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NEWS: Voice Actor Scott Freeman Convicted of Possession of Child Pornography


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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13621
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:59 am Reply with quote
At this point, his last name is ironic to what he got himself into.
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Foxaika



Joined: 28 Apr 2015
Posts: 365
Location: Columbus, Ohio
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:17 am Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
At this point, his last name is ironic to what he got himself into.


Haha, I suppose that's true Laughing

Part of me thinks that people are more attempting to find him innocent out of shock and a desire for that to be the case rather than just being apologists. Perhaps it's more digestible that way for some.
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 9:25 am Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
At this point, his last name is ironic to what he got himself into.

Oh yes...A "free man" in prison...
But on a serious note, I'm satisfied Mr. Freeman is in prison for his pedophilia, right where he belongs.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18458
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 10:09 am Reply with quote
Shippoyasha wrote:
Also, I think 3 whole years is quite too harsh as long as he isn't actually courting or making such porn.

If he'd been doing either of those then he wouldn't have been able to plea bargain down to only three years. The penalties for those (especially the last one) are immensely stiffer.
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revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 897
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 10:37 am Reply with quote
I can understand that voice actors/actresses, celebrities or any kind of famous/pseudo-famous person tend to live a private life away from the public & their fans. But that does not fully protect them from the consequences of their actions. Scott Freeman committed a crime in private. And look what happened to him. I hope that his punishment will serve as a warning for those in the voice acting field to become more cautious & responsible for any kind of actions they commit, publicly and/or privately.

Last edited by revolutionotaku on Tue Sep 08, 2015 10:20 pm; edited 3 times in total
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YotaruVegeta



Joined: 02 Jul 2002
Posts: 1061
Location: New York
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:46 pm Reply with quote
Blankslate wrote:

There's nobody that purposefully commits a crime to then serve 5-15 years (that's the average prison sentence) in a place that they have an insanely high chance of getting raped, assaulted, or murdered. That's just a myth to somehow explain repeat offenders. The reason there are repeat offenders is because their lives are irrecoverably ruined, so crime is the only chance to escape from life-long poverty (which I said earlier). The solution to said issue would be to somehow give former prisoners a second chance at a better life I.E. rehabilitate them rather than simply punish them.
Onto your point. Making prison an even worse place to be in won't improve anything; poverty begets prisoners, not well maintained prisons.


That's not the only reason people become repeat offenders. Sometimes they go back to crime because it's the only life they know. Much like an addict, they go back to their old friends, and their old habits.
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SwordKing



Joined: 03 Aug 2013
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:16 pm Reply with quote
All of you are forgetting that watching hentai is an automatic charge for possession of child porn still in the legal systems of the world. There is no such charge that exist that indicates possession of hentai. Everybody is forgetting that people are still being charged with possession of child porn while it is hentai. The issue is not resolved.

http://cbldf.org/2013/02/missouri-man-receives-three-years-in-prison-for-comics/
http://cbldf.org/2013/12/censorship-2013-missouri-man-goes-to-prison-for-comics/
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/legal-in-the-us-watching-pixie-sex-lands-new-zealand-man-in-jail/
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0611/324510-father-jailed-over-child-pornography/
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/06/jail-sentence-for-hentai-owner-raises-first-amendment-issues/

In the Comic Defense article, the Missouri man, he also pleaded a deal with the government as well. He did that because he wanted to avoid a longer time in jail, but a avoid a court trial. He had "obscene" comics on his computer and his wife turned him in. I am not sure if he had to register as a sex offender.

In both Jared Fogle and Scott Freeman's cases, there is no information about the matters involved in the cases and people start believing that the law is right in labeling them sex offenders and be done with them. There is no information being released so people are just jumping to conclusions.

There are also madmen that hunt down sex offenders and kill them even as early as 2013. So it is dangerous to assume that every sex offenders deserves to be killed or maimed or be on the streets.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/18/13943695-man-sentenced-to-life-for-killing-sex-offenders-judge-chastises-supporters?lite
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-vigilante-justice-sentencing-20141030-story.html

These are articles from 2012 and 2013 respectively. Mass hysteria is not going help here. One of the crazies in the article, Pat Drum, even has supporters. Mass killings is not the solution here. Do not throw out logic and please stay calm. Cool
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addiemon



Joined: 06 Mar 2013
Posts: 93
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:45 pm Reply with quote
SwordKing wrote:
All of you are forgetting that watching hentai is an automatic charge for possession of child porn still in the legal systems of the world. There is no such charge that exist that indicates possession of hentai. Everybody is forgetting that people are still being charged with possession of child porn while it is hentai. The issue is not resolved.


At least in the U.S., that is false. Both Dwight Whorley and the Missouri man whose case you linked to were charged with obscenity, NOT child pornography-- these are different laws, and as abhorrent as I find the content, I agree that the obscenity law that covers drawn depictions is a serious breach the constitutional right to freedom of speech (and thought-- it's thoughtcrime, IMO).

That is NOT relevant to this case, however, in which Scott Freeman was charged with and plead guilty to child pornography-- suggesting (if not outright indicating; I'm not a lawyer) that his materials were of real live flesh-and-blood children who were abused by the very creation of said materials.

Which would NOT excuse hunting Freeman or a sex offender down, but no one in this thread is advocating anything of the sort, so...maybe you should stay calm. Smile
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
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Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:49 pm Reply with quote
SwordKing wrote:


In both Jared Fogle and Scott Freeman's cases, there is no information about the matters involved in the cases and people start believing that the law is right in labeling them sex offenders and be done with them. There is no information being released so people are just jumping to conclusions.


There are plenty of horrible details about what Jared Fogle had and it wasn't hentai.

Freeman was convicted on 8 counts of possession of child pornography. Nowhere does it say "obscene comics". The absence of that language in the report does not provide you with reasonable doubt that it was in fact "obscene comics" and not child pornography.

"Innocent until proven guilty" is what you say before the person is tried and convicted, not after a conviction (in this case a plea bargain) in a desperate attempt to make every single sex offender seem like an innocent victim of circumstance.
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 5:03 pm Reply with quote
SwordKing wrote:
In both Jared Fogle and Scott Freeman's cases, there is no information about the matters involved in the cases and people start believing that the law is right in labeling them sex offenders and be done with them. There is no information being released so people are just jumping to conclusions.

One problem with this: Scott Freeman has pleaded guilty to eight counts of real child porn. Eight. For all I know, the prosecutor's more-than-sufficient evidence that would have strongly convinced the jury of his wrongdoing was what led him to take the plea (a very lenient one at that).

As far as I'm concerned, Scott is right where he's at, in prison, where he can't cause anymore harm with his pedophilia. Besides, it's the victims that are in need of help, not the convicted child pornographer.


Last edited by Mr. Oshawott on Tue Sep 08, 2015 5:24 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Buzz201



Joined: 21 Jun 2015
Posts: 266
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 5:16 pm Reply with quote
Mr. Oshawott wrote:
SwordKing wrote:
In both Jared Fogle and Scott Freeman's cases, there is no information about the matters involved in the cases and people start believing that the law is right in labeling them sex offenders and be done with them. There is no information being released so people are just jumping to conclusions.

One problem with this: Scott Freeman has pleaded guilty to eight counts of real child porn. Eight. For all I know, the prosecutor's more-than-sufficient evidence that would have strongly convinced the jury his wrongdoing was what led him to take the plea (a very lenient one at that).

As far as I'm concerned, Scott is right where he's at, in prison, where he can't cause anymore harm with his pedophilia. Besides, it's the victims that are in need of help, not the convicted child pornographer.


As has been pointed out, it can't have been hentai because that's a completely different law, and in Texas the prosecution needs to prove you were aware the images were in your possession and that they were of minors.

Anybody still convinced of or attempting to prove his complete innocence at this point is simply delusional, and probably beyond reason.
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Raul Coppe



Joined: 08 Sep 2015
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 6:00 pm Reply with quote
AnimeAddict2014 wrote:
i'm sure they can appeal if they think they are wrongfully convicted..

but with sex offenders .. the chance of wrongfully convicted is low..

since you have to committed the crime multiple times or caught in the act for many cases

so how many times should one molested or raped a child to consider enough proofs for the verdict ?

personally i have no sympathy for these freaks.. if they are turned on by looking at some naked pictures of children.. they should seek psychological help... before it's too late..

since it will be either a registered sex offender, in jail for rape, killed by parents or on the run from the law for rape and murder charges. etc..


Except getting help for this sort of addiction is pretty tricky, especially in the united states. Sure, it's not an okay thing to be addicted to at all, but even if you wanted to get help, it's really not that simple.

While I'm generally behind the idea of registers for sexual offenders, it does kinda conflict with the idea of prison being about rehabilitation, about 'doing your time'. I mean it's important to keep tabs on those who are more likely to re-offend, but then you have to ask, really, if someone is likely to re-offend, then why are they being released? Does the stigma of being a known sex offender prevent ideally reformed prisoners from reintegrating back in to the community?

Anyway hey Cool what up
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mdreura



Joined: 04 Nov 2010
Posts: 106
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:49 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Shippoyasha wrote:
Also, I think 3 whole years is quite too harsh as long as he isn't actually courting or making such porn.

If he'd been doing either of those then he wouldn't have been able to plea bargain down to only three years. The penalties for those (especially the last one) are immensely stiffer.


This is unfortunately not the case more often than most people think. I was discussing this subject with an attorney friend over the weekend and he pointed out to me that the average sentence for child molestation is about 10 years while it's not uncommon for child pornography sentences to be 2x-4x times that amount.

I can't find the study he mentioned, but this 7 year old WSJ article lays the context out quite nicely: Making Punishments Fit the Most Offensive Crimes

Quote:
[Public Defender Troy Stabenow] compares the long child pornography sentences with those given to online predators who drive hundreds of miles to engage in sex with minors they met in online chat groups. The mandatory minimum federal sentence for those offenders is 10 years, while receiving child porn carries a five-year mandatory sentence.But under the guidelines set by the U.S. Sentencing Commission -- a federal agency tasked with turning legislation into rules that guide judges on sentencing -- child pornography viewers often accumulate penalties, known as "enhancements," that magnify recommended sentences for individuals who use a computer, have a large number of images or possess images of prepubescent children, among other things. As a result, the recommended sentences for viewers can easily be higher than those for predators.

In 1990, Congress criminalized the possession of child pornography, and later passed legislation to significantly increase penalties for these offenses. In 1991, a person with no criminal history who possessed violent child pornography images and movies and shared them with others would face a maximum of two years in prison in federal cases. Today, that same person could face more than 20 years, Mr. Stabenow notes.


A good article for the number people in this thread asking "Why would you defend a pedophile?" What if I told you Federal judges are doing it too? In court?
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Lili-Hime



Joined: 05 Jun 2014
Posts: 569
PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:41 pm Reply with quote
mdreura wrote:
A good article for the number people in this thread asking "Why would you defend a pedophile?" What if I told you Federal judges are doing it too? In court?


Ok, there is a huge, huge difference here and you're making a dangerous false equivalency. The judges you mentioned are speaking out against the practice of racking up counts so that someone guilty of child porn possession doesn't get 200 years for 20 counts. What they are NOT doing is claiming that the convicted are really somehow innocent even when they plead guilty because the system is somehow unfair. THAT is what many in this thread are doing.

The users defending Mr. Freeman are not arguing the harshness of the sentence but whether or not Mr. Freeman did anything wrong at all. Mr. Freeman got a pretty sweet deal with only 3 years for 8 counts. By your Arizona example he'd be in prison for 80 years! He is not being unfairly persecuted. The judges in the article are not going to call a guilty man innocent like some users have done; they just want more freedom to reduce sentences. Their arguments have nothing to do with the arguments of anyone in this thread so far.

TL;DR Judges arguing against mandatory minimum sentences =/= internet users excusing child porn possession with things like 'but what if they were 17? Age of consent laws suck anyways!"
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mdreura



Joined: 04 Nov 2010
Posts: 106
PostPosted: Wed Sep 09, 2015 1:08 am Reply with quote
Lili-Hime wrote:
TL;DR Judges arguing against mandatory minimum sentences =/= internet users excusing child porn possession with things like 'but what if they were 17? Age of consent laws suck anyways!"


Which seems to have little bearing on the conversation between Shippoyasha and Key conveniently quoted at the top of my post?
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