In 2012, the Supreme Court of Illinois decided the case of People v. Hollins, 2012 IL 112754. In that case, the defendant was found guilty of possessing photographs of having sex with his girlfriend. What makes this case so interesting is that the girlfriend was 17, which is the age at which a person is old enough to consent to having sex. To photograph someone having sex, however, the person has to be 18. Otherwise, the photograph is considered to be child pornography. So, Mr. Hollins girlfriend was old enough to have sex with him but not old enough to be photographed having sex with him.
Mr. Hollins was 32 and he was a register sex offender. The relationship was consensual. The photographs were sent to the girlfriend by e-mail and her mom found them and pushed for prosecution of the case. There is no indication from the opinion that photos were ever going to be put on the internet. Mr. Hollins was found guilty after a stipulated bench trial. On his appeal to the Supreme Court of Illinois, he argued, primarily, that the law violated his due process rights and equal protection rights. Those arguments were unsuccessful and his original eight year sentence was upheld. Justice Burke wrote a compelling dissent to which Justice Freeman joined.
Although the dissent makes a good argument, I am not sure the decision was wrong so much as I think that the statutes are constructed with this weird discrepancy. I think that the legislators should change either the age of consent or the age a person could be photographed without it being child pornography. I am not saying which one should be changed. I am only saying that the ages should be consistent. I appreciate that the statutes are guarding against two different types of dangers. In my opinion, it comes down to the ability to understand consequences and be mature enough to make reasonable choices. If a person is old enough to make the decision to engage in sexual intercourse at the age of 17, then it befuddles me how the same person is too young to consent to have the acts she can legally engage in be recorded.
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