If he didn’t write it, then he did at the very least print, copy or download it. All four actions are covered by the law.
I would be interested to see the case law and how that statute has been interpreted in the past. I guarantee someone has tried a 1st Amendment argument in the past.
Frankly, I would hope that such an argument would win. This law seems ridiculous to me. When you’re being thrown in jail for what your private thoughts and writings, then it’s just plain oppressive.
Good thing he didn’t write murder mysteries, or thrillers, or horror fiction, or romance novels with rape scenes, or…
Just being in McAlester is oppressive.
It’s a seriously messed up area, even for graft and bribe Oklahoma.
In some ways, it might as well still be the 30s, with all the Good Ol’ Boys politics still happening in the state.
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Well, you see, they dropped the kiddie porn charges and are going for a “any obscene material” charge, which wouldnt float except they are hoping for a “ewww” case. In that
a. Its a pastor
b. kids he worked with
They may be assuming something like the Red Rose case a few years back, where they figure they can just get a guilty plea just from the pressure of having this go to trial, and thus show the world how they are “Protectors of Our Children” without having to worry about pesky Constitutional challenges.
Still, as long as he was dangling his participle in the privacy of his own home…
It doesn’t say the story was on his computer so it must have been hand written. Found by his wife as she was putting her church gloves away, I presume…and then she turns him in…
The subject matter is ewww but if he never acted out and this is his outlet, the crime is not being imaginative enough to change the names and/or setting. Maybe he should have taken a writing class first.
As mentioned above, if he’s a pedophile but did recognize the boundaries he might actually have something to offer to society by sharing how he abstained.
But sheesh, if just writing about unacceptable things for yourself and with no plans to distribute can get you in this much trouble, what does that say about our freedom?
I don’t think he deserves punishment at all legal or otherwise(not saying you do).
The dude wrote some story that he didn’t even distribute, there is no victim here. Hell you could make a good argument his wife is the one who hurt real people by causing this to become a media story, assuming he used the kid’s real names they are going to be subject to harassment now(if they are in middle or high school they can look forward to being asked so how big was your pastor’s dong anyway) when the names come out in the court case.
If anyone hurt real people, it is her and the police and DA.
I also don’t see how such a law isn’t unconstitutional on its face, this should have been struck down long ago. I just remembered that I think Oklahoma was the state where there was some trial about bookstores being prosecuted for selling some novel claimed to be pornographic, but I can’t remember the specifics.
First of all he hasn’t been formally charged with anything. He was arrested on an initial complaint of possession of child pornography but released. His wife claims that she tried to print something from his computer but found this graphic story about 3 girls from his church on the printer instead through some printing mishap. He admitted to the police that he wrote it.
My guess is the initial complaint and arrest were just to get access to his computer to find out if he has any child porn that would be easier to prove as such in court. If so, he’s in deep doo doo. If not, they may not charge him at all, or they may charge him for some obscenity crime since he has already admitted to writing the story.
Either way, these aren’t just his private thoughts. He put them down in writing and another person was able to wind up reading them from a printed page. That seems to be sufficient cause to be charged under the obscenity law cited above. Whether or not his wife is an actual victim who was harmed by having read it, or just pretending to be one in order to stick it to him in a divorce is unknown, but irrelevant to whether or not he could be charged.
Unless he put these stories on a public website or forum, or printed them out and nailed them to phone posts yes it is private. I don’t see how putting something down in writing or typing makes it non-private.
The other person who ended up reading them was his wife, who presumably shared living space with him and accidentally ran across it.
I’d fully support her wanting to divorce a guy who spends his time writing erotic fiction using names of real kids, but there shouldn’t be a crime here.
You may disagree with the law but I can’t see how anyone could disagree that he broke it.
I’m saying the law is unconstitutional due to the 1st amendment.
The first amendment doesn’t protect obscenity and the definition of obscenity has been left up to community standards. We’re talking about McAlester Oklahoma.
That’s not to say he might not claim first amendment protection if charged and prevail but it isn’t looking good for him based on the statute cited above.
If they find more specific and graphic child porn on his computer he has no chance of first amendment protection.
Well yea if he has child porn of actual children you’re right.
I wonder if the names of the children were disclosed to the parents.