Pa.'s top court says viewing child pornography is a crime
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's highest court has ruled that merely viewing child pornography on the Internet is a crime and that prosecutors do not necessarily have to prove a defendant intentionally downloaded the material.
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's highest court has ruled that merely viewing child pornography on the Internet is a crime and that prosecutors do not necessarily have to prove a defendant intentionally downloaded the material.
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the 2005 Delaware County conviction of Anthony Diodoro on 30 counts of sexual abuse of children and one count of criminal use of a communications facility.
Diodoro's computer automatically saved child-pornography images to the hard drive.
The court's opinion says the law "should not and cannot be read to allow intentional and purposeful viewing of child pornography on the Internet without consequence."
Diodoro's lawyer Mark Much had no immediate comment, and a phone message left at the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office late yesterday wasn't immediately returned.