Pastor arrested on child porn complaint after allegedly writing a story

[Gaki]

This echoes the Jake Baker case very closely.  See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Baker

That is an extraordinary analog.  I wonder if a clever lawyer could take this precendent and change some of the charges....

o.0

[VicarInATutu]

This story is fucked up on so many levels. For me, the greatest tragedy is the betrayal by his wife. As others have said, she vowed to stand by him through better and worse, yet the moment she finds a blue story she runs straight to the coppers rather than discuss it with him. I'm sure that this would be what is cutting him most deeply.

Of course, the classification of a story as CP is also outrageous. The whole argument for making CP illegal in the first place was to protect the children which are 'abused' in the making of the CP material. Nowadays they don't even bother pretending that CP is banned for the protection of children; they are quite open that it's all about moral oppression. To class cartoons, stories and computer generated images as CP, despite no child being 'harmed' is ludicrous.

[Neighbor]

This story is fucked up on so many levels. For me, the greatest tragedy is the betrayal by his wife. As others have said, she vowed to stand by him through better and worse, yet the moment she finds a blue story she runs straight to the coppers rather than discuss it with him. I'm sure that this would be what is cutting him most deeply.

Of course, the classification of a story as CP is also outrageous. The whole argument for making CP illegal in the first place was to protect the children which are 'abused' in the making of the CP material. Nowadays they don't even bother pretending that CP is banned for the protection of children; they are quite open that it's all about moral oppression. To class cartoons, stories and computer generated images as CP, despite no child being 'harmed' is ludicrous.

I think that the underlying motivation here is to simply suppress the very idea of underage sex. Classifying representations in which no child was ever involved as CP is nothing less than insane, but that is the way of things in many countries, including Britain, Canada and Australia. Obscenity is another great catch-all. Just look at the case of Mike Diana, I referred to in the thread about Frank McCoy.

Neighbor

[Nobody]

 I for the most part agree with you Neighbor, but I think that additional reasons include drawing attention away from the epidemic political corruption in U.S. politics during the upcoming election season along with the true economic crisis as experienced by the middle class in that country.

[Neighbor]

I for the most part agree with you Neighbor, but I think that additional reasons include drawing attention away from the epidemic political corruption in U.S. politics during the upcoming election season along with the true economic crisis as experienced by the middle class in that country.

I think that CP is a small part of that... what is more common are all the celebrity stuff.. what so and so did on their holiday, what diet so and so is currently on, who is cheating on who, etc. The tabloids are full of this nonsense. There is a literal ton of fluff and filler on TV as well. I watch very little TV these days... in one sense it's almost a  soporific. The whole idea is to distract to keep people from thinking about what is going on around them.

Personally, I'm rooting for Bernie Sanders -- the reason he's got so much support is because he's the only one who tells the truth. That's why he is ignored by the mainstream media, whose interests are those of their owners, the 0.01%.

Neighbor

[HowardBL]

Laws are so ass backwards....just being honest...next thing people will be getting busted for thought crimes

[Neighbor]

Laws are so ass backwards....just being honest...next thing people will be getting busted for thought crimes

What do you think Frank McCoy's conviction was? His 'crime' was putting his thoughts on paper, and the judge sent him to jail for 18 months for it.

Neighbor

[Neighbor]

First Amendment fight breaks out in child porn case with Oklahoma pastor

[Photo]
Caption: Larry Jones

Posted: Monday, June 22, 2015 3:30 pm
By Parker Perry | Community News Content
Posted on Jun 22, 2015
by Michael Kinney

http://www.cnhinews.com/news/article_ab73a86c-18f4-11e5-b5d7-ab03719526aa.html (tor-safe, ensure scripts disabled)

An Oklahoma pastor accused of writing stories about a sexual fantasy involving young girls may have his case dismissed due to a First Amendment challenge, according to a district court judge.

Larry Jones, 66, of McAlester, Oklahoma is the former pastor of the Missionary Baptist Church in McAlester. He was arrested in September and later charged with possessing obscene or indecent writings. Police said his writings involved girls as young as 6 years old.

Authorities said there is no reason to believe Jones ever physically assaulted children, but pointed to a statute of Oklahoma law prohibiting citizens from having anything to do with materials resembling child pornography. 

Jones' attorneys, Brecken Wagner and Blake Lynch, argued the law used to charge Jones was unconstitutional. They said the story would be protected by the First Amendment, although the attorneys did not concede whether Jones wrote the story.

"We are now criminalizing any reference of child pornography," Wagner said during a preliminary hearing in March. "It is all-encompassing."

Pittsburg County Associate District Judge Tim Mills said during the March hearing he wasn't ready to deem the prosecution of Jones unconstitutional and was going to bound Jones over for trial — with the condition prosecutors change the charge sheet to reflect the allegations Jones "wrote or composed" the story.

That never happened, though. 

Jones' attorneys then asked for the charges to be dismissed, and in a June 12 rebuttal, prosecutors said, "obscene material is not protected speech."

During a June 15 hearing, District Judge James Bland pointed to a 1969 case that went before the United States Supreme Court challenging a Georgia law similar to the one used to charge Jones. In that case, a man was arrested for owning what authorities contended was an obscene video, according to the SCOTUS website. The judges at the time voted 9-0 that arresting him infringed upon his freedom, and government cannot deem something obscene.

However, Bland also noted that prosecutors never amended their charging language, as Mills had previously advised. In a court order issued Wednesday, Bland said he intended to dismiss the case but put the dismissal on hold.

"The state has the ability to re-file with amended language," Bland wrote.

Wagner said in an interview he is not worried whether the office does appeal the decision.

"We are extremely confident in the argument that was presented and the issues before the court and given the Supreme Court ruling 50 years ago, there is no reason to believe that it is going to be overturned by the court in Oklahoma," Wagner said. "You don't have to like what someone says in order to love to defend their right to say it."

Perry writes for The McAlester (Okla.) News

[Neighbor]

McAlester News-Capital

Criminal case against former pastor dismissed
Posted: Monday, August 3, 2015 12:10 pm
By Parker Perry | Staff writer

http://www.mcalesternews.com/news/criminal-case-against-former-pastor-dismissed/article_6411da0a-3a02-11e5-b3b7-f71edc5a91b7.html (tor-safe, ensue scripts disabled)

A judge has dismissed a criminal case against a former pastor accused by McAlester police in 2014 of possessing indecent writings about children who attended his church.

Larry Jones, 66, of McAlester, was originally charged with possessing indecent writings/an obscene story after police said he possessed writings describing him engaging in sexual acts with children in his congregation.

District 18 District Judge James Bland dismissed the charge against Jones Friday. The case was previously put on hold in June when Bland informed District 18 prosecutors a 1969 United States Supreme Court ruling determined a state cannot deem material obscene. Bland said he intended to dismiss the charge against Jones based on the ruling from the Supreme Court, but he delayed the decision to give prosecutors time to appeal it.

District 18 Assistant District Attorney Adam Scharn told the court he planned to appeal the decision to dismiss. Jones' case was set for a review in court on Friday.

"No appeal has been filed," the minutes read. "Stay is hereby lifted. Case is dismissed without costs."

Scharn could not be reached for comment Monday.

Jones was charged in September after authorities said his now ex-wife, Patsy Jones, found typed writings on a printer in the family home. The writings allegedly detailed an imaginary encounter between the pastor and three youths as young as 6. Patsy Jones took the story to McAlester police, who interviewed Larry Jones and determined Larry Jones had broken the law, according to a police affidavit.

Patsy Jones filed and received a divorce soon after the incident, court records indicate.

The case led to a prolonged debate over what First Amendment protections are available to someone under such a scenario. During a preliminary hearing in the case, Larry Jones' attorneys, Brecken Wagner and Blake Lynch, argued the constitution protected such controversial writings and ideas. Scharn wrote in a response to a motion seeking dismissal of the case that "obscene material is not protected speech."

Pittsburg County Associate District Judge Tim Mills said during a preliminary hearing he understood the defense team's argument, but was not prepared to rule an Oklahoma law unconstitutional.

Bland was, however.

The district judge cited a United States Supreme Court case challenging a Georgia law similar to the one used to charge Jones. In that case, a man was arrested for owning what authorities contended was an obscene video, according to the SCOTUS website. The judges at the time voted 9-0 that arresting him infringed upon his freedom and government cannot deem something obscene. He also said prosecutors were instructed by Mills to change the charges against Larry Jones to indicate he not only processed the writing, but also wrote the story. Bland said the DA's office did not make the change.

Wagner told the News-Capital in an interview he felt it was important for the state to recognize its limitations.

"(Larry Jones) was arrested, charged, drug through the mud on a crime that didn't exist," Wagner said. 

Larry Jones was the pastor at Missionary Baptist Church in McAlester. He was removed from his post just days after his arrest.

Contact Parker Perry at pperry@mcalesternews.com

Contact Parker Perry by email at pperry@mcalesternews.com.

Posted in News, Crime, Local news on Monday, August 3, 2015 12:10 pm.

[Gaki]

A shame to have his name tarnished, especially since although circumstantially it looks as though he wrote the material, they cannot even prove he did!  Strike one up for 'Freedom of Speech'...  I wonder what ramifications it will have for others that have had 'thought crimes' prosecuted around the US.

I am looking forward to the following few months to see if any other appeals are brought to the judicial system..

o.0