Jilted High School Ex-Boyfriend Charged with Child Pornography

Alex Phillips is a 17-year old high school student from La Crosse, Wisconsin. He may not be the brightest crayon in the box, but his story is one that once again calls into question the legislative sanity of some of the overreach of our laws regarding what constitutes 'child pornography.'

It turns out that Phillips at some point in the last year was friendly with a 16-year old girl called HLK (14 months his junior) who sent him two explicit photos of her completely naked in different positions. She took the photos with her cell phone camera and sent them to his email address. Phillips, apparently miffed that HLK had started seeing someone else recently, decided to post the photos (with lewd captions) to his MySpace account.
From the criminal complaint (h/t The Smoking Gun):

"The [MySpace] page showed two nude images of a female. The first was full frontal nudity of a white, dark-haired female and the second was the buttocks, anus and vagina of a female. [...] [The victim] stated that the images were of her and that she had taken them with her cell phone several months ago and had sent them to Alex Phillips' email address. She stated she did not give him permission to transfer the images anywhere else."

When questioned by the police, Phillips initially refused to take the photos off of MySpace, claiming that he was "keeping them up" even if he could go to jail over this, but later relented. He stated that he put the photos online because he was venting and that he didn't mean to harm HLK but that he realized that he "probably should not have done this." Phillips has since been charged with two felonies: possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child under 18 years of age; as well as misdemeanor defamation.

Frankly, this is appalling and an absurd misuse of the intent of the laws against child pornography. There is no question that it was incredibly stupid for Phillips to post the explicit photos of HLK online, but the only criminal charge he should possibly face should be that of defamation for his lewd captions that went with the photos. Did the Wisconsin legislature really have a boyfriend/girlfriend spat in mind between teenagers when they drafted these child pornography laws? Is it unreasonable to believe that 16-18 year-olds who in many states can legally have sex with each other might also take photos of themselves while doing so; or in an attempt to titillate each other for what might come next? This is supposed to be child pornography?

Let's also keep in mind that HLK produced these photos herself and sent them of her own free will to Alex Phillips (aside: does this mean that HLK is guilty of the PROTECT Act in light of yesterday's Supreme Court ruling?). According to the Wisconsin legislature, Phillips was guilty of child pornography as soon as he opened her email attachment, and was guilty of sexual exploitation of a child as soon as he posted the photos online. Yet was there any consideration given by the state of Wisconsin that another "child" (legally defined) could be the one performing these acts?

Apparently not, because Phillips' name is already all over the national media and internet and will forever be linked with the scarlet letters of 'child pornography,' even if the charges do not stick. His future is already written, as colleges, possible employers, friends and romantic partners will have to take a leap of faith that he's just a kid who made a mistake by posting his ex-girlfriend's pictures online, instead of actually being a social pariah who deals in kiddie porn.

More Coverage:

The Smoking Gun - Teen Nabbed For Naked MySpace Photos
Gravy & Biscuits - Alex Phillips MySpace Photo Scandal
La Crosse Tribune - Teen Faces Child Porn Charges
Chicago Tribune - Alex Phillips, MySpace
Gawker - Child Porn: Teen Arrested on Child Porn Charges After Posting Photos of His Ex