Client Family Involvement In Child Pornography Cases

Interviewer: How involved do you get with the individuals’ families? Some of them usually want to keep it private. Is it beneficial for them to have their family there for support?

Paul Cramm: I think it’s very important to have support. I think back to that young man who was in college. His parents were enormously supportive of him. It was such an embarrassing thing for him. It was so scary for the entire family when considering what federal sentencing guidelines would have in store for him. I don’t know that he would’ve come through as well as he did without the support of his parents.

The other individual I think of was in the process of divorce at the time these images were discovered. It was assumed that the ex-wife had made the report. He had very little family or social support. It was a very difficult time for him. We got remarkably favorable results, but I think by the time we got that favorable result, he was so mentally and emotionally exhausted that it was difficult for him to just lay back and bask in, “Wow, we really dodged the bullet here.” I don’t think he feels like he dodged a bullet. I think he feels like he ran a beltline for about 10 consecutive months before we were able to get things resolved. I really think that having some support system is just essential when you’re trying to navigate these kinds of cases.

Notable Cases

Interviewer: What would you say is your most unique case?

Paul Cramm: Probably the case of the professional computer repair tech who had these images appear on his own work computer form conducting back-ups of customer’s data before attempting to repair their computers.  Our own forensic examiner was able identify and trace exactly when and how the questionable images were introduced to my client’s computer from conducting backups of clients’ data.  That was a very unique fact pattern. It was very eye opening to see how innocently questionable images could find their way onto someone’s computer.

I also think the case of the college student who lived close to campus basically ‘left the key under the mat’ so to speak for his friends was an interesting case.  He allowed his friends to come and go from his home during the week between classes.  He also let them have the wi-fi password so they could log on and check email or check posted assignments for classes whale at his place. There was zero doubt that Child Pornography files had been accessed and downloaded through the wireless router in this client’s home.  But no Child Pornography files were discovered on my client’s personal computer or any storage devices.  It became apparent that someone other than my client with access to the residence and the wi-fi account had downloaded the images.  That investigation ended with a ‘no charge’ for my client – but he did decide to change the password to his wi-fi account and he limited access to his residence to only a few friends that he trusted impeccably after that experience.

For more information on successful defense of Federal Child Pornography charges, click here.