United States v. Anderson, No. 13-2337 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed the denial of his motion to dismiss after pleading guilty to distributing child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2252A(a)(2)(A) and 2256(8)(C). Defendant transmitted an image to his eleven-year-old half-sister's Facebook page depicting an adult male and an adult female engaged in sexual intercourse where the eleven-year-old's face was superimposed over the woman's face. The court concluded that the government has a compelling interest in protecting innocent minors from the significant harms associated with morphed images and there was no less restrictive means for the government effectively to protect the minor child from the exploitation and psychological harm resulting from the distribution of the morphed image than to prohibit defendant from disseminating it. Accordingly, the court concluded that sections 2252A(a)(2)(A) and 2256(8)(C) are constitutional as applied to defendant's conduct. The court affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to dismiss.
Court Description: Criminal case - Criminal law. Where defendant transmitted a "morphed image" containing the face of a juvenile superimposed onto the body of an adult female engaged in intercourse, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2252A(a)(2)(A) and 2256(8)(C) are constitutional as applied to defendant's conduct because the government has a compelling interest in protecting minors from the significant harms associated with morphed images and the criminal prohibition is narrowly drawn.
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