nothin New Haven Independent | Dow: Ease Up On Child-Pornography Sentences

Dow: Ease Up On Child-Pornography Sentences

A person can view more than 50 photos on the Internet in a matter of minutes — and if those photos involve child pornography, that can lead to at least five years in jail. Whether or not a judge sees a reason to be more lenient.

That’s an example of how Connecticut has a rigid system for dealing with child pornography, much to the dismay of Willie Dow.

Dow (pictured), whose law firm is based in New Haven, has represented many high-profile clients, including former Gov. John G. Rowland, numerous attorneys, judges, physicians in disciplinary proceedings, and corporations accused of crimes. He also represents defendants whose names do not appear on the front page. These are the men — and they are usually men — who find themselves in the jaws of the legal system, charged with crimes that are tied to mandatory-minimum sentences and are designed to destroy the person, his family, his job, and his reputation.

Some would say rightly so. Others, like Dow, say change is needed in the state’s handling of these cases, especially in the era of the internet. Change should come at both the state and federal levels, he said.

In an interview on WNHH radio’s Legal Eagle” program, Dow called child pornography cases essentially the third rail. Nobody wants to touch it. That includes prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, and legislators.” The issue is so charged that politicians fear raising the topic.

Dow described the law: In the present law in the state of Connecticut, if you have between three and 20 photographs that qualify as child pornography — that means a mandatory-minimum sentence of one year in state prison. If you have between 20 and 50, there is a mandatory minimum of two years, no matter how long you have done it, no matter what your background, no matter what emotional problems you may be suffering from, no matter what your record. If you have more than 50 photographs there is a mandatory minimum of five years.”

And, he noted, one can view more than 50 photos in a matter of minutes. 

Unlike in the federal system, Connecticut does not have prison camps. They are all at one level or another, prisons. They are not an easy facility for anyone to get help. And what happens is that the mandatory-minimum sentence allows [prosecutors and judges] to avoid making individual decisions. There is an assumption underlying the statute that anybody who has ever done this, that is, done child pornography, is about two minutes away from jumping on a little child as they leave their parochial school in Madison, Branford, or New Haven. Many of the people caught up in this are just punished way beyond what is appropriate,” Dow said.

Dow described the typical defendant as a man between ages 35 and 55, often single, mostly Caucasian, limited education, have some type of emotional problem at some level and who at 3 a.m. drifts down into their basement and gets on the computer, and starts looking at photographs they shouldn’t look at.”

How do we get from looking at photographs on a computer in one’s basement, photographs we should not look at, to an arrest?

Dow described a system in which people who monitor computer activity, including the providers themselves, watch people’s computer patterns and sites they visit.

They go to a particular site, and then they notice what people are looking at and then report it to authorities. If federal and state prosecutors wanted to do nothing else but prosecute child pornography they could do that 100 percent of their time and have a full docket. They have been somewhat selective, fortunately,” he said. 

The charges are possession or distribution of child pornography. Under the state statutes, interestingly, for the crime of so-called production of child porn, that is, a film of a child doing something awful, there is no mandatory-minimum, which is absurd,” Dow argued.

When he meets a client in this situation, he said, he describes off the bat how dire their circumstances are. One of the things you try to do is get them some help. So if you can find a prosecutor in the broad expanse of the state of Connecticut who will listen, then perhaps they might consider altering the charges to a non-mandatory sentence and to allow the judge to make a decision on what would be the appropriate sentence for this particular individual. It is very, very hard for prosecutors. It is very difficult. In fairness to the prosecutors, nobody wants to think about these cases. They are awful.”

Dow suggested on the show that the state legislature remove mandatory-minimum sentences.

We have confidence in our judges. They are going to impose the appropriate sentence in the appropriate circumstances. Let the system play out so that individuals can get an individual decision with respect to their cases,” Dow argued.

The present statute just can’t cover everybody: on the one hand they handcuff everybody and on the other it allows everyone to hide behind the mandatory minimum. We don’t want to deal with this problem. There is sewage in the backyard. Let’s not go there.”

Typically in criminal cases, a prosecutor or judge will consider if a defendant has had prior arrests or convictions. Judges can’t do that with child pornography offenses.

It is of no significance. Only if a prosecutor is willing to stop and examine the circumstances. Does the person accused have a record? How old is he? How long has he been doing this? What are the types of photos he looks at? Does he trade them or just look at them? What is his emotional condition? Is there a need for treatment? Is he getting treatment? Did he stop before they accused him? All different things you would ordinarily point out in other cases are not in play in child pornography cases,” Dow said.

Dow said this problem has increased over the past decade and extends beyond prison when the offender is placed on a sex offender registry once released. The state’s sentencing commission is now examining a variety of issues connected with the registry. (Thomas Ullmann, the New Haven Chief Public Defender discussed this topic on a previous episode of the Legal Eagle.” Click here to read the story.)

Dow also spoke about white collar crime issues and what it is like to represent young people. Click on the above sound file to hear the interview in its entirety.

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