Althouse: "When a man in Ohio found out that someone online had manipulated his 11-year-old daughter into sending intimate photos of herself, he called police for help..."

September 20, 2023

"When a man in Ohio found out that someone online had manipulated his 11-year-old daughter into sending intimate photos of herself, he called police for help..."

"... according to a video shared widely on social media. The man was hoping officers could speak with the girl to help her 'realize what this was,' the video shows. But when two Columbus police officers responded to the man’s home, one of them said that his daughter 'could probably get charged with child porn'... 'Who? She can?' the man responded in the video. 'She’s 11 years old.'... 'Doesn’t matter,' the same officer replied. 'She’s still making porn.'"

From "Police told a father his 11-year-old could get ‘child porn’ charge, video shows" (WaPo).

65 comments:

Enigma said...: Local police are notorious for creative and expansive interpretations of the law. You'd think they were trained by the DoJ or something!; 9/20/23, 9:15 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Multiple levels of crazy right there.

First - the father should put an end to what is going on, on his own. (and we do not know - perhaps he tried and failed)

Next - the cops said what? what? what?
Where is the interest in the gown man who is potentially manipulating the 11 year old girl?; 9/20/23, 9:17 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: That's kinda how people "join" cults, too.; 9/20/23, 9:19 AM
Jake said...: Well... was the officer correct though? Could the 11 year old have been charged? If so, isn't that good to know? I sure wouldn't want to walk my 11 year old into a criminal charge. The emotional trauma of that and then being labeled has got to be worse than her poor dad's feelings. Fuck sake.; 9/20/23, 9:27 AM
gilbar said...: makes sense.
IF an eleven year has agency to decide to castrate herself, and fill her body with hormones, and slice off her breast to spite her face..
WOULDN'T she have agency to make porn?; 9/20/23, 9:28 AM
gilbar said...: And, OF COURSE, an eleven year has agency to abort her unborn child.. RIGHT?; 9/20/23, 9:29 AM
The Drill SGT said...: tar and feathers; 9/20/23, 9:30 AM
Gerrard787 said...: Kids, they grow up so fast nowadays.; 9/20/23, 9:34 AM
Aggie said...: Ohio Law Enforcement Community's finest moment.; 9/20/23, 9:35 AM
KJE said...: From this former cop; the new generation of cops reflects a larger sickness in society of which zero tolerance is only one symptom.; 9/20/23, 9:36 AM
Mr Wibble said...: The man was hoping officers could speak with the girl to help her 'realize what this was,' the video shows. But when two Columbus police officers responded to the man’s home, one of them said that his daughter 'could probably get charged with child porn'

Yes, because "what this was" was child porn.

If he wants to convince his daughter not to send nudes, he needs to step up as a father, not farm it out to local law enforcement.; 9/20/23, 9:46 AM
tim maguire said...: Child porn was supposed to be about protecting children, but somewhere along the way it became about punishing people who enjoy child porn. That may seem like a distinction without a difference, but it opened the door to nonsense like banning cartoons of naked children and "ethical dilemmas" about child-like sex robots. And, of course, the monstrous crime of punishing the children themselves.

This poor little girl isn't the first and she probably won't be the last.; 9/20/23, 9:55 AM
MadisonMan said...: It's a mistake to think Police know about all laws.; 9/20/23, 9:56 AM
Mason G said...: 'Doesn’t matter,' the same officer replied. 'She’s still making porn.'"

If you're old enough to change your sex, you're old enough to make porn. Right?; 9/20/23, 9:57 AM
Ice Nine said...: Here are a couple tips for Dad:

Never call the police.

Especially, don't call the police to come over and help you raise your kid (and then be miffed that it took them six hours to get there.); 9/20/23, 10:01 AM
gahrie said...: This has been true for a long time now. I tell my high school students about it and they are shocked. Apparently sending nude and partial nude pictures to each other is quite the thing now. Porn is casually available to all.

There is a political movement quietly working to lower age of consent laws, while several governments are actively protecting the identities of the Epstein pedophiles. Why? There was a time when even President Biden's behavior would have resulted in a serious ass-kicking...; 9/20/23, 10:03 AM
Crimso said...: By their logic, if they collect the evidence then they are in possession of child porn and have therefore broken the law.; 9/20/23, 10:12 AM
Kay said...: Enigma said...
Local police are notorious for creative and expansive interpretations of the law. You'd think they were trained by the DoJ or something!

9/20/23, 9:15 AM

What the doj is doing to the donald is what law enforcement does to regular people all the time in this country. It was happening before it happened to the donald and it still continues.; 9/20/23, 10:13 AM
Mr. T. said...: Funny,

according to the Left, if this happens in public schools, this is called "equity" and "LGBT 'rights'"...; 9/20/23, 10:15 AM
ReadDude said...: "It's a mistake to think Police know about all laws."

In my state (NJ) I believe the police officer's statement would be true. My experience is related to two teens sexting each other. One's parents called the police and they were told essentially the same thing. Some non-judicial interventions were completed by families (and the local police dept.) to avoid putting the teens on a Megan's list for sex offenders!; 9/20/23, 10:28 AM
wendybar said...: Grooming is the IT thing now.; 9/20/23, 10:31 AM
Aggie said...: It reads like a tabloid article, one that is crafted to steer the reader toward thinking unfavorably of the father, as if he doesn't want to raise his daughter right. But I wonder if the father called the coppers in order to notify them that some web-stalking creep was influencing his daughter to send naughty photos, and wanting them to investigate and get a potential pedophile off the streets? One could read it that way, too. Of course, the cops were still out of line, if they voiced this as a threat - but what if they were trying to get the dad to take a little more interest in what his daughter is up to?; 9/20/23, 10:34 AM
Ann Althouse said...: “ The man was hoping officers could speak with the girl to help her 'realize what this was,'…”

He actually got that though. Show her this video.

Show all young people this video. Big deterrent.; 9/20/23, 10:40 AM
Ice Nine said...: >Ann Althouse said...
Show all young people this video. Big deterrent.<

That's a good idea. (no sarc)

Put it over there with:
"Don't do drugs."
"Don't do sex yet."
"Don't drink and drive."
...; 9/20/23, 10:52 AM
m said...: Another justification for why I've chosen not to replace my truck's worn out 'thin blue line' bumper sticker.; 9/20/23, 10:57 AM
Static Ping said...: The police officer is correct. Whether the law is desirable in its current state is debatable, but child porn can be produced by anyone, including children. Actually, if you want a reason for your daughter to stop sending naked pictures of herself, "you will go to jail" is a pretty good one.

That said, an adult soliciting child porn is also a crime.; 9/20/23, 11:02 AM
Joe Smith said...: The father should have tracked the guy down and just shot him.

I would acquit, as I think most would.; 9/20/23, 11:06 AM
PoNyman said...: We saw what happens when dad calls the police. It seems that his daughter is just as likely to get caught up in the legal system by him not reporting it if the photos get out into the world. According to this interpretation of the law his daughter is on the hook either way.; 9/20/23, 11:11 AM
n.n said...: Social conservativism vs social progressivism. Fight! A liberal philosophy, religion. Irreconcilable differences. #NoJudgment #NoLabels; 9/20/23, 11:11 AM
Brian said...: He actually got that though. Show her this video.

Unfortunately, the real criminal in this case won't be investigated. And the police have burned their only witness. No way that father allows any interviews with anybody going forward.

The one cop just seems annoyed that they were called out. Where's "Officer Friendly"?

The father dodged a real bullet by saying good day and going back inside.; 9/20/23, 11:17 AM
Joe Bar said...: Why did he give an 11 year old girl a phone? Sounds like bad parenting.; 9/20/23, 11:19 AM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Maybe the internet is right... just don't have any kids.; 9/20/23, 11:23 AM
Yancey Ward said...: This is when one, as a father, tracks this guy down and disappear him for all time.

This is what it is going to take, eventually- the law is no longer being enforced properly or even fairly.; 9/20/23, 11:28 AM
Oh Yea said...: I have heard lots of bad stories about the police of our capital city. This is not surprising.; 9/20/23, 11:33 AM
Leland said...: I think the interpretation of the law is correct, but a good officer would have spoken to the father, suspiciously, made certain he was not involved in the making of the pornography and try to find out if anyone besides the daughter was involved in making the pornography. Then talked to the daughter, alone, to make sure the father wasn't involved in the pornography, that no one else was (in this case, I think yes there was, in the person encouraging her to take the pictures and distribute them), then give her the riot act scare of her life that she could go to jail. Then, and only then I would expect them to explain to the father what they told the daughter, that they are serious about the potential charges, and then let the father know they intended to find the other person. In the meantime, they could also give the father the clarity, as others noted, that he should resolve this issue with his daughter of her exposing herself without calling the cops.

In short, dad should stop the daughter wanting to expose herself, but he's right to notify the officers of the predator encouraging his daughter. Cops could have done better, even if what they did was the lawful.; 9/20/23, 11:36 AM
Wa St Blogger said...: What's an 11 YO doing with an unsupervised communication device (I assume phone)? My kids don't get their own until age 16. Parental negligence here.; 9/20/23, 11:52 AM
Quaestor said...: Why not charge the man with aiding and abetting child pornography? After all, he knew what his daughter had done and he didn't shoot her. Imagine allowing a child pornographer to run loose, to visit elementary schools, to associate with minors... hangin's too good fer'm.

**********

I have a question. If an 11-year-old girl takes nekkid pictures of an 18-year-old girl, is the 11-year-old girl a child pornographer?; 9/20/23, 12:08 PM
Ambrose said...: You should almost never call the police.; 9/20/23, 12:25 PM
Keldonric said...: He thought that they might be interested in the predator. Apparently, he was mistaken.

NAL
Should not some resources be available for the investigation and application of consequences to those individuals that would prey on children? I do not think these are activities that can be farmed out to individuals at large. I think that is called vigilantism and may be frowned upon by the authorities.; 9/20/23, 12:37 PM
Dude1394 said...: Nice to see the cops fishing for a statement that could be used to pin on him and his daughter. She IS sending photos, right??

6 hours later, at 12:00 MIDNIGHT. Not a "I'm telling you this so you can tell your daughter". Just typical, keep talking to me and I will be back with CPS and a swat team.; 9/20/23, 1:35 PM
Doug said...: Okay, let's say there's a guy who wants to make big bucks with child porn, but wants a cutout between him and law enforcement. So if 11 year olds can't be charged with child porn, he tells willing 11 year olds, "take a nude selfie and send it to so-andso and I'll pay you $x; shoot a sex video and send it to so-and-so and I'll pay you $xx".; 9/20/23, 2:01 PM
Owen said...: Joe Smith @ 11:06 and Yancey Ward @ 11:33: Amen to that.

Probably impossible to track the creep. And if the father hung out in Creep Zone hoping to encounter him, does he now have trouble explaining himself?

It's the Wild West.; 9/20/23, 2:50 PM
Dude1394 said...: So per many of the comments here, you should never call or talk to the police unless you are concerned about bodily harm. Because common sense goes out the window as soon as you call the cops.; 9/20/23, 3:22 PM
Goju said...: Did the dad tell the cops who it was sent to? If so, maybe the cops recognized him and were acting more to protect the real criminal. How many other minors sent pics to the guy? I would have thought cops would be a lot more interested in that question.

This is the kind of response that encourages vigilantes.; 9/20/23, 3:27 PM
Big Mike said...: Let me see if I properly understand Ohio Law. It is not illegal to solicit nude pictures from a child who is underage by a whopping seven years, nor is it illegal to be in receipt of the nude pictures? Is this because the adult male pervert might resist arrest using lethal force while an eleven year old female child is vastly less likely to do so?; 9/20/23, 3:32 PM
Big Mike said...: Let me see if I properly understand Ohio Law. It is not illegal to solicit nude pictures from a child who is underage by a whopping seven years, nor is it illegal to be in receipt of the nude pictures? Is this because the adult male pervert might resist arrest using lethal force while an eleven year old female child is vastly less likely to do so?; 9/20/23, 3:33 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: Since everything from assault, carjacking, ransacking retail stores and raking in millions via influence peddling is A-ok these days, it’s hard see how a minor breaking porn laws could even raise an eyebrow.

Dad must be guilty of having the wrong politics.; 9/20/23, 3:43 PM
Wa St Blogger said...: Okay, let's say there's a guy who wants to make big bucks with child porn, but wants a cutout between him and law enforcement. So if 11 year olds can't be charged with child porn, he tells willing 11 year olds, "take a nude selfie and send it to so-andso and I'll pay you $x; shoot a sex video and send it to so-and-so and I'll pay you $xx".

I don't think the cut-out works the way you hope. Possession of child porn is a crime, probably plenty of laws on solicitation and contributing to the delinquency. The only question here is if the child is culpable. The solicitor is always culpable. There should be "child level" infractions different than for an adult just as there are for many other crimes, and different statues to handle when you are taking pictures of yourself vs someone else (so that children taking pictures of other children don't get off as easy.)

All this probably could be handled in our legislature if they spent a little time on it rather than worrying about grocery bags and straws and statues of George Washington.; 9/20/23, 5:12 PM
Shoeless Joe said...: It’s clear the female cop didn’t want to be bothered, and was essentially threatening reprisal against the father if he insisted that she actually do her job. I’m surprised that police departments don’t have a separate group that deals with this kind of crime, where the people dispatched would understand the nuances of the law while displaying minimal common sense.

Beat cops are all too often bone stupid (or deliberately obtuse) when it comes to the laws they are enforcing. They’re the last people you want responding to this kind of call.; 9/20/23, 7:08 PM
Mikey NTH said...: Sounds like some officers need retraining on that.; 9/20/23, 7:20 PM
Mikey NTH said...: As an addendum: Now that this story is out, I wonder what the county prosecutor has to say?

My guess is something like "we won't be charging the manipulated minor, we want to know who is the receiving party". Again, just my guess. Sort of like when drug dealers used minors to make deliveries, law enforcement wasn't after the kids as much as the adults using the kids.; 9/20/23, 7:36 PM
Mikey NTH said...: Second addendum: How many children have been approached by this predator? How many minors in this situation get prosecuted?

Analysis: These officers screwed up badly.; 9/20/23, 7:41 PM
Leora said...: I know people who only allow their kids to use web capable devices in their living room or kitchen.; 9/20/23, 7:56 PM
Oso Negro said...: I would lay odds that she is sending it to another 11-year-old boy in her school. The more hilarious outcome would be that she is sending it to another 11-year-old girl.; 9/20/23, 10:03 PM
walter said...: "In a caption on the video that circulated online, the man said he had called police around 6 p.m. and that they arrived around midnight. His daughter had gone to sleep"
--
"We're from the guvmint and we're here to help. Can we see those pics to be sure?"; 9/20/23, 11:53 PM
walter said...: By the way, where's the mom?; 9/20/23, 11:54 PM
Robert Cook said...: ”It's a mistake to think Police know about all laws.“

Or ANY laws, or that they give a shit.

Actually, I’m sure many police officers are knowledgeable and conscientious civil servants, but a sizable minority of them are ignorant bullies who see their job as a license to act out their sadistic power trips.; 9/21/23, 4:46 AM
boatbuilder said...: "Actually, I’m sure many police officers are knowledgeable and conscientious civil servants, but a sizable minority of them are ignorant bullies who see their job as a license to act out their sadistic power trips."

This, from the resident socialist, who wants "government" to be in charge of and take care of all things.

Do you see what the problem is, Cookie?; 9/21/23, 6:54 AM
Tina Trent said...: Responding police don't make the laws. Nor do they have the authority to decide which calls they are supposed to respond to, in which order. If the father hadn't responded with anger, they might have been able to engage him. They also likely reported back what occurred so it could be investigated by the right detectives. Their cameras were on.

So their actions may very well have been based on their awareness of what could happen if the father escalated after calling 911, rather than many other choices he should have made, such as contacting the local community officer, going to the police station to file a report, and taking the damn phone away from the child. It certainly sounds like there's more to this story and his conduct.

Does anyone here really believe WaPo is going to tell the whole truth about anything involving street cops? Does anyone here believe that many high-ranking police supervisors and chiefs and spokespeople aren't politically motivated creatures advanced through the system at the political whim of the populace, therefore just as eager to attack beat cops to save their own asses in the media?

We don't know what they were instructed to do to deal with this situation or this man.

If any error was made, it was up the command, and that is what should be explored here but never will. The six-hour delay was certainly not a choice the responding officers made. The irrational anger directed in the comments at the responding officers is embarrassing.

Child porn laws can entrap children, and the police might have been starting to warn the father off taking a bad route to protect his child when he cut them off. There are also massive privacy issues police must abide by. Do we have the whole story? No. Legally, it can't be told; the responding officers can't defend themselves, and their superiors have far more power to throw them under the bus than protect them, which is the consequence of decades of anti-police activism and lawfare that has targeted the lowest-level officers and installed pro-criminal cop haters throughout prosecutors' offices and the highest ranks of police command.

If this father is so upset about it taking six hours for police to respond to a weird request to argue with an 11-year old, he should have reacted with something other than a tic toc video. Ditto if he actually cares about protecting his child's privacy. He cut off the interaction and went online before the police could do anything except escalate the situation and wake the child. We don't know what transpired on the phone, how many times he called, or how the video was edited. We can't know about prior interactions the police have had with this man or if they were already investigating a particular child porn case or investigating him. The police couldn't tell him, or us, about that, either.

So sure, just attack the responding officers and conflate your emotions into believing anything you see on Tic Toc. Don't actually think about it.; 9/21/23, 7:27 AM
Patentlee said...: One morning, my son told me that he had heard two of the screen doors be opened and closed. I checked all the inner doors and they were locked, nobody broke into the house. I then checked the pool house and in the basement of the pool house, all the cabinets doors were opened and the Polaris pool cleaner was missing. I called the police and they searched the entirety of the pool house including the kitchen-type garbage pails in the upstairs of the pool house. Very strange; it felt like they were looking for something to use against me. I echo the above comments about being leery about calling the police to your home.; 9/21/23, 7:33 AM
iowan2 said...: This got real for me just this last Sunday. My next door neighbor, and close friend, revealed he discovered the exact same thing. 11 year old daughter having an online relationship with a 30ish year old man. This guy better not get caught. If his identity is make public, his life is in emanate danger.; 9/21/23, 7:42 AM
Tina Trent said...: Shoeless: Columbus has SVU, cyber-crime and child sex crime resources -- and an incredibly high crime rate (1 in 27 chance of being a violent or property crime victim) -- and nowhere near enough police to respond to calls.

All you saw was a short clip of a bedraggled man who had called 911 to get the police to talk to his child, which doesn't make any sense. It certainly sounds like a small part of a much longer exchange. If I didn't care about violating the child's privacy, I could tell you how often police were called to that address. The police were being very careful on that porch, and their cameras were on.

The media should have done more research before throwing the responding cops under the bus like this. Nobody, including this blog, should be platforming this tic toc. It is endangering these officers. The father should also not be exposing his daughter this way.; 9/21/23, 8:03 AM
effinayright said...: Robert Cook said:

Actually, I’m sure many police officers are knowledgeable and conscientious civil servants, but a sizable minority of them are ignorant bullies who see their job as a license to act out their sadistic power trips.
*********

A "sizable" minority, eh? Well, how bout telling us the size? S M X-L ????

Go ahead--- if you're so sure you know, put a number on that claim.; 9/21/23, 4:53 PM
effinayright said...: Big Mike said...
Let me see if I properly understand Ohio Law. It is not illegal to solicit nude pictures from a child who is underage by a whopping seven years, nor is it illegal to be in receipt of the nude pictures? Is this because the adult male pervert might resist arrest using lethal force while an eleven year old female child is vastly less likely to do so?
***********

Here's the statute:

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2907.321

(5) Buy, procure, possess, or control any obscene material, that has a minor or impaired person as one of its participants;; 9/21/23, 5:00 PM
Tina Trent said...: The sheer ignorance of law and procedure and rage at police expressed by most commenters here is as amazing as their willingness to believe the video tells the whole story. It would be an illegal act to do what the father wanted them to do. They are not sex crime investigators certified to interview minors in the settings minor victims must be interviewed in. If they even talked to the child, that could be used in court by the defense. You know nothing about the entire exchange. You know nothing about what law enforcement is already doing.

And you never will, because the cops don't get to defend themselves; they don't investigate sex crimes beyond seeking active suspects, and they sure can't count on their superiors to defend them.

Did you expect the cops to wake up a judge, get a warrant, jump in their car and start investigating cybercrime right there on the street? They can't do any of those things. Do you know a single thing about what they did before and after this video? No.

Worse is the failure of Althouse to comprehend the danger she is contributing to by circulating this video, which clearly identifies the officers. I hope they sue the hell out of the Post and tic toc. Their careers and possibly their lives are preemptively ruined, and they're probably living in fear for their families' safety.

I refrain from writing about cases of injustice when I know I could be harming innocent people falsely accused by merely commenting on their cases as investigations unfold. Even when they are falsely convicted, I won't write about that injustice until the appeals process is completed AND the victim of injustice is completely safe from the courts. Safety has to take precedence over justice or reporting sometimes. This is one of those times.; 9/22/23, 6:25 AM