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Man Denied Bail for 'Japanese Animation' Porn

A 24-year-old Australian man was denied bail in the Darwin Magistrates Court on Saturday after his arrest for possessing images of "virtual" and real child abuse. Magistrate John Lowndes, the judge who oversaw the bail hearing, decided that the images met the criteria for child abuse under Australia's NT Criminal Code.

Authorities found 466 explicit images of children, including 320 "Japanese animation" (manga) pictures, on the unidentified man's computer. Sergeant Sally Nicholas stated that 72 of the images also fell under "category five" child abuse depictions of torture. About 30 percent of the images were offensive photographs of actual children, according to the prosecutor.

Lowndes debated about whether the manga images, which caused no harm to actual children, could be considered child abuse. The magistrate ruled that the images qualified as child abuse because the NT Criminal Code outlaws material that "depicts, describes or represents" children engaging in sex, being subjected to torture, or being shown in other degrading contexts. The judge also said that works such as "stories, sculptures, and drawings" could fall under the law.

The defendant had no previous criminal history and broke into tears when Lowndes refused him bail, according to NT News. The Australian man's lawyer said other people had access to his client's bedroom and an old school friend may have downloaded the images. The man will appear in court again later this month.

The Queensland Times paper reported in 2010 that a 28-year-old Australian stood trial for possession of 64 sexually explicit images of child characters from The Simpsons and The Powerpuff Girls animated television series, as well as The Incredibles animated movie. The man became a registered sex offender, and he received a sentence of 12 months in jail, which was suspended for five years.

Sources: news.com.au, NT News