Topic
Every decision we've filed under Child Sexual Abuse Material.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a 330-month sentence for Derek Hahn, who used a minor to produce sexually explicit videos. The court held that the district court properly weighed the severity of the crime and statutory factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) in imposing a below-Guidelines sentence.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed Emory Day's conviction for distributing and possessing child pornography, ruling that the search warrant was supported by probable cause. The court further held that the evidence was sufficient to link the devices containing the illegal images to Day and that the sentencing enhancement was properly applied.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of a motion to suppress evidence of child pornography, ruling that officers had a reasonable belief the arrest suspect was inside the apartment. The court held that hearing movement inside and the suspect's unemployment status justified a forcible entry to execute an arrest warrant.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a 420-month prison sentence for Dustin Newsome, rejecting his challenge to the application of multiple sentencing enhancements for child pornography offenses. The court held that the district court properly calculated the Guidelines range and that the sentence was substantively reasonable given the severity of the crimes.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a five-level sentencing enhancement for distributing child pornography in exchange for valuable consideration but vacated the sentence due to an incorrect application of a pattern-of-activity enhancement. The court held that while Lopez's participation in chatrooms constituted a valid exchange, the government failed to prove the requisite pattern of sexual abuse or exploitation.
The Tenth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of Fourth Amendment claims against Colorado Springs police officers, holding that three search warrants executed during a housing-rights march were overbroad and violated clearly established law. The court affirmed the dismissal of claims against the FBI regarding data retention but remanded the remaining claims for further proceedings.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a conviction for child pornography production, ruling that a defendant's allegations of abuse made to a forensic psychologist were not admissible under the hearsay exception for medical diagnosis. The court held that because the statements were made primarily to prepare for litigation rather than to secure medical treatment, they lacked the necessary reliability to bypass cross-examination.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against Grindr, holding that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act bars state law tort claims against the app for injuries sustained by an underage user. The court further ruled that the plaintiff failed to plausibly allege Grindr was a knowing perpetrator or beneficiary of sex trafficking, precluding relief under the FOSTA statutory exception.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a 28-year federal sentence for child pornography production, ruling that a prior Washington child molestation conviction triggers a statutory ten-year mandatory minimum enhancement. The court also rejected an unpreserved argument that the district court erred by declining to recommend concurrent service with anticipated state sentences.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Barry Ray Knight's conviction for child pornography offenses but vacated specific supervised release conditions that were not orally pronounced. The court rejected Knight's argument that a pornography restriction was overbroad because it applies only to visual depictions rather than written descriptions.