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Prison Time For Viewing Porn?
ABC News 20/20 ^
| Jan. 12, 2007
Posted on 01/13/2007 8:39:14 AM PST by JTN
Sixteen-year-old Matthew Bandy was about as normal a teenager as you could find. He actually liked hanging out with his family.
"He was a happy-go-lucky kid," said his mother, Jeannie Bandy. "Very personable, and big-hearted. I sound like a boastful mom, but I guess the biggest thing is that he could always make me laugh."
"We went on vacations and had a lot of fun together," Matthew said. "I just enjoyed the life I was living. But after I was accused, everything changed."
What was Matthew Bandy accused of? Jeannie and Greg Bandy were shocked to discover that their son was charged with possession of child pornography.
One December morning two years ago, Matthew's life took a dramatic turn. In an exclusive interview with "20/20," the Bandy family reveals how the world as they knew it came crumbling down, and how Matthew's life has since changed.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; govwatch; porn
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The prosecutor in this case, realizing that he had no evidence that the boy was guilty, plea bargained the case down to a charge of, as the story says, "distributing obscene materials to minors a "Playboy" magazine to his classmates."
Then he wanted to force Matthew to register as a sex offender - for Playboy.
Is it just me, or does the world get crazier every day?
1
posted on
01/13/2007 8:39:16 AM PST
by
JTN
To: JTN
As soon as Matthew was charged, he was put on virtual house arrest, and an electronic bracelet was attached to his ankle to monitor his movements 24 hours a day.
They didn't even find him guilty of anything before punishing him.
2
posted on
01/13/2007 8:44:58 AM PST
by
kinoxi
To: JTN
Is it just me, or does the world get crazier every day? No, it's not just you. The concept of justice in this country is on a downward spiral. Call me a nut, but I firmly believe that our government wishes to make criminals of us all.
3
posted on
01/13/2007 8:46:35 AM PST
by
CrawDaddyCA
(Paul/Tancredo 2008)
To: CrawDaddyCA
You're a nut. Don't you know that government is the most benevolent force out there? /s
4
posted on
01/13/2007 8:48:40 AM PST
by
Andonius_99
(There are two sides to every issue. One is right, the other is wrong; but the middle is always evil.)
To: CrawDaddyCA
Call me a nut, but I firmly believe that our government wishes to make criminals of us all. The link I posted in comment #1 had this to say about the registration requirement:
One gets the impression that if every American who ever broke a law related to sex was listed on the offenders registry that one could simple chuck out the registry and in its place write: Please see census data.
5
posted on
01/13/2007 8:49:00 AM PST
by
JTN
("I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I'm all out of bubble gum.")
To: JTN
Jail for Playboy? Why? He only had it for reading the articles.
To: JTN
If anyone ever makes the wrong click on a website or spam email and is sent to a porn site, a bunch of porn thumbnails appear on your screen and guess what? Months later your computer can be seized and the authorities will "find" every one of those thumbnails "downloaded" onto your computer.
It's called the "Temporary Internet Files" folder and it is where your browser stores all the images on a webpage so that the next time you go to that same page it won't have to reload them again, giving you faster access on subsequent visits.
But it can also be misconstrued as "downloading images" that can get you, as this article says, 10 years per image. And all you did was click on the wrong link!
7
posted on
01/13/2007 8:50:51 AM PST
by
Yo-Yo
(USAF, TAC, 12th AF, 366 TFW, 366 MG, 366 CRS, Mtn Home AFB, 1978-81)
To: JTN; Abram; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; Allosaurs_r_us; Americanwolf; ...
An illustrative personal story.

Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
8
posted on
01/13/2007 8:51:12 AM PST
by
traviskicks
(http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
To: traviskicks
9
posted on
01/13/2007 8:51:58 AM PST
by
JTN
("I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I'm all out of bubble gum.")
To: CrawDaddyCA
As Michael Savage has noted in the past, each and every one of us is just one mistake away from going to prison. With the myriad of laws and arcane legal nitpicking, the powers that be need only look long enough to find the dirt they need. The above doesn't apply though if your name is Samuel "Sandy" Berger.
10
posted on
01/13/2007 8:52:03 AM PST
by
SpaceBar
To: traviskicks
Ha ha. Um, about that ping? Ignore it.
11
posted on
01/13/2007 8:52:57 AM PST
by
JTN
("I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum. And I'm all out of bubble gum.")
To: JTN
12
posted on
01/13/2007 8:54:30 AM PST
by
traviskicks
(http://www.neoperspectives.com/Ron_Paul_2008.htm)
To: JTN
13
posted on
01/13/2007 8:56:02 AM PST
by
Ciexyz
(In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6)
To: CrawDaddyCA
Call me a nut, but I firmly believe that our government wishes to make criminals of us all.You're a nut. /sarc
I thought I would obige my government by possessing as many firearms as I can. I'm a nut as well.
14
posted on
01/13/2007 8:56:21 AM PST
by
Tolkien
("It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong." ---Voltaire)
To: JTN
I really don't like some of the ways criminal justice is adapting to the Internet age. This business of defining "possession" by merely being found on somebody's computer is a huge slippery slope.
There's far to many ways for things to be made to be found on other people's computers for this to really be solid enough criteria for charging someone with a crime. Enough perhaps to get probable cause for an investigation, but a crime all by itself? No way.
15
posted on
01/13/2007 8:56:34 AM PST
by
Ramius
([sip])
To: SpaceBar
The above doesn't apply though if your name is Samuel "Sandy" Berger. Or William 'Cold Cash' Jefferson, or William 'Cigar' Clinton...the list goes on.
I, for one, am sick and tired of the government using gray areas of the law to incarcerate it's citizens.
Justice is not only the word of law, but also the spirit in which laws are written.
16
posted on
01/13/2007 9:00:12 AM PST
by
CrawDaddyCA
(Paul/Tancredo 2008)
To: JTN
I wonder if a budding Democrat in AK ever read the interview with a budding Democrat from GA in Playboy c. 1976 and ever showed it to a budding Democrat from TN. Maybe we can get all three registered as sex offenders.
To: Tolkien
I thought I would oblige my government by possessing as many firearms as I can. Likewise.
18
posted on
01/13/2007 9:05:26 AM PST
by
CrawDaddyCA
(Paul/Tancredo 2008)
To: JTN
Anyone with a computer connected to the internet with a broadband connection needs to have a strong firewall to prevent unauthorized transmissions to the computer and storage of files on it. It also needs a spyware scanner and blocker.
To: Yo-Yo
If anyone ever makes the wrong click on a website or spam email and is sent to a porn site, a bunch of porn thumbnails appear on your screen and guess what? Months later your computer can be seized and the authorities will "find" every one of those thumbnails "downloaded" onto your computer. .......that can get you, as this article says, 10 years per image. And all you did was click on the wrong link!Click here
I triple-dog dare ya!
20
posted on
01/13/2007 9:06:52 AM PST
by
Polybius
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