IP: Ohio man convicted for "obscene" stories in his private journal

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2001 11:15:01 -0400
> To: politech () politechbot com
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
>
> This is an unusual case. The Ohio law -- a 1970s version of which Politech 
> member Bruce Taylor successfully defended before a federal appeals court 
> -- applies not only to dirty pictures, but also to written material:
>
> http://www.moralityinmedia.org/obsclawlinks.htm#oh
> "No person, with knowledge of the character of the material or performance 
> involved, shall do any of the following... Create, reproduce, or publish 
> any obscene material that has a minor as one of its participants or 
> portrayed observers...  Buy, procure, possess, or control any obscene 
> material, that has a minor as one of its participants..."
>
> Anyone who possesses such a visual or written description -- including a 
> diary entry or an erotic story -- is guilty of a felony. That means 
> Ohioans who have on their hard drive an "obscene" text file from 
> alt.sex.stories are felons.
>
> Other coverage:
> http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-07-05/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-117267.asp
> http://enquirer.com/editions/2001/07/05/loc_tristate_a_m_report.html
>
> -Declan
>
> *********
>
> From: "Robert V. Zwink" <rzwink () microcenter com>
> To: <declan () well com>
> Subject: Man's journal ruled obscene
> Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2001 10:24:08 -0400
> Message-ID: <LBEJKGPAOONNNILOJHBMCEBBEBAA.rzwink () mail microcenter com>
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> This is possibly one for your list.  A 22-year old wrote extensively about
> his pedophile delusions in a daily personal journal.  Law enforcement found
> the journal, today he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.  Seems he should
> be in an addiction clinic not a prison.  The journal was never published.
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
> From The Columbus Dispatch
> http://www.dispatch.com/news/news01/july01/755632.html
>
> Man's journal ruled obscene
>
> Wednesday, July 4, 2001
>
> Tim Doulin
> Dispatch Staff Reporter
>
> Brian Dalton wrote fictitious tales of sexually abusing and torturing
> children in his private journal, intending that no one else see them, he
> said.
>
> But when his probation officer found the journal during a routine search of
> Dalton's Columbus home, prosecutors charged him with pandering obscenity
> involving a minor.
>
> In Franklin County Common Pleas Court yesterday, the 22-year-old man's
> written words cost him 10 years in prison.
>
> The case worries civil-rights lawyer Benson Wolman, who said it has
> free-speech implications.
>
> "What you're saying is somebody can't, in essence, confess their fantasy
> into a personal journal for fear they have socially unacceptable fantasies,
> then ultimately they end up getting prosecuted,'' said Wolman, former
> director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Ohio.
>
> "This is the only case that I know of where we are talking about a
> journal -- just written words. It surprises and offends me that an action
> should be brought based on a journal.''
>
> But Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien called the case a "breakthrough''
> in the battle against child pornography.
>
> [...]
>
> "This is one of the first felony cases in Franklin County that involves the
> written word -- a writing somebody created on their own,'' he said.
>
> "Even without passing it on to anyone else, he committed a felony.''
>
> [...]
>
>
>
>
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