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Feds Finally Get Obscenity Conviction, but Not for Porn 7/10/2002 Feds Finally Get Obscenity Conviction, but Not for Porn News analysis A Clemson University graduate has pled guilty in federal court in Anderson, South Carolina, to mailing “filthy and indecent things and substances,” according to a press release issued July 5 by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the district of South Carolina. While the items mailed were certainly filthy, none identified in the press release is pornography. Christine A. Vetter, 21, of Central, South Carolina, admitted that while she was enrolled at Clemson from November 2000 to March 2002, she operated a Web site that catered to “perverse fetishes.” Vetter sold and mailed to customers soiled panties, soiled feminine hygiene products, used condoms, sex aids and food items covered with Vetter’s bodily substances. Vetter’s records indicate 225 sales averaging approximately $40 each. The maximum sentence Vetter can receive is $250,000 and/or five years in federal prison. U.S. postal inspectors became interested when a letter addressed to Vetter was labeled as containing child pornography. Inspectors have found no evidence so far linking Vetter to child pornography. They said that she is cooperating in an ongoing investigation and that her Web site is no longer operating. We commend the postal inspectors and the U.S. Attorney’s office for their efforts in obtaining Vetter’s conviction. However, while the feds are pointing to Vetter’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. §1461, which is one of the federal statutes that prohibits trafficking in obscenity, the drought continues for prosecutions of hard-core pornography. Tens of thousands of Web sites brazenly display and sell hard-core images that are prosecutable under 18 U.S.C. 1462 and 1465. The Vetter prosecution is a step forward, but there’s a long way to go. Janet LaRue is chief counsel of Concerned Women for America. |
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