American Bar Association Journal—Pricing Amy: Should Those Who Download Child Pornography Pay the Victims?

This feature article about the Marsh Law Firm's efforts to secure restitution for victims of child pornography appears in this month's American Bar Association Journal which is read by over one million attorneys and corporate counsel worldwide. Here are several excerpts from Pricing Amy: Should Those Who Download Child Pornography Pay the Victims? It’s not exactly clear when Amy’s pictures began circulating online, but court records indicate the digital images date back to as early as 1998. Amy and her lawyer are, however, fighting back. Her battle is part of ...

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Masha Allen Redux – Pedophile Adoption in Ohio

Apparently the adoption industry learned nothing from the international uproar surrounding Masha Allen's adoption by a child molester six years ago. Masha's tragic adoption still reverberates as Russia continues to grapple with US-Russia adoptions. Now, in Ohio, a disturbing new case involving the alleged rape of three boys by their adoptive father, who also allegedly prostituted one of the boys to two other men, recently was exposed and occurred “despite safeguards designed for adoption agencies and prospective parents.” Thanks to Marley at The Daily Bastar...

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DOJ Interpretation Guts VAWA Protections

Okay, so maybe sexually exploited children don't get you activated. I'll admit it's an unpleasant niche most people would rather not think about. And the child pornography restitution statute which is being considered by federal district courts across the country and in several courts of appeal will arguably affect a relatively small number of victims. A closer look, however, reveals that the child pornography restitution statute, 18 U.S.C. 2259, is exactly the same as two other restitution statutes which were enacted at the same time. The first is the sex abuse restitu...

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Fifth Circuit Decides to Reconsider Restitution Victory

If you're awake and you've been following this blog for any length of time, your probably know that during the past two years, victims of child pornography (represented by the Marsh Law Firm and pioneering attorneys Paul G. Cassell and Carol L. Hepburn ) have been seeking restitution in federal courts throughout the country. Using a long forgotten passage in the Violence Against Women Act championed by then-Senator Joe Biden in 1994, child sex abuse victims are asking federal judges to award the mandatory restitution guaranteed by this law. Change.org|Sign our Online ...

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400,666 US Girls Under Ten Are Forcibly Raped

A recently released report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals some sobering numbers: nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped in their lifetime. This statistic is widely known and almost universally accepted. But what do these numbers say about children? According to the study, approximately 80% of female victims experienced their first rape before the age of 25 and almost half experienced the first rape before age 18 (30% between 11-17 years old and 12% at or before the age of 10). When you crunch the numbers even more, you discover that approxima...

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Supreme Court Grants Justice Dep’t Request to Reject Child Victims

Last week the United States Supreme Court ignored the extraordinary pleas of three nationally recognized child advocacy groups and granted the Justice Department's request to dismiss a child sex abuse victim's appeal for criminal restitution. The case now returns to the district court which must follow the DC Circuit's holding that the victim in this case, Amy, does not have a clear and indisputable right to full restitution, but must instead trace precisely how her losses were “proximately” caused by each of the thousands of child molesters and pedophiles who ...

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How Much Restitution Will be Permitted for Child Pornography Victims
The Second Circuit Speaks; Will The Supreme Court Step In?

Guest Legal Analysis by Jennifer Freeman of Freeman Lewis LLP On September 8, 2011, the Second Circuit dealt a blow to victims of child pornography who had been seeking broad relief under a federal criminal statute authorizing restitution. In United States v. Aumais, Docket No. 10-3160 (Sept. 8, 2011), the New York federal appeals court reversed a restitution order of nearly $50,000 assessed in favor of a victim of child porn against a possessor of the images, holding that proximate cause was lacking, without which such damages could not be imposed. In issuing this ...

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