Re: Langham out already....


"Richard Miller" <richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Nh1rXgnqg2OHFw0Q@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In message <473b56d9$0$13934$fa0fcedb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Nick
<nospam@xxxxxxxx> writes
Juan Kerr wrote:
On Nov 14, 5:01 pm, Nick <nos...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
AIUI Langham hadn't paid for any child porn. I'd be astonished if there
were a link between a guy anonymously downloading a picture and a kid
being abused
Was it a picture?
I seem to recall the prosecution made a big thing of advising the jury
that filenames beginning with p_t were specifically pre-teen porn
videos. IOW, he knew full well that he was downloading kiddie porn
videos.


Yes I believe what you say. I was using picture in a very wide sense. I'm
not questioning the evidence that Langham was downloading some very nasty
videos presumably for sexual titillation. I am questioning any link
whereby him secretly downloading this stuff causes children to be abused.

And I question the suggestion that he was downloading it for sexual
titillation.

I am not convinced that it ought to matter whether he is sexually titillated
or merely excited and thrilled on a cerebral level, or disgusted, or bored.
However, it probably does matter to the sentencing judge, as the law stands.

The Court of Appeal judgment doesn't appear to be available yet. A summary
that I have seen goes as follows:

The downloading of child pornography for research purposes was a highly
improbable explanation. In the event that it was an accurate explanation it
was of minimal mitigation and was insufficient to bring offences of making
indecent photographs of children into the realms of an exceptional case
warranting a non-custodial sentence.

The appellant (L) appealed against a sentence of 10 months' imprisonment
imposed following his conviction for 15 offences of making an indecent
photograph of a child. Following the receipt of information from United
States police officers, L's home had been searched and his computer seized.
The computer contained various images of child pornography at all levels on
the scale used to measure the seriousness of images. Lists from the computer
also demonstrated that L had made unsuccessful attempts to open other files.
L asserted that he had downloaded the images as part of research that he was
conducting into paedophiles for a television programme he was writing. The
sentencing judge had various reports before him and stated that whatever L's
reasons for downloading the material, he had downloaded it and had paid to
do so. The judge did take account of mitigation including L's work with
those suffering alcohol problems and his family life. L submitted that (1)
the judge sentenced him on an incorrect factual basis as he had not paid for
the downloaded material that was the subject of the counts on the
indictment; (2) the sentence imposed was manifestly excessive as the judge
appeared to have accepted that his motivation for downloading the images was
not one of sexual gratification; (3) although the sentence imposed was
within the relevant sentencing guidelines his case was unique since he had
been conducting research for a television programme and the sentence was
therefore wrong in principle.

HELD: (1) L's argument that the judge sentenced him on an incorrect factual
basis was not impressive. There was evidence put forward at the trial to
suggest that L had used his credit card to access other websites. It did not
matter whether material involving child pornography was paid for or not. As
long as a market for child pornography remained, children would continue to
be exploited. (2) The judge's sentencing remarks had to be considered with
care. He had stated that "there was nothing in the papers to indicate that L
was a sexual predator in the ordinary meaning of the words" and it was
unclear what he had meant by that. Nowhere was it accepted by the judge that
L had downloaded the material for research, but at the same time nor had he
rejected the possibility. L's explanation for his making of the photographs
was highly improbable, but was not an issue the court could make a robust
decision upon. The real mischief was the horrifying sexual abuse inflicted
on the children contained in the images and the images being downloaded only
served to encourage the continuance of that abuse, whatever the motivation
of the recipient. (3) The fact that L might have downloaded the images for
research purposes was of minimal mitigation and was not sufficient to bring
the case into the realms of an exceptional case warranting a non-custodial
sentence. However, in light of the mitigation available to L, including his
work with people with alcohol related illness and his family life, a
sentence of six months' imprisonment was appropriate.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Langham out already....
    ... on the children contained in the images and the images being downloaded ... So child abuse is encouraged, according to that judge, by downloading ... for downloading far "milder" pictures than that one. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Langham: a victim of gross injustice
    ... I can see that he could perceive being made to admit that he did wrong ... doubt as to whether he really is turned on by the images but should have ... known better than to risk downloading the stuff, ... Langham with a journalist or a police officer and your doubts ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: Langham out already....
    ... on the children contained in the images and the images being downloaded ... So child abuse is encouraged, according to that judge, by downloading ... particular crime would serve to encourage more being committed, ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: IE and onclick
    ... > downloading all images. ... You mean you are using javascript HREFs? ... > The problem is I have many images downloading as well. ... If you weren't using javascript pseudo-protocol HREFs you wouldn't have ...
    (comp.lang.javascript)
  • Re: Langham out already....
    ... on the children contained in the images and the images being downloaded ... So child abuse is encouraged, according to that judge, by downloading ... for downloading far "milder" pictures than that one. ...
    (uk.legal)