Internet Crimes

California criminal defense attorney Thomas Wallin handles Internet Crime cases. If you need an Internet Criminal Defense Lawyer, call today at 1-866-857-5900.

The first criminal law enforcement statute is the Obscene Material Act, found in C.P.C. § 311. This statute applies to possession and publication for sale or distribution of sexual conduct by a minor. This statute was update in 1999 to include storing images on hardware, software or any storage medium including CD-ROMS and any printing of a computer generated image. This charge attempts to stop the flow of "child porn" photography which can be placed by any person on the Internet or related websites.

Another popular statute for law enforcement is the Sexual Exploitation of Minors, found in C.P.C. § 311.3. This law is slightly different in that the defendant has to duplicate, develop, print or exchange an image or photo showing a minor engaging in an act of sexual conduct. This charge is aimed at the user rather than the distributor. Remember that distribution is relative term in that sending an illegal photo may place you within the confines of distributing obscene material.

The fairly new California Stalking law found in C.P.C. § 646.9 now applies to electronic mediums as well. If you repeatedly harass someone by using an electronic communication device and threaten him or her with reasonable apprehension of fear, you can be charged with stalking. Therefore, if you repeatedly threaten someone while on-line and it would otherwise appear to be a legitimate threat causing fear, you have committed cyber stalking and can be prosecuted and sentenced to county jail or state prison. This would apply to phone calls, text messages, voicemails and emails.

Under C.P.C. § 653(m), a person can be charged with Contact by Electronic Communication with the Intent to Annoy. What used to only apply to telephone calls now applies to all electronic communication on the Internet. All bad faith telephone calls or electronic communication, such as email, that are made in bad faith and are repeated to annoy, are punishable by county jail or state prison.

The non-child related offense of Computer Hacking (Unauthorized access to computers, systems and data) is found in C.P.C. § 502. This offense includes destroying and altering data, including using another Internet domain name. This form of trespassing is termed “wobblers” with fines up to $10,000.

These are just some of the major crimes that are now attributed to the Internet by state law. The larger issue is whether a Federal Law is broken since the Internet crosses state lines and is considered Interstate Commerce. As such, when an Internet crime is conducted, you fall under Federal Jurisdiction as well. Call California criminal defense attorney Thomas Wallin at 1-866-857-5900 for a free consultation to discuss your legal rights in these issues.

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