Families of SOs Community Group
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Last year my dad was online and thought he saw his (then) girlfriend as a young girl on an inappropriate website. She had been abused as a child so it was likely her. He did some looking around trying to find that site again but couldn't. The police had been watching his internet activity and raided his house. They took his computers, my old computers from when I was living there, family videos and pictures. They took pictures of his house such as my school pictures and my daughters playroom. They are going to use this as evidence. I'm his daughter so of course there's pictures of me as a kid hanging up. I'm not sure how that's evidence. His lawyer hasn't done much except keep the case from going federal. He wont respond to emails and has blown through thousands of dollars on paper work. My dad is running out of money and the trial starts July 10th. The prosecutor has offered to lower his charges and wont accept anything less. If he goes to jail he will lose his job and that will cause him to lose his house and car. His house is too close to a school so he will lose it either way. His life will be over all because he was trying to get justice for someone he cares about. I'm scared for his safety. My dad is my only support system and I'm his support system. It's not looking good for him. I don't know where to go from here.
You never think it will happen to someone you know or love, mostly because you assume only bad people are charged with this crime. The reality is a lot are actually innocent (Many didn't even realize it was embedded in music files they downloaded and were even able to prove that the images were never viewed)!!!
Hopefully your not in AZ or FL , those states have some of the strictest punishments. Stand by your dad, he needs you now more then ever. This hasn't killed us, there for we are stronger and getting even more so by the day.
We are all here for you, if you have questions or just need to vent.
Your attorney is probably doing the only thing he can do by not allowing these charges to go federal. Going federal would make it worse.
I don't know the specifics of your dad's case, but it is likely that they have all the evidence needed to convict him of child pornography possession. If so, and there are no other extenuating circumstances, it would be legal suicide to go to trial.
If they have the evidence and they found underage images on any of your dad's digital equipment, including the computer, it will be almost impossible to win at trial. Of all the child pornography prosecutions that have gone to trial, I can only think of maybe four or five which resulted in an acquittal for the defendant.
If he goes to trial, the prosecutor will probably try him on as many counts as possible and if found guilty, it could really rack up the number of years he has to serve in prison. One man in Arizona went to trial and received a 200 year sentence for child pornography.
And you can bet that the prosecutor will try to show the jury the images---and he will pick out the WORST ones----that they found on the hard drive. After seeing those images, the emotion will take over and it will be even more difficult for him to win an acquittal. Juries convict as much on emotion as they do on facts in many of these cases involving sex charges.
If he pleas, they prosecutor will probably drop all the charges except one or run some of the charges together concurrently and your dad can escape a long prison sentence.
I wish you well,
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As my husband's lawyer put it, in the days of the internet they've got you. You can be completely innocent but they have their evidence and that's all they need. Tell him to take the plea deal. They found 18 files on my husband's computer but his plea deal was for 1 count. His deal was a flat 5 but when it came to sentencing the judge only gave him 3 years. If your father hasn't been in trouble and has had a job they will probably offer him a good plea deal. Say out of federal court though.
Be very supportive to your dad. He's going to need you now more than ever. I'm only on day 3 of my husband being put in jail and it's killing me and my children. But I found this group and it's been a big help. Just know that we are all here for you.
His attorney should be able to tell you what your dad is looking at if he looses at trial. The process can take time. It can takes months or years for this to work it's way through the court system. It will only go to trial if they cannot reach a plea deal and both sides are ready to present their evidence at trial.
We won't be able to answer a lot of these questions, as they can be answered by his attorney. Find out what is the best plea deal they can get. If they DO have evidence of CP, he will be found guilty.
They found cp on his computer and he is still going to trial??? And they found several files?? And his defense is that he was looking for something else, but the files were downloaded instead??
Do you have an attorney or is he a PD?? Did he advise your dad go to trial on these charges??
Was your father not offered a plea bargain? His chances of being completely acquitted are about as probable as winning the lottery.
Boy oh Boy, that is going to be an almost impossible task explaining to a jury how those files got there. I am sure you are telling the truth, but convincing a jury will be very difficult.
If they found the cp files on his computer, it does not usually matter how they got there---they were there. He was in possession of cp. If he can prove without a doubt that a virus or some malware put them there or if he can prove that someone else put them there, he might have a chance; but that is just a long shot.
And no, I don't think the judge will be very understanding either. He might give your father a light sentence, but he will find him guilty.
Your father needs to contact his attorney and have a long talk with him before he proceeds to trial. I am not wanting to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't want to see the jury give your dad a lot of prison time.
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