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An understandable (but debatable?) child porn declination decision by federal prosecutors

By Douglas A. Berman

A former student alerted me to this fascinating story from the Buffalo News, headlined "Quadriplegic spared prison in child porn case: U. S. attorney agrees to forgo prosecution."  Though the headline provides the basics, here are some notable particulars: When federal agents and prosecutors first learned about Wayne Schifelbine and his child pornography crimes, their inclination was to put him in prison for a long time. But then agents discovered something else about the 43-year-old Allegany County man who was using a credit card to buy images from child porn Web sites: Schifelbine is a quadriplegic.  He cannot walk, requires 24-hour nursing care and spends all his time in his bed or wheelchair. After hearing about his physical disabilities, U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 01, 2008 (boomark / email).