Legal News

Family Pics Deemed Child Porn by Wal-Mart at Center of Lawsuit

By Ashby Jones

A recent story in the San Francisco Chronicle begins with an arresting anecdote:

Last fall A.J. and Lisa Demaree took a memory stick with family photos to the printing center at the Wal-Mart store in Peoria, Ariz. Some of the photos showed their three young girls, all under 5 years old, partially nude in the bathtub. The Demarees say these were innocent pictures that all families take. But a Wal-Mart employee felt otherwise and contacted the police who agreed that this was a child pornography situation.

Child Protective Services searched the Demaree home and took custody of the children for a month while the state investigated. The watched family videotapes and found a few in which the children were playing unclothed. Lisa was suspended from her school job for a year, and both of their names were placed on the sex offender registry. The couple spent $75,000 on legal bills.

Ultimately, the story has a reasonably happy ending. The Demarees were cleared of any charges and their daughters were returned. They’re angry:

“It took us a long time to take a picture [again],” Lisa told Good Morning America on Monday. “I even worry about them in their bathing suits now, if I get a shot of them in their bathing suits and they’re tilting their heads a certain way or their hips are sticking out a little bit, all I think of is ‘Does someone think that it was posed? Or how is that going to be perceived?’”

And we all know that at the intersection of big business and consumer anger often lie lawsuits. No exception here. The Demarees are suing the state and Wal-Mart for what they call unfair accusations. Click here for a story on the suit, from the Arizona Republic.

In one law suit, according to the Republic, the Demarees say the “slanderous claims” state officials made during the investigation caused them serious economic losses. They also claim to have since suffered “emotional stress, headaches, nightmares, a general feeling of malaise, shock to their nervous system, grief and depression.”

An assistant state attorney general did not respond to a request for comment.

The Demarees also sued Wal-Mart, alleging that the company failed to inform Anthony Demaree about its “unsuitable print policy,” under which Wal-Mart employees can, if they so decide, to turn any photos over to law enforcement. Walmart representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

“This is a parent’s worst nightmare,” said the Demarees’ lawyer, Richard Treon. “This is a serious incursion on people’s lives and privacy.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 22, 2009 (boomark / email).