Florida, Make Better Choices – NARSOL

By Sandy . . . A young man was sentenced to prison last week in Florida. The charges, following his arrest last year when he was 19, were 30 counts of possession of child pornography. The materials on which he entered an open plea are disturbing because the children involved were very young. It was clear that intervention and appropriate punishment were called for.

However, a sentence that takes neither his young age at the time of the activity nor the non-contact nature of the sentence seems inappropriate. Florida has had a juvenile offender law since 1978. The young man who was sentenced, named Anthony, seems a natural fit for this option. He seems to meet all the criteria. Whether or not it was considered for him is unknown to all but a few, but if it was considered, he would have been deprived of the opportunity to be held accountable for his crimes; quite possibly serve a prison sentence; and, most importantly, be evaluated for underlying issues and receive treatment that was deemed appropriate for them and for his criminal behavior.

Young people, mostly males, seek out pornography for a variety of reasons. One of these reasons has been identified by the National Health Institute as underlying mental health issues. In a study of college students, they found that depression and high levels of stress and anxiety were precursors to pornography use among these students.

In a study even more specific to Anthony’s case, the National Health Institute concluded that young men with a history of possessing child pornography would benefit most from specific treatment. They found that “…juvenile possessors of child pornography require a specific targeted intervention that addresses dysfunctional Internet use and sexually deviant arousal.” If Anthony had been treated in the juvenile delinquent program, his screening and diagnostic tools may have come to the same conclusion. It is unlikely that he will receive this type of intervention and will be convicted and incarcerated in the adult system in Florida.

Another possible reason why teens view child pornography is to help them understand the sexual abuse they themselves have suffered. According to the National Children’s Alliance, pornography addiction is one of the last manifestations of child victimization. Another organization, in an unpublished study, identified coping with their own past abuse as one of seven reasons teens turn to pornography. As far as the public record goes, there is no indication that any of these issues apply to Anthony. Again, this type of diagnosis and subsequent related treatment would only have been available to him as part of the juvenile offender program.

How long is Anthony sentenced to? The answer is shocking. His sentence is 68 years in state prison, followed by lifelong sex offender probation. And of course, if he survives his sentence, of which he must serve 85%, and is released, he will be registered as a sex offender and put on sex offender probation.

To put the sentence into perspective, the U.S. Sentencing Commission shows that the average sentence for Anthony’s conviction is 95 months, which is one month less than the eight years.

Another perspective can be applied here. In the hunt for the longest sentence imposed for a non-contact pornography conviction, the case of Stephen Chase, 58, also of Florida, stands out. Stephen created an illegal child pornography website on the dark web in 2014. Stephen himself is identified as the “. . . creator and primary operator of what was believed to be the world’s largest child pornography website — with over 150,000 users worldwide.” His conviction, in 2017, was for “. . . engaging in a child exploitation enterprise and multiple child pornography charges.” He was sentenced to 30 years.

Why was Anthony’s punishment so extreme? Any answer is going to be speculative. However, it is interesting that several media articles about his arrest and sentencing say that police “suspect” him of hands-on child abuse and are appealing for anyone who had contact with him in the past five years – that is, from when he was 14 to 19 – to contact police. The lack of media or new charges suggests that no one did.

We all make choices. We don’t know what demons drove Anthony, but he chose to engage in illegal behavior. The County of Volusia and the State of Florida chose to prosecute Anthony in the adult justice system. As a juvenile offender, there is a good chance that his issues would have been identified and addressed; he would still have served a sentence, but he would have been released with most of his life left. He would have been able to benefit from rehabilitation and reenter society as a productive, tax-paying citizen.

If he manages to survive the six decades (85%) he will spend in a Florida prison, he will come out with a sum that currently costs the state $24,265 a year, almost a million and a half in taxpayer money. He will either be a broken and ruined man, dependent on social services and costing the state even more money, or a hardened criminal.

Choices matter.

Sandy, a NARSOL board member, is the Communications Director for NARSOL, Editor-in-Chief of the Digest, and a writer for the Digest and the NARSOL website. She is also involved in updating and managing the website and assists with various organizational tasks.