Searching for, Viewing Images on Web Site Doesn’t Qualify as Possession of Child Porn

The New York Court of Appeals held May 8 that “merely viewing Web images of child pornography does not, absent other proof, constitute either possession or procurement within the meaning of our Penal Law” (People v. Kent, N.Y., No. 70).

“Some affirmative act is required (printing, saving, downloading, etc.) to show that defendant in fact exercised dominion and control over the images that were on his screen,” the court decided. “To hold otherwise, would extend the reach of article 263 to conduct—viewing—that our Legislature has not deemed criminal,” it said.

The decision overturns a ruling by the intermediate ...