If you are involved in, or you think you could be involved in, an investigation for possession of sexually explicit images of a minor or another related offense, reach out to a Charleston child pornography investigations lawyer as soon as possible.
Understanding your legal rights in these cases is crucial, and a knowledgeable child pornography attorney could discuss the severity of the situation and protect you from the scrutiny of law enforcement. These cases could be time-sensitive, so the sooner a call is made seeking legal guidance, the better.
Charleston Search Warrants in a Child Pornography Investigation
A person can expect that law enforcement will show up with a search warrant at the time of the arrest. Typically, they will take all the items they collected in the search and send them off to a lab in Charleston and wait for the results of the forensic workup. On the forensic part, the experts will look for images that they consider to be child pornography, catalog them, and count the number of images total.
Sometimes, there may be no actual files of these images but forensic could find fragments. Even if an individual deletes a file on their computer, the image does not go away completely. The fragments of the image could spread around the hard drive. When a person adds new content, it could type over some of these fragments. It just depends on how much of the hard drive is reused after viewing the images.
What Rights do Agents have Regarding Search Warrants and Arrests?
If an agent asks to speak to someone or look around a property without first having a warrant, they are asking for consent. A person should call a lawyer in Charleston immediately, even if they have done nothing wrong. It is important that they make sure they have legal representation to protect them and their family, even at that point in time.
If law enforcement shows up with a warrant to search for child pornography, then a person is well within their rights not to speak, but they should comply with the warrant. If there is a search warrant, the person should just take a seat and watch what they are doing. They should not engage in any conversation and should notify their attorney immediately.
It is not a good idea to show police that they have nothing to hide before discussing the situation with their legal advisor. A defendant should create a plan that is well thought out and make sure they are prepared with experts and other sources. They should not show the police anything or try to talk them out of searching their premises while law enforcement has caught them off guard.
If the Charleston police want someone to come to the station to talk to them, the best response in most circumstances is to call a local representative and have them return the call of the police officer. They will either set up or shut down that meeting based on their judgment of the situation.
Law Enforcement Rights Regarding Online Behavior
Individuals in Charleston should be wary and that there would be backdoors on a number of different sites where law enforcement agencies can look at the online activity. It is possible for agents to investigate different groups of people by gaining access to a chatroom and assuming an identity to try to get others to reveal incriminating information. Agents look for people on the Dark Web, using a Tor browser or other way in. They have a lot of agents whose job entails them to act like they are children and engage with whoever they come across on the Dark Web.
As technology improves, has become easier for law enforcement to get information. The number of prosecutions for child pornography has gone up considerably over the last 25 years as more people spend more time online. It seems like funding for federal agents is a bottomless pit. They have the resources to target those in possession of child pornography using every method possible.
What do Criminal Lawyers Look for in a Child Pornography Investigation?
Criminal legal professionals in Charleston typically conduct investigations of their own, when appropriate. If a computer seizure occurs, the main elements they would look for are an independent forensic evaluation of the computer, other devices used, and the internet networking of the house. Sometimes, an individual’s network is not secure and other people in close vicinity could be using their Wi-Fi. Maybe the images on the computer are fragments that are open to multiple interpretations due to this shared internet connection.
Access to Government Evidence Against the Defendant
The government gives the defendant access to all of the information or evidence they have acquired in the case, but there is a delay. Eventually, a legal representative in Charleston should get access to everything after the government has done its forensic evaluation. However, if law enforcement has claimed they have found something like child pornography, the attorney is not going to be able to get access through the ordinary discovery process. They are going to have to go to a secured facility to review it, making it very difficult for the client to ever see their own discovery, especially if the client is in custody.
Contact a Charleston Child Pornography Investigations Attorney
It can take a lot of effort to ensure the defendant is fully informed about what is going on and how to defend themselves from the allegations against them. A Charleston child pornography investigations lawyer will work tirelessly to keep their client is well-informed of the extent of the evidence against them. For your own protection against the brunt of the government’s resources, call a legal professional today to schedule a consultation.
