Assignment:
200-word response 2 references
I do believe people who are convicted of possession of child pornography should be excluded from being sentenced to only probation. Probation allows the offender to serve his time within the community posing a threat to the safety of children in the public. Possession of child pornography is a federal crime as well which shows the seriousness of the crime. Child pornography includes images, videos, or digital generated images that depict a minor in sexually explicit conduct. This can include a naked picture of a child as well (Citizen's Guide, 2020). A child who is a victim of child pornography is re-victimized over and over when their image is shared online. Experts have repeatedly stated that children who are victims of such crimes do not only suffer once, they suffer their entire lives because of their images being on the internet forever.
The damage done psychologically to these children is horrific and can lead to problems in the future lives of these children. Not only are these images being circulated on the internet indefinitely, but it's likely offenders will share these images on forums and other sites with similar offenders (Child pornography, 2020). Because of the damaging and lasting impact this crime has on the victim, probation would not be an appropriate sentence for these offenders.
If I were the supervising probation officer I would impose strict guidelines for the offender. A lifetime on the register for sex offenders is a must, along with outpatients sex offender treatment programs. I would require the offender to waive his rights to therapist/patient privileges and require that the offender live within a certain distance from schools. The offender would have to agree to no contact with minors and this would include the offender's children and other family members as well. The offender must agree to stay away from places where children might attend such as public parks. A curfew would be put into place and the offender must not be out of his residence after a certain time at night. Given the general climate of the workforce today, it is likely the offender will need internet for work, but many conditions will apply. The offenders right to all privacy is gone, and he must comply with daily or weekly internet history searches if he even is granted access to the internet.