Routh’s son arrested for possession of child pornography
They searched the computers and other devices of Oran Routh, the son of would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh, and found hundreds of examples of child pornography. As a result, Oran Routh has been charged with receipt of and possession of child pornography.
I have some reservations about this. The search was of course initially in connection with his father’s assassination attempt, but at this point it’s hard to trust the authorities to be on the up and up; did they plant evidence for some reason? Nevertheless, my strong suspicion is that Oran Routh really has been a consumer of child pornography.
So my second reservation has to do with the harsh penalties for “mere” possession. I’m just not sure what penalties are appropriate for possessors. On the other hand, people who make or distribute or are connected with the making or distribution of child porn should have the book thrown at them. Child pornography is a huge scourge. And those who sexually abuse or molest children: likewise. Penalties should be great.
But the crime of possession of child pornography involves the downloading of the images created by the pornographers. The consumer gets off on these images, and that’s extremely creepy. In addition, it may or may not be a gateway to sexual exploitation by that person of children whom he (or she, but it’s overwhelmingly men) encounters in the real world, and if such abuse does occur, the penalties should be harsh. But what of those whose direct exploitation of children remains in the world of fantasy and imagery only?
The argument for strong punishment for such people is that, by looking at the photos or videos, they re-exploit the child and they also support and therefore encourage the business of those who make the pornography. These arguments have validity. I think possessors of child pornography should therefore be punished, but how much? That’s where I’m uncertain. The average sentence for possession seems to be 70 months. That’s about six years, although like most offenders, those sentenced for this crime often don’t serve their full terms.
Is this a fair penalty? Do the offenders get any treatment? Does treatment even work for this particular activity? Do the penalties have a deterrent effect? When someone with this particular perversion is in the privacy of his home and thinking about downloading child porn, does he even realize that this is a crime with harsh penalties? I think most people are well aware that the making or selling of such material is a terrible crime that directly involves the actual abuse of an actual child. But is there general awareness of the extent of the penalties for possession? And does that knowledge stop people from taking the risk? And should that lack of knowledge matter at all in terms of sentencing? Probably not.
I think almost everyone is aware that participating in child pornography in any way is wrong, however, although there are people who try to excuse it and normalize it. Same for child sexual abuse. Neither phenomenon is new, but like many things in society these days, the problems have been exacerbated, and the practices facilitated, by the computer. Things that were difficult and required special efforts to pursue – like child pornography – are now ridiculously simple to obtain online.
What’s more – and this is a different but related topic – children are getting access to adult porn online, and that is very dangerous as well. They are not at all ready for the intense experience, and to compound the problem much adult porn today involves violence against women. I have been impressed by the number of young girls identifying as trans in early adolescence who say that they began to feel that way as a reaction to seeing violence against women in online porn. That had become their perception of adult sex, since they had no actual experience of sex in the real world (or they themselves had been abused as children). In response, they developed a strong desire to escape their female identity, because that seemed to be the only way to avoid being the object of sexual violence.
I think it’s “reasonable” to wonder if this evidence was planted on the son in order to have leverage over the father. Many have wondered where the father got the money to travel and how he knew Trump’s schedule. They can promise leniency for the son as a means of ensuring the father’s silence on the matter, as simply “Epsteining” him would look a bit too suspicious.
So my second reservation has to do with the harsh penalties for “mere” possession.
Where I live the sentences are often months only. For first offenders, often no jail time is imposed.
I think possessors of child pornography should therefore be punished, but how much?
Enough to be meaningful, and a deterrent to the perp and others. Let’s not “define deviancy down.”
An interesting theory, sythan, and I don’t discount it. I certainly don’t trust federal law enforcement at this point.
Why did they arrest rapper Sean Combs at this time? So many Democrat connections, and it would have hurt less after a Kamala win.
On Neo’s question, in the case of child pornography, it’s my understanding that people buy these images, not just look at them for free. If they purchase them, they are contributing to the business of abusing children for profit. I agree that the people who produce them by actually abusing children are more culpable than the image purchasers.
What’s the cyber equivalent of a throw-down bag of weed? It would be a bad idea trust any evidence coming from a computer which has been In the prosecutor’s control.
Geez…neo covered a lot in this one.
Was the search conducted in Ryan’s home or in Oran’s? Not sure how it works if they searched Oran’s room in Ryan’s home, but would assume all rooms could be searched. Oran’s home should not have been searched, if that’s the case.
Planting evidence – I seriously doubt it in a case like this, and doubt it would be child pornography. Oran has that look about him…as does Ryan, but looks can be deceiving (more on that in a moment…).
Possession of Child Porn. Sexually exploiting a Child is about as bad of a crime that anyone can commit. Prisoners hate Child Abusers. Queers like to get young boys—even tho they’ll deny it. Possession of such porn is a step beyond their desires, and one step closer to finding a Child to sexually abuse. “70 months” is almost 6-years, cut in half for good behavior is about 30-36 months. Seems light to me, but I consider sexually abusing a Child (NOT some 13-14 year old woman) more of a crime than murder, rape, or armed robbery.
• NOTE 1: Child becomes a young adult in one of the later stages of puberty…
• NOTE 2: Females sexually abusing young males in any stage of puberty should not be a crime.
Treatment. We’re beyond mere possession at this point. Life in prison without parole is the only treatment that works…maybe voluntary castration earns an earlier release.
Had a cellmate who had been a fireman in south Florida – never liked him. One day a Freeman (my work supervisor) let it slip that this cellmate had sexually abused both of his sons. JEEZ!?!?!?!
Had a black friend a few cells down in a two-tiered cell block. Told him about it, and had him come for a visit to my cell later—which he often did, and ask my cellmate ‘if it’s true that he sexually abused his sons’. That was nearing the last I saw of that cellmate—shocked & fearful look on his face, followed by denial. Saw him the next morning – then never again. He had been transferred to another prison…good riddance!
The search was conducted in the son’s home. I don’t think it’s unusual for near relatives of people charged with serious crimes to be searched; also, reports are that the father stayed with his son in Greensboro, NC, before traveling to Florida to try to kill Trump. The father’s presence in the place would be sufficient reason for a search.
This guy can’t be too bright if he didn’t go delete that garbage before investigators arrived. I have no sympathy for child abuse, even if vicarious.
Kate:
He may have deleted it, but they can access deleted things.