A disturbing legal argument

12-11-2009 New Hampshire:

This week in Portsmouth District Court a man charged with eight felony counts of possessing child pornography made an extremely disturbing argument to Judge Sawako Gardner.

The suspect argued there is no correlation between viewing child pornography and sexual assaults against children.

"I would argue I have no reason not to be around children," Michael Hanson told Gardner. "I'm not at risk of a contact offense. Care and custody of one's child is protected by the First and Ninth Amendments."

Here's what the FBI has to say about the connection between those who view child pornography and those who sexually assault children:

"Today, computer telecommunications have become one of the most prevalent techniques used by pedophiles to share illegal photographic images of minors and to lure children into illicit sexual relationships. The Internet has dramatically increased the access of the preferential sex offenders to the population they seek to victimize and provides them greater access to a community of people who validate their sexual preferences."

All child porn begins with the crime of sexually exploiting a child. Those who view child pornography, as well as those who buy and sell it, are creating a market for this criminal exploitation.

Portsmouth Police and Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams will tell you they could spend all their time investigating and prosecuting those who prey on children. The crime is growing so fast and the investigatory resources are so thin that only a small fraction of these types of criminals are ever brought to justice.

When adults are investigated and charged with crimes against children, we expect our court system to always err on the side of child safety throughout the judicial process. We cannot put our children at risk because some research, that flies in the face of all reason, suggests there is no danger. ..Opinion.. by SeaCoast Online.com