Man faces 30 years in prison for taking sexy photos of 17-year-old girlfriend

A 27-year-old Cleveland man faces between 15 and 30 years in prison for allegedly producing child pornography. But no children were harmed by his actions: The man merely took consensual, sexually suggestive pictures of his 17-year-old girlfriend when he was 20. The age of consent in Ohio is 16, so it was legal for the man, Edward Marrero, to have sex with his girlfriend. It was a crime, however, to photograph her the in the nude, because the federal definition of child pornography covers images of anyone under the age of 18. [...]

It defies all reason that a man could go to prison for three decades for taking a sexy picture of a teenager who was deemed fully capable of consenting to sex. This is a travesty of justice, a violation of consenting adults' sexual freedoms, an abuse of mandatory minimum sentencing, a blow to states' rights, and an absurd waste of the FBI's time.

source: Article 'Man Faces 30 Years in Prison on Child Porn Charges for Taking Sexy Photos of 17-Year-Old Girlfriend When He was 20' by Robby Soave; reason.com/blog/2018/07/05/sexy-pictures-17-child-porn-arrest; Reason.com; 5 July 2018