News
Virginia Man's 20-Year Sentence for Anime Child Porn Upheld
posted on by Egan Loo
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a 20-year sentence for a Virginia man convicted of child pornography — both the variety that involves real children, and the controversial "virtual" kind with fictional children. Dwight Whorley of Richmond was convicted in November 2005 of 74 counts of child pornography, including some that were specified as Japanese animation, and then sentenced to 20 years in prison in March 2006. Whorley was charged under the PROTECT Act of 2003, but Wholey's defense challenged the conviction with the First Amendment, since some of the material did not involve real children. He was also accused of sending obscene email messages, and he argued that it was unconstitutional to define text messages as obscene.
Judge Paul V. Niemeyer wrote in the judge's majority opinion that the Act states that "it is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor depicted actually exists." One of the three judges agreed with the defense's arguments but joined the other two judges in upholding the convictions.
Whorley can still pursue an appeal with the full appeals court and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court.
Thank you to Descent123 for the news tip.
Source: Associated Press
