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[rpmurphy]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1315314-man-from-south-carolina-jailed-over-illicit-cartoons

In the United States, there’s nothing illegal about possessing images of TV cartoon characters such as Dora the Explorer, Bart Simpson, Penny from Inspector Gadget and Bobby from King of the Hill engaged in sexual acts.

But here in Canada, that kind of material is considered child pornography — a lesson an American citizen learned the hard way.

Peter Hasler, 25, of Murrells Inlet, S.C., was arrested at Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Sept. 12 after a search of his laptop turned up animated images of characters under the age of 18 being sexually abused.

Hasler pleaded guilty Tuesday in Dartmouth provincial court to a Customs Act charge of smuggling prohibited goods and received a 90-day jail sentence.

Judge Frank Hoskins endorsed a joint recommendation from lawyers and gave Hasler remand credit of 38 days, leaving him with 52 days to serve.

After Hasler gets out of jail, he will be deported and will have a difficult time ever getting back into Canada, Crown attorney Tim McLaughlin told the court.

McLaughlin submitted a sampling of the 137 illegal images found on Hasler’s computer for the judge to peruse.

“They are immature and vile images,” the prosecutor said.

“Mr. Hasler is not that old yet, but he may want to grow up a bit as he moves forward.”

Defence lawyer Alex Baranowski said his client came to Nova Scotia to visit a woman he had met online.

Hasler had no idea he was doing anything illegal by bringing the images into Canada, Baranowski said, and wants to put the matter behind him and return to South Carolina, where he works as a security guard.

“He did not come to Nova Scotia with the intent of breaking any laws or causing any trouble whatsoever,” the lawyer said. “He just made a grave error and certainly acknowledges the fact that he made that error and is taking responsibility today.

“He’s expressed a great deal of remorse to myself and wishes to express that to the court.”

Hasler apologized to the judge for wasting his time.

“You’re not wasting my time,” Hoskins replied. “This is what we do.”

The judge said he agreed with the Crown’s description of the cartoons found on the laptop.

“There is no question that the depictions that I have examined in court … are very disturbing,” Hoskins said. “They’re very vile images and certainly meet the definition … of child pornography.

“This is illegal in Canada and will be taken very seriously. … I hope, from this experience, you’ve learned a lot.”

Outside court, McLaughlin said Canada Border Services Agency officers at the Halifax airport are seeing more animated child pornography than they used to.

“We’ve had two cases this year alone,” he said. “I suspect with perhaps a lack of understanding of Canadian law and access to these images through the Internet, we’re going to see more in the years to come. It’s as simple as that.”

This summer, a 25-year-old French national arriving on a flight from Germany was caught with 244 animated images of child pornography on a memory card.

Nicholas Michel Clement Roux pleaded guilty to smuggling and a Criminal Code charge of possession and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

“There’s nothing funny about this,” McLaughlin said. “These characters should be educational, they should be entertaining. They should not be debased in a vile, sexual fashion.”

lol

 

[Sanjuro]

 

[Lulubop]

that boy ain't right

 

[Phat Michael]

They make you turn on your laptop and log in and then go through your personal files? I've never seen this at an airport before.

 

[The Flash]

Come on South Carolinians. We're better than this.

DEAD

 

[xXJonoXx]

They make you turn on your laptop and log in and then go through your personal files? I've never seen this at an airport before.

This is exactly what I am thinking.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

So why was his laptop searched?

 

[Count Dookkake]

 

[InfiniteBento]

Out of all the animated porn you could fap to that man picks rule 34.

Tsk tsk tsk

 

[Sulik2]

Nothing like arresting for thought crimes.

 

[Perfect Blue]

I didn't know that's illegal here. Anime fans better be careful.

 

[Mimosa97]

Why did they search his laptop in the first place ? Is that even legal ?

Even thhough I find that kind of stuff disgusting it's still just drawings and cartoons. Canada is trying really hard to outperform Australia and their crazy custom laws.

 

[moggio]

Nothing like arresting for thought crimes.

He wasn't arrested for thought crimes, he was arrested for having indecent images on his computer.

 

[New002]

They make you turn on your laptop and log in and then go through your personal files? I've never seen this at an airport before.

Yeah I'm curious to learn more about how this went down exactly.

 

[Who]

i wonder if they were cookies or temp files or whatever because that shit is advertised all the time on normal, run-of-the-mill porn sites.

 

[JDSN]

He should have explained Dora was actually an old dragon.

 

[Htown]

Nothing like arresting for thought crimes.

that's not thought crime, bro

it's possession of child pornography

 

[AuthenticM]

Why was his laptop searched in the first place? Did they have a warrant?

i wonder if they were cookies or temp files or whatever because that shit is advertised all the time on normal, run-of-the-mill porn sites.

When I was in law school, we had a judge come give a lecture one time. He talked about exactly such a case. The accused had thumbnails of underaged cartoons in his temp files, was found guilty of possession of child pornography, and it pretty much ruined his life.

 

[SugarDaddy]

Way more disturbing that they went through his laptop and somehow have a proper legal justification in Canada for doing so.. Huge invasion of privacy, and 100% illegal in the United States for very good reason. Why is this shit legal to do in Canada?

Not even going to mention how the fuck a cartoon somehow constitutes as child pornography, who the fuck are they trying to protect? Boots? Connie? Milhouse? At this point the biggest crime committed was the waste of tax dollar money to process this guy.

 

[Hip Hop]

Why would you have such images anyway? It's fucked up how they went through with it, but you're also fucked up for carrying that shit.

 

[Horse Armour]

They make you turn on your laptop and log in and then go through your personal files? I've never seen this at an airport before.

This is exactly what I am thinking.

So why was his laptop searched?

Why was his laptop searched in the first place? Did they have a warrant?

He was probably a gamer.

 

[vulva]

Nothing like arresting for thought crimes.

You're right, it is nothing like that

 

[Parch]

So animated child porn is legal in the United States?

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

He wasn't arrested for thought crimes, he was arrested for having indecent images on his computer.

Images of fictional characters. ie, no victims. ie, a thought crime.


EDIT: Christ, more of you are jumping on this bandwagon.

Do you know why child pornography is illegal? Because children are victimised and abused. Not so we can feel good about taking down people with sexual interests that differ from our own.

I'm pretty sure I'd be creeped out by whatever inages this guy had, but this is a thought crime, plain and simple.

 

[Sulik2]

that's not thought crime, bro

it's possession of child pornography

It's animated. Its not real. That's a thought crime in my book. You don't find it at least a little bit concerning that fictional works of art, even if its gross, can land you in jail in Canada for something that harms no one?

 

[Two Words]

Drawings are not children. Animated porn at any age should not be illegal. Canada has it wrong and they're backwards law isn't helping. I'd rather pedophiles have something to jerk off to that is harmless than have them pent up for life until they act.

 

[Straight Edge]

How does one calculate the age of a cartoon?

 

[LocknessMobster]

 

[Apoc87]

Drawings are not children. Animated porn at any age should not be illegal. Canada has it wrong and they're backwards law isn't helping. I'd rather pedophiles have something to jerk off to that is harmless than have them pent up for life until they act.

Agreed.

 

[Crazymoogle]

How does one calculate the age of a cartoon?

They arrest you based on personal judgement first and leave any sort of further consideration to the court, I imagine.

 

[Rockman Wright]

Why would you have such images anyway?

maybe... i dunno.... because he likes it? It's fiction, it doesn't hurt anyone...

 

[Htown]

It's animated. Its not real. That's a thought crime in my book. You don't find it at least a little bit concerning that fictional works of art, even if its gross, can land you in jail in Canada for something that harms no one?

No, I am not disturbed that looking at sexual images of animated child characters could land you in jail.

At all.

 

[DoktorEvil]

He was probably a gamer.

TSA has no respect for J-Wong.

 

[Two Words]

No, I am not disturbed that looking at sexual images of animated child characters could land you in jail.

At all.

What benefit to society does this serve.

 

[Dangansona]

I wonder if the images are actually that bad or if the judge just can't handle some good ol' Rule 34.

 

[rpmurphy]

How does one calculate the age of a cartoon?

Idk, but this is a 15 year old:

 

[TSM]

It's animated. Its not real. That's a thought crime in my book. You don't find it at least a little bit concerning that fictional works of art, even if its gross, can land you in jail in Canada for something that harms no one?

They appear to be protecting the rights of fictional characters:

“There’s nothing funny about this,” McLaughlin said. “These characters should be educational, they should be entertaining. They should not be debased in a vile, sexual fashion.”

 

[Einchy]

It's illegal to have rule 34 of Bart in Canada? Dude is like 35 years old now.

 

[Rocky85]

I still dont get how a policemen requires a warrant to go through your cellphone and computer but border security doesnt. How is that a law??

 

[LaserBuddha]

No, I am not disturbed that looking at sexual images of animated child characters could land you in jail.

At all.

If I posted a link here that you clicked on and it put child cartoon porn in your browsing history, would it disturb you to go to prison for that because you then travelled with your laptop/tablet/smartphone?

Did you ever watch an anime with any nudity in it? Would those character designs seem childish to an old man in a judge's robe?

I'm just trying to figure out the boundaries of your stupid ass thoughtless position.

I still dont get how a policemen requires a warrant to go through your cellphone and computer but border security doesnt. How is that a law??

Furthermore, how is anything stored on your computer considered to be something even remotely related to airport/border security?

 

[Htown]

I still dont get how a policemen requires a warrant to go through your cellphone and computer but border security doesnt. How is that a law??

as far as I've read, both American and Canadian laws and courts have basically held that you have a reduced expectation of privacy when crossing international borders

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

What benefit to society does this serve.

Satiating bloodlust.

 

[DoktorEvil]

Defence lawyer Alex Baranowski said his client came to Nova Scotia to visit a woman he had met online.

Hasler had no idea he was doing anything illegal by bringing the images into Canada, Baranowski said, and wants to put the matter behind him and return to South Carolina, where he works as a security guard.

Which Gaffer is this?????

 

[SugarDaddy]

What benefit to society does this serve.

.

Sensationalist protectionism, this has zero legitimacy and they have zero right to claim this dude was ever going to do anything. It's a cartoon, stop fucking wasting money on these bull shit prosecutions

 

[Somnid]

No, I am not disturbed that looking at sexual images of animated child characters could land you in jail.

At all.

Would you be disturbed if you could land in jail for pictures depicting extreme violence to animated children? What about animated adults in forced sexual situations? Without a clear victim I'm having a hard time figuring out why this is a law. I mean if it's about mental health, which would be a hard thing to push, I feel those two examples I gave should also land you a sentence.

 

[Verelios]

Why would you have such images anyway? It's fucked up how they went through with it, but it's also fucked up when your carrying that shit.

They're animated images, why do you care really? I'm not about that life but some people are attracted to cartoons and...stuff. If it helps them then there's no problem for me.

Just as long as it isn't actual child pornography.

 

[Majine]

The fact that cartoons depicting minors can be illegal is way more fucked up than having posession of it.

 

[WesternHeretic]

TSA has no respect for J-Wong.

Greatest marvel player of all time getting no respect.

 

[Sami+]

I always wondered who actually looks at that shit. There's so much advertisement on porn sites it has to be a pretty big number, no?

 

[Messypandas]

That garbage should not be proliferated on any legal site i.e porn sites, deviantart and what have you. Bit if some dude has a picture of daffy duck getting a blow job and you gonna throw him jail? Come on son. I'm not really sure who we're protecting here.