New York Times: Pornography and an Issue of Restitution

From Wednesday's New York Times: When Amy was a little girl, her uncle made her famous in the worst way: as a star in the netherworld of child pornography. Photographs and videos known as “the Misty series” depicting her abuse have circulated on the Internet for more than 10 years, and often turn up in the collections of those arrested for possession of illegal images. Now, with the help of an inventive lawyer, the young woman known as Amy — her real name has been withheld in court to prevent harassment — is fighting back. Read the complete story ...

Birdman Adoptive Father Stephen Melinger Back in the News

Look who's back! Was it adoption for love? Child trafficking via surrogacy? Or something else? The bizarre case of birdman Stephen Melinger is back in the news, this time in a New York Times article on the perils and pitfalls of surrogacy. Do check out this story in the Times, but just remember from Melinger to womb outsourcing, snowflake adoptions and sperm donor introductions for lesbians, this blog gave you the scoop first.

“Wrongly Accused” 100 Year Old Pedophile Leaves Prison

For those of you who believe in the power of rehabilitation, or that age conquers the irresistible impulse to exploit and abuse children, or for the liberal horde who expressed indignant outrage at the prospect of the death penalty for child sex abusers, this one's for you: According to the Huffington Post, Theodore Sypnier, a 100-year-old child molester who will soon be released from prison, has an "unrepentant heart" and continues to deny that he ever harmed any children. New York's oldest registered sex offender is scheduled to move by week's end out of a Buffalo ...

Restitution for Child Pornography Victim Denied

On Monday, a federal district judge in the Eastern District of Texas issued a memorandum opinion and order denying restitution to a now 20-year-old woman known as "Amy" in the case of a defendant who downloaded and possessed her images. The Court’s decision is a serious set-back for victims of child pornography like Amy in their effort to obtain just and timely restitution for the ongoing crimes perpetrated against them. How can we, as a country, justify awarding tens of thousands of dollars in damages to record companies for downloading a single song, while ...

Pedophile Director Roman Polanski Jailed

Last spring there was a great deal of controversy about Oscar winning film director Roman Polanski's long running attempt to escape justice for his 1977 rape of a 13 year old girl. Back in February, Salon.com published an excellent review of the case and a recently released documentary film about the case. On Saturday, Polanski was jailed in Switzerland on an international warrant as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival. An international tug-of-war over the 76-year-old director escalated today as France and Poland urged ...