Sending cellphone photo to self is porn ‘distribution’

Emailing sexually explicit photos of a minor to yourself is distribution of child pornography, the Supreme Court of Virginia said in an unpublished order released Oct. 17.

The court affirmed Donald R. Hausen’s conviction on two counts of distribution under Va. Code § 18.2-374.1:1(c).

Evidence at trial showed that Hausen’s fiancée discovered the images on his computer while he was not at home. She opened a folder to find the sexually explicit images. Hausen took the images with his cell phone and emailed them to himself using his Hotmail account. His fiancée reported Hausen to police.

Hausen argued he couldn’t be charged with distribution because he had not sent the images to someone else.

The statute under which Hausen was convicted criminalizes “electronic transmission” of child pornography. Hausen’s own jury instruction introduced the distribution component that fit his conduct.

“The evidence proved that Hausen emailed sexually explicit photographs of a minor from his cellphone to his email account. Therefore, there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hausen was guilty of distribution of child pornography,” the high court said in its unanimous order upholding his conviction in Hausen v. Commonwealth.