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    Information On Colorado Prosecution Trends In Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases – 18-3-405.4 –  18-6-403  – Child Pornography Cases

    By H. Michael Steinberg Colorado Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer – Attorney

    Colorado Prosecution Trends In Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases

    Colorado Prosecution Trends In Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases

    With Colorado State and Federal Child Pornography Prosecutions On The Rise – The Need For Experienced Legal Representation has Never Been More Acute

    Colorado Prosecution Trends In Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases – In recent years the focus of many Colorado prosecutor’s offices has been to increase the numbers of child pornography (called sexual exploitation of children cases here in Colorado) cases filed in the state.

    This is not an area that one can suddenly “learn”  or “brush up on” as a criminal defense lawyer. It is specialized and it is critical that anyone charged with a crime involving sexual exploitation fo a child 18-3-405.4 – child pornography – consult with a Colorado criminal defense with actual courtroom experience defending such cases. These cases are both nuanced and complex, can carry substantial penalties and will have lasting consequences at every stage of life’s important levels – family – employment – freedom – government intervention into your life and other unimaginable impacts.

    It is critically important in Colorado Child Pornography Cases to have a sex crimes defense lawyer who understands what it is that’s actually at stake in people’s lives – but also how to defend against these kinds of charges.

    With Federal Funding Of Colorado State Programs – The Numbers of These Case Filings Is Massively Increasing

     The massive number of new cases in this area is the direct result of federal funding opportunities arising out of the easy availability of grants and other subsidies which have provided financial  incentives to investigate and to file Colorado child pornography cases.

    Most of these cases involve “first offenders” who have done nothing more than to view and or download (possession only) images and video files. Investigators from such prominent Colorado counties as Jefferson County, Douglas County, Gilpin County, El Paso County and Arapahoe and Adams Counties regularly “trawl” the internet attempting to “connect” with private file sharing networks (peer to peer) who provately share child pornography.

    Most of these cases are not the “source” of these images – they are individuals who are caught in an addiction to child pornography and many times do not know the way out.

    These are not true dissemination and distribution cases….but they are treated that way.

    These individuals are simply down loaders who access child pornography via “peer to peer “file sharing networks. Prosecutors argue that since the files are publicly shared and made available to  other users in the “P2P” network from the target’s computer, this is a form of dissemination.

    Colorado Prosecution Trends In Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases – Questionable Investigative Techniques

    Police and other law enforcement personnel do not obtain warrants to search these networks. They make “warrantless” connections, view the file names and other hash-tags, and then obtain search warrants based on the access they have been given in their undercover capacity

    Once they apply for and (always)obtain their search warrants – they flood the homes of the individuals whose IP address leads them to the location of the computer.

    There they seize every computer related item at the location – from laptops to external hard drives to thumb drives … everything.

    Constitutional challenges to these techniques are becoming more and more prominent across the country.

    The Police Can Enter Your Computer Without Your Permission

    Peer to Peer (P2P) networks such as LimeWire are the starting points for law enforcement to enter your private world. Searching for evidence of child pornography, they will locate individuals who make known images (cataloged and identified using an international coding system) available to one another. After identifying these known file names – they have the capacity even if these files are renamed to locate “hidden picture traits or codes” that are invisible to unsophisticated observers. These files also may arise on the computers of young kids -usually young men – who – searching for adult pornography are lured into the world of child pornography by unscrupulous purveyors of these images.

    No Way To Truly Delete These Images -Never Deleted

    The police are very sophisticated in located images no matter how many times you think you have deleted them. Using high tech reconstuction techniques – the bits and pieces of the images can be located on the hard drives they have seized.  This is done at special federally funded labs built specifically for this purpose.

    Only DOD encryption – hard wiping software or the total destruction of the physical hardrive and obliterate these image. Forensic and other law enforcement computer specialists can do what you never thought possible.

    The penalties and consequences of Colorado’s Sexual Exploitation Laws are severe – they range from probation to many years in prison.  Possession of child pornography – sexual exploitation of a child – depending on how it is charged – can carry less than 2 years in prison and up to 12 years in prison.

    For A Closer Look At The Prosecution Of The Criime of Sexual Exploitation Of A Child In Colorado  Click Here

    The “Not So Collateral” Consequences of Colorado Sexual Exploitation Cases

    Every Colorado sex crimes defense lawyer is duty bound to not only be a ware of, but to advise his or her client about the collateral consequences of a conviction in these cases. Sex Offender Registration, Sex Offender Intensive Supervision Probation, separation from family and friends children, years of difficult if not impossible treatment, polygraphs, PPGs and dozens of other consequences are among the consequences of a conviction.

    Federal Child Pornography Prosecutions

    Federal child pornography statutes – 18 U.S.C. 2252, 2252A, and 2260b carry substantial maximum, and mandatory minimum penalties. Sentence enhancements applied under the US Sentencing Guidelines in federal cases based – for example on the number of images recovered –  can result in sentences exceedingly more stringent than even those ordered under Colorado laws.

    It is possible for a defendant to be charged with the same crimes twice in state and federal court, without a finding of double jeopardy since these are considered different “sovereigns” with separate governmental claims.

    Colorado Prosecution Trends In Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR: H. Michael Steinberg – Email The Author at [email protected] or you call his office at 303-627-7777 during business hours – or call his cell if you cannot wait and need his immediate assistance – 720-227-7777.

    If you are charged with A Colorado crime or you have questions about Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases, please call our office. The Law Offices of H. Michael Steinberg, in Denver, Colorado, provide criminal defense clients with effective, efficient, intelligent and strong legal advocacy. We can educate you and help you navigate the stressful and complex legal process related to your criminal defense issue such as this article – Colorado Prosecution Trends In Sexual Exploitation Of Children Cases.


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    ___________________________
    H. Michael Steinberg Esq.
    Attorney and Counselor at Law
    The Colorado Criminal Defense Law Firm of H. Michael Steinberg
    A Denver, Colorado Lawyer Focused Exclusively On
    Colorado Criminal Law For Over 40 Years.
    The Edward Building
    8400 East Prentice Ave, Penthouse 1500
    Greenwood Village, Colorado, 80111
    E-Mail:  [email protected]
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