Denver Child Pornography or Sexual Exploitation of a Child, C.R.S. 18-6-403, generally arises from an internet download of sexual images from Limewire, or from a complaint by someone in our client's home, of Child Pornography.  Our full-time criminal defense lawyers see these two circumstances often.  Sometimes these complaints come from an ex-lover who is angry at our client, and want to have police search the hard-drive, hoping something illegal is present.

The heart of this charge in Denver, Jefferson, Douglas, Arapahoe, Larimer and Adams County is a search of your computer's hard drive.  Forensic (legal) examinations involve the use of expensive and sophisticated computer software which recovers any file on your computer, whether it was deleted or not.  The software is call Forensic Took Kit (FTK) or encase. These two programs will search every place on your computer a file can hide, even if you think it is deleted.

The problem is that many computers are used by several people.  Imagine your house and how many times family members or company have used the computer over several years.  You can be charged criminally for whatever OTHER people have downloaded.  In Weld and El Paso County, Sexual Exploitation involves an accusation that you've possessed or controlled nude images of children.  While some child nudity is constitutionally protected, juries don't really care about that and trial courts are reluctant to be known as friendly to child pornography defendants.  So, you can be convicted and you can spend a lot of years in prison.

Protect yourself.  In addition to a good hard-drive scrubber program, which truly deletes files, you need to monitor who is using your computer and don't let them download anything of a sexual nature.  There is no way you can be certain that someone has not downloaded or simply viewed sexually explicit photos of children on your computer.  You need the protection of a truly clean hard-drive.  If police call or come by, it is never advisable to speak to them.  They will lie and tell you their inquiry is no big deal.  In fact, they will use anything you say against you, and piece together your conviction.

If police contact you, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent and call the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the O'Malley Law Office at 303-830-0880.  Together, we can protect your future.