Quote:
Originally Posted by frquixote
From law.com: "While pedophilia is not in of itself a federal crime in the United States, if this psychiatric disorder causes a person to commit such crimes as child abuse or the acquisition of child pornography, then a pedophile may be subject to arrest and punishment by U.S. federal authorities. As such, the legal language concerning pedophilia related crimes can be located in Title 18 of the United States Code (U.S.C.), the comprehensive and officially accepted collection of U.S. federal statutes. 18 U.S.C. 2251-2260 involve the creation and possession of child pornography, and related sexual abuse of minors, as represents a frequent manifestation of pedophilia. In this section Sections 2253 and 2254 allow forfeiture, respectively under criminal and civil law, of pedophile related pornography. 2259 requires compensation to the subjects of pedophile pornography. 18 U.S.C. §§2241-2248 pertain to the punishment of pedophile offenders, according to whether they use violent force and their victim’s age."
If the book describes the behaviors that are considered child abuse with the intent of titillating the reader, it meets the federal definition of child pornography and both the author and Amazon should be prosecuted.
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I cannot find a federal definition for child pornography that refers to anything other than visual depictions. It's my understanding that the definition of child pornography requires that a child be involved in the production of said material, which is why it refers to images and not words. A person can write anything about anyone without the subject being involved.
If you can find a federal code that defines child pornography in any way that would include written words rather than visual depictions of minors being abused, please point me to it because I cannot find it.
Edited to add:
From
The US Dept of Justice:
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Child pornography is defined by law as the visual depiction of a person under the age of 18 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. See 18 U.S.C. §§ 2256(1) and (8). This means that any image of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct is illegal contraband. Notably, the legal definition of sexually explicit conduct does not require that an image depict a child engaging in sexual activity. See 18 U.S.C. § 2256(2). A picture of a naked child may constitute illegal child pornography if it is sufficiently sexually suggestive. In addition, for purposes of the child pornography statutes, federal law considers a person under the age of 18 to be a child. See 18 U.S.C. § 2256(1). It is irrelevant that the age of consent for sexual activity in a given state might be lower than 18. A visual depiction for purposes of the federal child pornography laws includes a photograph or videotape, including undeveloped film or videotape, as well as data stored electronically which can be converted into a visual image. For example, images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct stored on a computer disk are considered visual depictions.
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A person can write the most vile, unimaginable thing you can think of, but that still doesn't make it child pornography.