The diverse circumstances of suspects in recent Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and Bangor, Maine, cybercrime arrests show that authorities canvas diverse locations to find and arrest people for breaking pornography laws. There are no safe havens for cyber-criminals.
In Sturgeon Bay, authorities arrested Stephen Link for invasion of privacy and possession of child pornography. They also arrested Kory Murphy for two counts of child pornography possession.
Link, the owner of Untitled Used and Rare Books, admitted to having installed a secret camera in the store’s restroom. Authorities also discovered Link had accessed a child pornography video online. They are now examining multiple hard drives’ worth of evidence they recovered from his home.
Meanwhile, Bangor, Maine resident and Greek Orthodox priest, Adam Metropoulos, was also arrested on September 15, after a woman complained he had taken a picture of her without permission. Authorities also allegedly discovered that Metropoulos possessed pornographic material depicting children.
In cases like these, creating a compelling, logical, empathetic defense can require a lot of research, strategy sessions and soul searching. When police recover large quantities of evidence on suspects’ computers or other devices, how should a defendant react? Being honest can help convince a judge or jury that you were innocent or that your wrongdoing had a more innocuous explanation. But you also need to be strategic in how you think about your case and communicate.
Possible defense for cybercrimes include:
•Accidental downloading. If you downloaded illegal material accidentally or unknowingly and immediately attempted to delete it, you lacked the intent to commit a crime.
• Multiple users. When one or more individuals had access to your computer via direct use or wireless connection, you may argue that you weren’t the one who downloade the illegal content.
• Unknowing possession. Viewing content – but taking no action to download it – may cause your computer to store the content in a cached web browser. However, this may not represent “knowing possession” under Florida law.
Whatever the circumstances of your case, a Florida cybercrime attorney can help you understand your rights and form a strong defense. Contact Seltzer Mayberg, LLC
today at 1-888-THE-DEFENSE (1-888-843-3333) to schedule a free consultation.