A Porn Star Stops a Wrongful Conviction

This month, a Brooklyn pizza-delivery guy narrowly avoided a wrongful conviction for child pornography. Wrongful convictions might not be that unusual, but this case certainly is: the man accused has a porn star to thank for setting the record straight.

In August when returning from a trip to Venezuela, Carlos Alfredo Simon-Timmerman was stopped en route in Puerto Rico when custom officers found pornographic DVDs in his backpack. One DVD was called "Little Lupe the Innocent — Do Not Be Fooled By Her Baby Face." Customs investigators reviewed the DVDs and determined that actresses in the films were underage. They charged Simon-Timmerman with trafficking in child porn. Nobody knew the ages of the girls or women in the films, but authorities decided to err on the side of assuming Simon-Timmerman's guilt.

It would eventually take Little Lupe herself flying from Venezuela to Puerto Rico, testifying in court and displaying her passport to prove her age to the judge and lead prosecutors to drop the charges. They could have just checked out her Wikipedia page and maybe called her on the phone — which is what Simon-Timmerman's lawyer ended up doing. In the meantime, Simon-Timmerman spent two months in jail and four more months free awaiting trial before charges were dropped.

I learned about this case from Mike at the blog Crime and Federalism, who broke the story of this near-injustice. Mike's victim-blaming posts often leave me cringing, but he was right to identify this case as an instance of prosecutors abusing their power.

Rather than investigating Little Lupe's age, prosecutors simply intended to call a pediatrician who would testify to the ages of the women in the films "based on his numerous years of experience and training in treating children."

Child pornography is a vile thing, and it's illegal for good reason. But our disgust for it can also lead to witch hunts that are based on little more than scant evidence. The prosecution's intent to go forward with a case against Simon-Timmerman without even trying to first determine Lupe's age is just one example of the kind of thin evidence that can garner a conviction in a child porn or sex offense case.

Simon-Timmerman avoided a 20-year sentence and a lifetime on the sex offender registry by getting a porn star to show her passport. He was lucky: he got two months in jail, a six-month headache and a damaged reputation. How many others out there have enjoyed such "luck"?

Photo Credit: Tony the Misfit