Ohio Patron Sentenced
for Viewing Child Porn Online
An Ohio man was sentenced December 28 to five years in prison for using Ashtabula County District Library computers between March and September 2000 to access digitized images of children engaged in sex acts. Mark Wiitanen, 38, pled guilty November 3 to three charges of pandering obscenity involving a minor and to two counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, the December 29 Ashtabula Star-Beacon reported.
Arguing that his client “didn’t put fresh pictures on the Internet” or proposition any minors for sex, defense attorney Joseph Humpolick drew shocked gasps from courtroom onlookers by asserting that Wiitanen deserved leniency because “I don’t think you’ll see those kids [in the photos] are engaged in acts of violence.” Chief Assistant County Prosecutor Ariana Tarighati countered, “without customers like this defendant, these images wouldn’t be on the Internet.”
ACDL, which does not filter, specifies in its acceptable-use policy that “unlawful activities will be dealt with in a serious and appropriate manner.”
Posted January 8, 2001.
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