Pornographers get huge breaks
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 7/6/2009 6:30:00 AM
The first case, which was tried in Pennsylvania, involved owners of Extreme Associates, whose material a U.S. attorney said constituted "the most violent and disgusting portrayal of women that has been produced." Pat Trueman, special counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, laments that Rob Zicari and Janet Romano were given a light sentence by a U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster.
"This judge just gave a mere one-year sentence to each of the defendants, [who are] husband and wife," Trueman explains.
That is a pittance compared to sentencing guidelines and the nature of the material produced, adds the former Department of Justice porn prosecutor. A newspaper report says Zicari and Romano, who were indicted in August 2003, made films that depicted kidnappings, rapes, and murder.
Then there is the 2007 case in Delaware of a former teacher sentenced for possession of child pornography. Again, Trueman is stunned by the lack of severity in the punishment.
"A major child pornographer has been sentenced by a federal judge to just one day in jail -- and the judge said there's no evidence that he molested anyone. Well, this is ridiculous," says the attorney. "The child pornography law does not require evidence of molestation."
According to Trueman, Salvatore Graci should have been sentenced strictly on the basis of possession of child pornography. Court documents indicated more than 600 pornographic images of minors and ten videos of child porn on his home computer.
Graci, who pled guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, will be under a maximum lifetime supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
