Norwalk Child Pornography Penalties
Child pornography charges are taken very seriously in Norwalk. Although all sex crimes are treated and penalized seriously in Norwalk, the involvement of children can increase the severity of the penalties an individual might face. Norwalk child pornography penalties are going to come down a potential period of jail time, probation, or a fine and any combination of those.
The one aspect of it that may differ for these penalties compared to other sex crimes is, if after incarceration is completed and a person is on probation or even if they were not given any time of incarceration and then just serving a probation time, the conditions of probation may be different from a regular sexual assault in that, a lot of times, it will focus on the prohibitions of online activity. If you face child pornography charges, it is important to get in touch with a qualified defense attorney as soon as possible who can build you a solid case.
Potential Penalties and Consequences
Individuals can be charged with child pornography offenses in Norwalk even if they are in another city or state. It is the way that they can get charged in Norwalk. Either by being present in Norwalk when they actually possessed the child pornography. Or, if the child depicted in the child pornography or someone was located in Norwalk when the crime was committed. Or if someone that they were attempting to induce, or somebody that they were attempting to use to produce the child pornography was located in Norwalk at the time the crime was committed.
Restricted Internet Usage
Somebody that is convicted of child pornography can expect to have a condition of their probation be that they are prohibited from using the internet or that their internet use will be heavily monitored. The individual would have to agree to have it be heavily monitored for the purpose of making sure that they are not engaging in those types of activities. There is one other element of Norwalk child pornography penalties that actually applies to child pornography, and also sexual assault, and that is placement on the sex offender registry.
Sex Offender Registry
Connecticut, as well as other states, keeps a sex offender registry which is a public database that keeps track all of the people who have been convicted of sex crimes. This is done so the public can be aware of anyone who has a history of sexually predatory behavior. There is a non-public version for the purpose of law enforcement to be able to keep tabs on and there is a public version where somebody is shown to have been such a serious offender or such a concern of public safety that they would want to make sure the public would be aware.
The patrol of child pornography is an enforcement priority in Norwalk. Generally speaking, it is a high priority for law enforcement in Norwalk and across Connecticut. Law enforcement is motivated to prevent the production of child pornography and to stop its proliferation to catch those that are engaging in that type of behavior.
Penalties if the Individual is a Minor
Charges do not differ if the defendant is a minor. The only major difference in conduct is that there will usually be a lot more leniency to the minor with regards to the Norwalk child pornography penalties they face. Now, the other part of it is actually when the defendant is a minor, often and in most cases, they will be under the jurisdiction of the juvenile courts and the juvenile courts have different procedures and different forms of punishment.
Depending on the level of the child pornography charge, the case may get transferred to adult court anyway and then the person, although being a minor, would be tried and their case would proceed in the adult court and it would proceed under the adult court rules and also the punishments that the potential juvenile would be facing would be the same as any adult would be facing.
That said, even if they are under the adult court procedures and whether the case gets transferred to the adult court, the likelihood is that the juvenile that has committed this crime will be treated with much more leniency than an adult that is convicted of that crime.
Importance of a Lawyer
An individual should contact an attorney as soon as they understand that they are facing the charges. The most important thing is understanding what the charges are, understanding also what to make sure to not do in terms of attempting to destroy evidence or continuing certain behavior or activity and certain online forums.
What has happened has happened, and they cannot necessarily make that better. The important thing is to not make it worse by doing anything that would either add to the charges or result in any additional pornographic images being downloaded and also to not do anything that would constitute a separate crime for destroying evidence that maybe the authorities were not aware of initially but then become aware of the possible decisions later on and realize that there was an intentional effort to destroy evidence, which would then bring up a separate charge for destruction of evidence.
An adept attorney can explain what you should and should not do and can work to defend you in court. Because of the severity of these charges, having a lawyer who can try to mitigate any Norwalk child pornography penalties you may face is vital.