One of the greatest difficulties for users, when it comes to online pornography, is the fact that it’s essentially impossible to know anything about your product. Where was it filmed? Who are the people involved in it’s production? Was it legally created? Who are the actors, and are they of consenting age or are they too young? There is almost no way to find out, and even if you were able to track down some of this info, you have no way of knowing if it’s accurate, or truthful. And that can make it very hard to know if your porn is actually legal.
Take the issue of revenge porn for a minute. Technically, revenge porn is illegal in Michigan. But once something has been uploaded to a website, you have no way of knowing where it came from. It could be compromising nudes of a 25-year-old woman in the Ukraine, or some guy’s 18-year-old girlfriend from Lansing, Michigan. And the woman could be truly unaware that her picture was being taken, or is now being shared online, or she could be a paid actor who is pretending for the camera that she isn’t aware. How can you tell the difference?
This ignorance makes it really hard to know if you’re breaking the law!
There are a number of porn production companies that have made a fortune marketing pornographic films and pictures of young girls as “barely legal”. These types of porn, usually made with very young looking 18- and 19-year-old girls, are created to appeal to the viewers who prefer younger looking girls. On paper, the girls are of legal age, but because they look younger, they can be marketed as “barely legal teens”.
In some cases, the girls look young enough to pass for 14- and 15-year-olds, and the movies they feature in are not marketed in the mainstream porn outlets. But just because the girls look young enough to be underage, doesn’t mean they are. Then again, just because the girls in porns look old enough to have consented, doesn’t mean they were. So what can you do to ensure that the porn you’re watching isn’t illegal?
Kiddie porn is illegal, so stay away from anything marketed this way!
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re not breaking the law is to not search for or download anything you know is illegal. If the girls or boys in your porn look like children, there’s a good chance they are. So don’t download it, or share it or watch it. If the porn you’re looking for is advertised as having ‘underaged’ girls or ‘young, teen boys’, those actors might be old enough to consent but you have no way of knowing that, so your best bet is to avoid it. Be cautious. Police agencies all over Michigan are monitoring these porn web sites.
Join us next time for a discussion on how people find the porn they like without putting children at risk, or violating the law. Until then, if you’re accused of possessing or distributing child porn, you’re going to need help from a seriously experienced sex crimes defense attorney! Don’t hope your ignorance of the facts will save you. Not knowing someone in a porn is underaged isn’t a legal excuse. Call 866 766 5245 today and get help defending your future!