The irony of what police in Manassas, Virginia did, and plan to do, in inducing an erection in a teenaged boy by injecting him with drugs so that they can photograph his penis for evidence to prove that the image the boy took of himself was child porn, is beyond belief. In fact, everything about this matter is beyond belief.
The prosecution of this teenager is wrong. The disparity of treatment between the boy and girl, who was first to sext an image of herself to the boy, is wrong. The forced photography of a teenager’s flaccid penis by police is bizarrely wrong. But what’s coming up makes all this pale in comparison.
For anyone who feels that badly written, poorly conceived, knee-jerk criminal laws will be sorted out by the good graces of police and prosecutors, this story should put the nail in the coffin of that ill-conceived nonsense. But there is nothing about this case that is more wrong, more disgustingly wrong, than what the police want to do to create evidence to nail down their conviction.
As much as I appreciate the dozen or more emails and twits about this story, Rick Horowitz has already written a post that captures the depth of all this wrongfulness. There’s no need for me to pile on, as Rick has said what needs to be said. Go read Rick’s post.
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Every piece I’ve read on this has left me unable to put any coherent thoughts down from pure blind rage, but I will say that I feel unspeakably awful for the boy involved in this morally bankrupt farce. I cannot imagine attempting to cope everyday life again after being so thoroughly, completely betrayed by the entirety of our society in such a deep, outrageous, impossible manner. There are clear and obvious miscarriages of justice for innocent men and women daily in our system, but the blinding hypocrisy that permeates this nightmare on every level takes it to a level I had previously found unimaginable.
I have little or, to be honest, absolutely no hope that there will be any vindication for the victim in this outside of presumably dropped charges given how Virginia has allowed nearly as outrageous misconduct from its prosecutors and police routinely before, but even otherwise I’m left unable to imagine what could possibly count as actual restitution here
The police have issued a statement attempting to justify their actions. It fails in ways they clearly don’t comprehend.
There is an application for a warrant pending before a Prince William County magistrate. I suspect there will be more to say based on what the mag does. It’s one thing for the police to be so outrageously wrong, but will the magistrate approve the molestation of this boy? That has yet to be seen.
I appreciate how they term the girl a ‘female juvenile’ while the boy is a ‘male suspect’. Nice to see them lay their cards on the table like that. I can’t even bring myself to think about their decision to rope in the child pornography statute instead of harassment given their presumably self serving description of events.
You think harassment would have been a good charge here?
If one was to give the police a big heaping pile of benefit of the doubt regarding their description of events – that the boy was repeatedly sending lewd messages despite being asked to stop – then I could see harassment passing the laugh test.
In this reality, where from all other accounts this was just dumb teenagers mutually sexting harassment would be ridiculous as well, but (assuming they were not still seeking a warrant to enter the kiddie porn business themselves) would not engender the same level of fury that their present choice of action has. It’s hard for anything not to be a better alternative to what they are doing.
Isn’t conspiracy to create child pornography a federal crime? Because that’s what I see here.
Not when it happens with the prior approval of a judge. Then it’s just sick and ironic.
It’s my understanding that the warrant has been “granted,” but not “executed.” And the way the information I read was written, it sounded like what they meant was that the judge had signed the warrant, but was holding it until further argument.
I’ve read different things, so I really have no clue exactly what the status is. Hopefully, if signed, the mag will reconsider. Or provide his name and naked picture.
Not that my opinion matters, but I had the same interpretation as Mr. Horowitz, and further, one of the reasons they wanted it done now is unstated fear that the juvenile male would be removed from the jurisdiction.
I’ve since read that the police have chosen not to execute the warrant signed by the Magistrate, so you and Rick are correct. It’s good to see that pressure and perhaps the tiniest bit of decency have caused them to rethink this. On the other hand, much insanity never reaches the public radar and happens without notice and public pressure.
One win for reason. The number of losses remain unknown.
Regarding the disparity of treatment issue, is it clear that the images the girl sent were explicit?
That’s what’s clearly suggested, but there can be no certainty without seeing them (which is largely true of everything in life and would preclude pretty much all discussion).
The medical authority needs to remind that any doctor or nurse performing or helping with this disgusting act would be revoked immediately.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
What about hippocratic oath?
Sorry, but it’s really not my job to teach kindergarten.
I am sorry I sound like a kindergarten, but I am so shocked.
Anyway, the people performing this act may not want to travel to France anytime, as this is the kind of acts France can (and is willing to) prosecute even if the act occurred outside of France (universal jurisdiction rule).
It almost cost France Bob Dylan. I’m doubtful it would be any better to go down France’s path than the one we’re on in the US. Both leave much to be desired.
Speech which encourages “racial hate” is forbidden in France, and also…[Ed. Note: Lengthy, totally off-topic digression into French hate crimes deleted.]
Scott is right. If it even made it to the state regulatory agencies in the first place, it would likely be quashed by that investigator. Licensing agency investigators tend to have a strong prosecutorial bias, just like any LEO, even though they are not in “law enforcement” per se. And this would be seen as very similar to investigating a LEO – perfunctory, at best.
And if it did get past the investigator, due process, even as limited as it is in administrative settings, would kick in. And there is no jurisdiction of which I am aware that would make this a revocable event, especially if the doctor or nurse hired an attorney with any administrative law experience.
I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I don’t know the answer to this, and I hope it’s not completely silly, but is there any sort of 5th Amendment protection against this? It would seem that the cops are forcing the boy to possibly incriminate himself. And, while I understand that they might argue that this is similar to fingerprinting, that seems completely different to me (for example, taking finger prints doesn’t require an injection in order to create a change in a body part).
Also, based on this logic, if the perpetrator of a crime had long hair and a beard, but the defendant, when arrested, has a shaved head, can the cops require him not to shave or get a haircut until they can photograph him in order to compare him to the perpetrator?
There is no testimonial privilege in a person’s physical being. It’s a line-up, with an erection.
Would something like the Sell v. US standard of protection against involuntary medical treatment be a reasonable basis for opposing the warrant here? Or do you foresee the distinction between pre-trial investigation and competency to stand trial large enough that Sell wouldn’t be relevant?
Sell v. US (forcing a prisoner to take psychotropic medication) has no bearing on the authority to collect evidence. That’s not the problem, however. It’s easy enough for the mag to deny the warrant as unreasonable under the 4th Amendment. As for the injection, they stick needles in people all the time, called blood draws. And then there are digital rectal and vaginal searches to find evidence of drugs.
Perhaps it’s time to dust off the old substantive due process limitation of a search that “shocks the conscience.”
This certainly seems, um, shocking.
I know I’m shocked.
I wonder what the co-pay on an erection injection is?
The five minute one or the four hour one? Just in case they want to do a video while they’ve got him where they want him.
Amateurs. What they should really do is insert a pump, then they can deflaccidate him on command . . . for Cops, press conferences, court, policing lectures etc. Imagine how much money they’d make from residuals and licensing
Let me see if I have this correct, when the boy took the photo he was a child and when he pushed the send button he was an adult?