Child Pornography Cases Are Winnable

Just because images or videos of child pornography were found on your computer doesn’t mean you put it there, knew it was there, or can explain how it got there.

The military prosecutors probably don’t care. Since child pornography was found on your computer, cell phone, or other electronic devices, the government is likely to send you to a general court martial and, if you are convicted, ask for a sentence that likely includes years of jail time and a dishonorable discharge.

You will then probably have to register as a sex offender for decades and your mug shot posted online for all to see.  

The right defense team could result in a service member’s full acquittal. The wrong court martial lawyer could result in the member being imprisoned, branded a felon and sexual deviant who is disowned by friends, family, and his community.

The government will prosecute you using all of its vast resources. They play to win, and often do when not aggressively challenged.  There probably won’t be just one prosecutor, but two. They will have an expert in computer forensics—someone whose testimony will be used to try and convince the jury that you are guilty of viewing, possessing, or distributing child pornography. 

The jury will probably be biased—they want to know how evidence of child pornography ended up on your computer if you didn’t put it there.

Despite court martial law requiring that you be presumed innocent until proven guilty, you will probably be viewed with disgust. Crimes against children—be it child abuse, child exploitation, or a child pornography crime—are viewed as the most despicable crimes under the UCMJ.

You need a court martial lawyer that can flip the script. 

While the government appeals to the jury’s emotional desire to protect children, we’d focus on logic, reason, science, and forensic evidence. 

Our defense of child pornography charges concentrates on showing that someone else could have put the child pornography on the military member’s computer or someone else could have sent the child pornography and the serviceman never knew it.

This is how your create reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind. 

Understanding Child Pornography Court Martial Cases

Some court martial attorneys will be quick to try and convince you to cut a deal and plead guilty. To them, your case is a loser and you need to cut your losses.

But if you have faithfully served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, maybe you owe it to yourself to see if you can beat child pornography charges before you roll over and plead guilty at court martial. 

A good court martial lawyer will research and create a hard-hitting defense strategy around the following critical issues:

• Was the search and seizure legal?
• Do the pictures or videos actually depict child pornography?
• Did the military member intentionally possess or distribute the child pornography?
• Did the service member even know the child pornography was on his computer?
• Could anyone else have been the child pornography source?

Most of these pressing questions can only be answered by a specially trained computer forensic expert. 

You need a lawyer that fully understands the complexities of winning court martial cases for service members accused of child pornography crimes under the UCMJ.  We don’t just tell you your case is a loser and that you should plead guilty.   

Beating Child Pornography Charges in the Military

Make no mistake, military prosecutors will almost surely pin their case against you on a mountain of digital forensic evidence collected by military law enforcement like CID, NCIS, or OSI.   

And while they may be able to show that the child pornography was found on your computer or other electronic devices, proving beyond a reasonable doubt that you put it there is almost always much, much harder.

You need a court martial defense lawyer that can exploit this weakness in every way possible.   

You need a court marital lawyer that isn’t afraid of what others think about defending a military accused facing child pornography charges.

Computer Forensic Experts

Computer forensic experts can do a lot to improve your chances of being found not guilty. They can:

• Review deleted hard-drive data.
• Examine computer file properties.
• Show dates and times child pornography images were downloaded.
• Determine dates and times images were last accessed or modified.

This type of information can be crushing to the government’s case, as it may reveal that someone else was on the computer or had access to it.

The more holes you poke in the government’s case, the closer you get to reasonable doubt and a not guilty verdict.

A child pornography conviction will likely impact the rest of your life in every terrible way possible. Job opportunities, family life, where you can live—all are in danger.

If you are suspected of, being investigated for, or are charged with any child pornography crime, don’t roll over and plead guilty until you are sure there is no other way out.

Contact an experienced court martial lawyer today to discuss all of your options.

Sexual Crimes Defense Practice Areas

• Rape and Sexual Assault Defense
• Rape and Sexual Assault of a Minor Defense
• Male-On-Male Sexual Assault
• Female-On-Female Sexual Assault
• Child Pornography Defense
• Sting Operation Defense
• Sexual Offender Registration (SORNA)
• SHARP/SAPR Defense