Does this fully constitute as a criminal threat federally?

[jlle_95]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this. A few years back, I came across a horrifying post on an image sharing website. There were several photos of a minor, some in a bathing suit, but none explicitly of pornographic or sexual nature. Disturbing but the real horror in this particular post came in what the title/caption said. The poster simply wrote “she’s _ years old. I am going to kidnap, torture, r_pe, m_lest, impr_gnate, and then brutally m_rder her”. Those were pretty much the exact words from what I remember (except they wrote the actual words). I reported it immediately but it was deleted by the time I tried going back to the post. Never has something I’ve seen given me the creeps so much. I still think about that post often and truly hope the victim and poster were identified.

If they did track that person down, Would this be criminal considering the threat(s) weren’t made directly to the subject/victim and he never explicitly stated her identity? Posting these threats as a caption to a series of pictures should be clear enough intent, right? I get state laws differ but wouldn’t this likely fall under federal law? If not, surely this could at least be tried as obscenity?

Keep your kids off the internet! These appeared be pictures from probably a family members personal collection that somebody somehow got ahold of.

 

[quincy]

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this. A few years back, I came across a horrifying post on an image sharing website. There were several photos of a minor, some in a bathing suit, but none explicitly of pornographic or sexual nature. Disturbing but the real horror in this particular post came in what the title/caption said. The poster simply wrote “she’s _ years old. I am going to kidnap, torture, r_pe, m_lest, impr_gnate, and then brutally m_rder her”. Those were pretty much the exact words from what I remember (except they wrote the actual words). I reported it immediately but it was deleted by the time I tried going back to the post. Never has something I’ve seen given me the creeps so much. I still think about that post often and truly hope the victim and poster were identified.

If they did track that person down, Would this be criminal considering the threat(s) weren’t made directly to the subject/victim and he never explicitly stated her identity? Posting these threats as a caption to a series of pictures should be clear enough intent, right? I get state laws differ but wouldn’t this likely fall under federal law? If not, surely this could at least be tried as obscenity?

Keep your kids off the internet! These appeared be pictures from probably a family members personal collection that somebody somehow got ahold of.

What is the name of your state?

Content of the type you describe probably would violate several different laws.

 

[jlle_95]

What is the name of your state?

Content of the type you describe probably would violate several different laws.

I’m in California personally. No idea where the poster lived.

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to the federal law on obscenity:

https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-ceos/citizens-guide-us-federal-law-obscenity

The posting you inquire about probably would not violate obscenity laws however there are a host of other laws that might be pursued against the content-creator, from computer crimes to publishing threats of violence to copyright infringement for using photos without authorization.

Whatever the crime, there more than likely would be an investigation of the content-creator and the content-creator would more than likely get an uncomfortable visit or two from law enforcement agents.

Thank you for providing your state name. If you ever run across an online posting like that again, you should report it to your local police who can then forward it to the appropriate investigating agency.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Part of the problem here is that the person who posted those statements could be almost anywhere in the world. There is also no way to know if the person about whom the comments were made is in the U.S. Unless there is some connection to the U.S. the federal government has no jurisdiction to pursue it. It would be up to the authorities in the nations involved to do something about it. The U.S. does coordinate with a number of other nations in trying to stomp out child pornography and sexual exploitation of kids, so if one of those partner nations has jurisdiction the U.S. would pass along whatever information it had to those countries. There is no guarantee, however, that anything would be done about it.

 

[quincy]

I imagine authorities would take a close look at the “image sharing” website, depending on the type of images being shared. If the content on the site is primarily photos of children, it would call into question the purpose of the site.

 

[commentator]

If you entertain the idea that you can "keep your kids off the internet" because there are terrible things on the internet, you are sadly mistaken. It is necessary to give your children perspective about what they might encounter on line as much as you try to warn them of dangers they might encounter while walking down the street. The surest way to make it more interesting to children is to forbid it completely, and have them sneaking and looking at everything they can imagine that you are warning them about or don't want them to see without any supervision or guidance. Yes, these things are horrible and disturbing. But we do not drive to the side of the road and pick up poison mushrooms that are growing there, and we teach our children to avoid the poison mushrooms and what actions to take when they do see something awful.

 

[quincy]

If you entertain the idea that you can "keep your kids off the internet" because there are terrible things on the internet, you are sadly mistaken. It is necessary to give your children perspective about what they might encounter on line as much as you try to warn them of dangers they might encounter while walking down the street. The surest way to make it more interesting to children is to forbid it completely, and have them sneaking and looking at everything they can imagine that you are warning them about or don't want them to see without any supervision or guidance. Yes, these things are horrible and disturbing. But we do not drive to the side of the road and pick up poison mushrooms that are growing there, and we teach our children to avoid the poison mushrooms and what actions to take when they do see something awful.

This does not appear to be children posting pictures of themselves on the website. It is more likely to be adults - and they are the ones who need to be educated.

 

[commentator]

You're right, I misunderstood. This person was probably meaning for people not to put pictures of children on the internet, but you know, since this is about the only reason for old geezers like me to be on certain parts of the internet, seeing my friends granchildren, etc. we have a problem. I'd say, set your privacy settings high, change those passwords frequently.

 

[quincy]

You're right, I misunderstood. This person was probably meaning for people not to put pictures of children on the internet, but you know, since this is about the only reason for old geezers like me to be on certain parts of the internet, seeing my friends granchildren, etc. we have a problem. I'd say, set your privacy settings high, change those passwords frequently.

If you want to share photos of your children and grandchildren with family members and friends, it is smart to have your settings set to private and ensure (as much as you can) that those you invite to see these photos will not copy and share them with others outside your group. Once the photos are published online, anyone with access has physical control over what is done with them (even though they do not have legal control, which belongs with the copyright holder).