Don't Let Reality Stop You Making Your Decisions

October 01, 2012 at 4:30 PM

Child porn victims can get restitution, court says

"Child pornography victims can recover money from people convicted of viewing their abuse without having to show a link between the crime and their injuries [sic], a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a woman, identified as "Amy" in court documents, was entitled to restitution from Texas resident Doyle Randall Paroline and New Orleans resident Michael Wright, both of whom pleaded guilty in separate cases to possessing child pornography that included images of Amy.

The decision conflicts with rulings by several other federal circuits, possibly setting the stage for a Supreme Court challenge.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a woman, identified as "Amy" in court documents, was entitled to restitution from Texas resident Doyle Randall Paroline and New Orleans resident Michael Wright, both of whom pleaded guilty in separate cases to possessing child pornography that included images of Amy.

Amy sought more than $3.3 million from Paroline to cover the cost of her lost income, attorneys' fees and psychological care. [sic] A federal judge rejected her request."

"Amy also sought more than $3.3 million from Wright, who had images of Amy and at least 20 other identifiable children stored on his computer. A federal judge ruled Wright owed Amy more than $500,000.

Wright argued he didn't owe Amy any restitution because he didn't obtain the images until years after she was abused. He also said there wasn't any evidence that she knew he personally viewed the images."

"In at least 174 cases, Amy has been awarded restitution in amounts ranging from $100 to more than $3.5 million. James Marsh, one of her attorneys, said in January that she had collected more than $1.5 million."

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/10/child_porn_victims_can_get_res.html

2:21 PM, Oct 1, 2012

Court: Child porn victims can get restitution

"Monday's majority opinion by the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans says child pornography victims aren't required under federal law to prove that their losses were the "proximate result" of a defendant's crime before they can receive restitution from that person. [in other words, money for nothing ...]"

http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20121001/NEWS01/121001035/Court-Child-porn-victims-can-get-restitution-?nclick_check=1