United States v. Timothy Caruso, No. 21-3786 (8th Cir. 2023)
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Defendant was convicted of two counts of child pornography for using the social-media website Pinterest to trade child pornography. He claimed that the evidence was insufficient to show that he distributed or accessed the material. Further, on appeal, he argued that the district court should have kept the jury from hearing about his Pinterest profile, search history, and chat records. Defendant contends that uploading the image to the “Little” board does not count as “distribution . . . by computer.” Second, he argued that even assuming someone distributed child pornography, the government never proved it was him.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court explained that Defendant knew that there was at least one other user who had access to the “Little” board. From that evidence, the jury was free to draw the common-sense conclusion that he had access to the pornographic image that Defendant posted. Nothing more was necessary to “distribute . . . child pornography . . . by computer.”
Further, in regard to Defendant’s alternative-perpetrator defense, the court held that the government proved its case. First, it showed how Defendant set up the account. The government’s theory was that he created his profile while at work and then uploaded the image from his friend’s house using an Android phone. To support that theory, his friend confirmed that Defendant was in each of those places during the dates and times in question and that he had given him an Android phone. Second, the government connected the Pinterest account to Defendant.
Court Description: [Stras, Author, with Smith, Chief Judge, and Benton, Circuit Judge] Criminal case - Criminal law. The evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction for distribution of pornography and access with intent to view; the district court did not err in allowing the government to admit defendant's public social media profile from the platform he used to access and distribute the materials; nor did the district court plainly err in admitting defendant's search and chat profiles.
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