Internet downloading of child pornography has been a hot-button law enforcement issue in the past year. Los Angeles criminal lawyers are seeing more and more arrests, through the cooperation of local L.A. police department and federal agents.Criminal defense attorneys should be aware that the U.S. Supreme Court has recently upheld a strict new federal laws that makes it a crime to send messages over the computer that offer or seek child pornography, even when no such pornography exists.The 7-2 ruling gives prosecutors a powerful weapon to go after those who talk about child pornography online. It also appears to take away a defense for those who say the material they were discussing involves computer images, not depictions of real children engaged in sex.These type of charges are very serious, carrying substantial prison time. Typical defense inquiries in these cases include 1)who actually downloaded the pornography and 2)who possessed the photos or video at the time of the police arrest. Tagged as: child pornography pc 311_11