (I guess my ex wasn't completely full of
crap after all..I might owe her an apology...a small one.) Third,
after I do my time in prison for my possession of real child
pornography I could get sent right back to prison for my fictional
child pornography artwork, if the government saw fit to do so.
In any case I want to ask, what is
this so called 2003 “Protect” Act protecting? It surely isn't the
constitutional rights of artists like myself and if you think it's
protecting children, I find that very naive and laughable.
Think about it. Real child pornography
is illegal, that's a given, but when you take away the victim-less
outlet that so many people who suffer from a perverse addiction
use...I shudder to think of what the more severe addicts might resort
to. With fictional child pornography art now as illegal as its real
life counterpart punishable by up to 20 years in prison coupled with
mandatory reporting laws in place if they were to come forward to
admit their addictions, severe pedophilia addicts might start
weighing the disturbing truth that those who commit an actual
hands-on rape, sexual abuse or molestation of an immediate child
victim suffer smaller prison sentences, usually within the realm of 5
years.
So in actuality this 2003 “Protect”
Act doesn't protect anything or anyone and should be abolished
immediately. For instance let's say there is a pedophilia addict who
is given the option between the victim-less outlet provided by
artists such as myself or real child pornography. Wouldn't you prefer
the addict chose the former rather than the real alternative? That's
what I've tried to provide as a loli artist is a victim-less outlet
to help curb or stop the exploitation and abuse of real children
...that, and I'm really good at loli art.
Besides, I'll be damned before I let
some overbearing bureaucratic law tell me what I can or can't create
as an artist. Sure loli art is only one of the genres I express
myself in, but a censorship in one genre is intolerable and to make
it illegal is going to far.
Once I've paid my debt to society for
the possession of real child porn I'm not going to stop creating loli
art. If the government wants to punish me for all the loli art I
produced since 2004 I'll be waiting right here in prison. (Come and
get me you conservative bureaucratic bigots!)
A great many of you might remain
incredulous to the things I've said so far but please take it upon
yourselves to look into these issues...except for those keywords I
mentioned. You're better off taking my word as fact concerning those
keywords lest you find yourself in the same boat (prison) I'm in.
After you've seen yourself how bad
this overcriminalization has become I think we can all agree that it
has to stop before it continues to get worse. How many people
continue to suffer or will suffer for an honest mistake or for
fictional artwork? Families are being torn apart for the needless
imprisonment of their loved ones over the mere receipt, possession or
distribution of images, real and fictional. People are going to
prison for fear of hypothetical future offenses that have a very low
risk of occurring. With prosecutors and judges willing to interpret
these present overbearing laws as they see fit, everyone is at risk
of being convicted as a sex offender and sent to prison. Could you or
one close to you be the next victim of this overcriminalization?
In conclusion, I must admit I've
struggled with writing this letter wondering if I should continue. My
selfish side tells me I should be grateful for the small amount of
prison time I was given and to keep my head down, do my time quietly
and be done with it. The compassionate side of me, however, looks
around and sees the unfair treatment of others with the same charge I
have but suffer more time for much less.
Too many of these individuals didn't
intend to possess child porn yet through intimidation tactics of
crooked prosecutors these people were bullied into signing years of
their freedom away. My heart goes out to these poor souls stuck in
prison and their families who continue to suffer without them in the
free world, all victims of the overcriminalization of sex offenders.
I know their suffering is unnecessary. Is it with compromising the
freedom of the many for the incarceration of the few?
Jay has been in prison for a full year
now. His family has traveled hundreds of miles to visit him every
weekend so far and has promised a visit every weekend in the future
until his release from prison. Jay misses his family dearly and wants
nothing more than to go home but still has 5 years left for his
arbitrary download of 7 child pornography images when he was 16.
Wayne has been in prison for 2.5
years. Unfortunately Wayne's family lives too far away from the
prison to visit and Wayne doesn't want them to pay the large expense
it would take to visit him. Instead of visits Wayne calls his family
for 15 minutes every evening of everyday if his prison phone minutes
allow. Wayne bears the heartache of watching his children grow up in
photos his wife sends to him and sadly during the time it has taken
me to write and rewrite this letter Wayne has suffered the loss of 3
family members to either old age or diabetes. Wayne still has 12
years left for 2 child porn images he found in his personal folder on
a family computer open to anyone.
The last heard of Casey is due to his
advanced age he had reserved himself to writing his will knowing he
might not out live the 12 to 15 years he is stated to receive. A
grandfather 73 years young having to sign 12 to 15 years of his
remaining life away for possessing vacation photos of his
grandchildren misconstrued as child pornography.
The more I look around and interact
with these people the more I see I have to write this letter.
The majority of these individuals
charged with an alleged sex offense would rather sign a guilty plea
agreement instead of dragging out the court process risking more
public exposure and prison time. Knowing this prosecutors are willing
to use questionable tactics in order to gain a conviction,
comfortable in the fact no idiot in their right mind would want to
thrust themselves into the public eye and speak out against these
overbearing laws, crooked prosecutors and heavy handed judges.
Well I am no ordinary idiot and I'm
very much in my left mind. I'm also naive and gullible enough to
think these words I'm writing will begin to sway public opinion about
these matters.
I'm not doing this just for those
already caught up in an unjust system. I'm doing this for those yet
to be effected. I'm doing this for you the reader, your loved ones
and close friends for we don't know who'll be next to suffer this
overcriminalization. I'm putting myself on the line for the people
too afraid to speak out against this injustice and too afraid of
public ridicule and scrutiny.
I know I'm taking a big risk and
making a bigger target of myself by writing this letter. I know I'll
become the subject of much debate and ridicule...mostly ridicule. But
for the sake of all those who don't need to be in prison, their
families who suffer in the free world without them and the many who
have yet to suffer my effort is all worth it.
I'm not the first to speak out against
these issues and judging by the way things are going, I'll be far
from the last. So until next time let's do our best to spread the
word and change things for the better.
Sincerely, Johnston Blackhorse
the one and only
