Nomination for Hero Badge

 

Harris County Deputy caught screwing dog. This is interesting because non criminal conduct on the one hand led to the filing of criminal charges for those non criminal acts. Deputy-accused-in-obscenity-case-faces-more-charges Texas recognizes the right of a person to have sex with an animal. I chalk it up to all those years of heavy democratic control of government.

It becomes illegal to have sex with an animal under three circumstances; 1) the individual enters onto the property of a third party in order to consummate the act and the third party did not consent to the trespass, (Criminal Trespass), 2) a third party witnesses the sex act and is offended, (Public Lewdness) or 3) the sex act is recorded via film,video or other means and the resulting video violates community standards for decency, lacks any serious scientific or literary merit and is obscene in an of itself, (Commercial Obscenity).  In each  of these instances the sex act is tagged on to the other offense.

The Sheriff’s office got wind of this guy because of Internet traffic. They apparently found the beastiality videos and purchased some. This led to the offense of “Commercial Obscenity” basically distribution of pornography. Depictions of him screwing the pooch. This led to a search warrant, which led to the discovery of child pornography.

I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the guy. But this incident does illustrate an inconsistency in the law. I am not a lawyer but I’ve been around them and the criminal law for over thirty years. In the old days, pre 1967(9)? model Penal Code  the legislature and the courts weren’t concerned with writing a law to cover every eventuality. Instead they relied on precedent and case law to get them within shouting distance of their objective.

I wasn’t there but imagine the first Public Lewdness trial conference went something like this:

Sheriff, “Did you hear about the handy man at the Johnson place?

“No, what?” asked the prosecutor.

“Old Ma Johnson went out to the barn to see what was taking so long with the milking. There was, what’s his name, Harvey standing on the milking stool, overalls down round his ankles playing the part of the bull. Had his eyes closed but Ma Johnson didn’t, she got an eyeful and she wants him prosecuted.”

“Don’t guess we can get away with a two dollar fine for disorderly conduct. Well let’s analyze this. What’s he done? It’s a cow so it isn’t rape, I guess it was for gratification. But if the cow was gratified, she ain’t saying and if Harvey was gratified he ain’t got a bitch coming.”

Sheriff, “Maybe we go with that sexual gratification part. No, that will never work every docket call from here on out be for guy bragging around the camp fire the night before. We wouldn’t have this problem if the damn fool hadn’t been caught!”

“Brilliant! That’s it, say no more, Harvey got caught by Ma Johnson obtaining sexual gratification. She was offended. Guilty six months county jail,” said the prosecutor.

Harvey got his due. The cow found a new home. The public was none the wiser a sex crime conviction came about with no sex, bodily fluids, or undue titillation.

The tendency now is to think we are so much smarter than our predecessors. We’re not instead we create obstacles, and distinctions where there are none. The next writer uses this story to springboard into the issue of the legalization of child porn. I agree that there is room for abuse in the current state of the law, but I think some of the potential abuse can be mitigated. He didn’t start out as an advocate but evolved due to those concerns.

Go back fifty years and there were things that even with the enthusiastic support of your spouse could put both of you in jail for a variety of felonies. I have heard it said that even today the Uniform Code of Military Justice looks askance at any deviation from straight missionary.      https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/17/randazza-legalize-child-porn/ Times have changed, the form, content, distribution and attitudes have outpaced current law.

The nature of the Internet has rendered the idea that we as a society can protect somebody’s mind set regarding pornography is gone. The reality is that no matter how twisted an individual is, if he tries hard enough the pervert will find a kindred soul to validate whatever sick fantasies occur to him.

The nature of technology is that everybody has a camera, still and video all the time. They also have the ability to transmit the work product around the world. I am assuming that many who read this will be closer to my era than whatever they’re calling  the current generation. Let’s take a trip in the wayback machine circa 1965-1970. You just dropped your date Suzy, off. It’s 11:30 pm. Do you go home and go to bed or make three-five-seven passes up and down the drag until you catch up with one of your buddies to tell him that not only did you get Suzy’s BRA unhooked, but you got to suck on a tittie!  You know you made the cruise.

Why are you surprised when your grandson’s Lyle’s girlfriend shows up topless on his phone everytime it rings? If you had the technology back in 1970 you’d still be able to see Suzy’s tits, today. Wait a minute I still can, don’t need no stinking technology. Still lookin good Suzy forty years later.

The problem arises when Lyle is seventeen and girlfriend Misty is seventeen. The pert little boob peeking out from his telephone has put him in the big leagues. The State of Texas has no objection if Lyle and Misty want to play show me. They can even play hide the weiner or any variation on that game they want. Like the cop with the dog, they just can’t record the event for posterity. Once it is reproducible it becomes child pornography. Both of them may be guilty of felonies and liable to register as sex offenders for the rest of their life. Is this really the intent of the law?

Are middle school kids taking pictures of each other’s’ pee pees a crazed ring of pedophiles or just kids in need of supervision? To be sure an adult in the mix changes the whole geometry of the situation. Successful prosecution of pedophile pornographers is a difficult task. Wrapping up a group of fourteen year olds with dirty pictures on their phones doesn’t take much effort and guarantees a spot on the six o’clock news. Police Chiefs are a cynical lot. The worst are dedicated self promoters who have never met a statistic they didn’t like or couldn’t manipulate.  Teens are low hanging fruit.

The point is the issue isn’t necessarily simple or straight forward. If the issue is treated like it is, then the end result is not justice.