Christian Hine: Tea Party Political Activist Guilty On Child Porn Charges — ‘Self Medicating’ For Depression, Autism


Christian Hine, 39, best known in as an outspoken political activist in the conservative Tea Party movement, describes himself on his Facebook page as “super eclectic,” saying, “I’ve dined with diplomats, convened with Congressmen, and partied with rock stars.”

But as of last week, the former president of CAUTION, the Charlotte Tea Party organization, can add another line to the description of his activities. Hine has now pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts of possessing child pornography, and he’ll be spending at least the next two years behind bars in a South Carolina prison.

The fact that Hine was a well-known Tea Party activist wasn’t the only unusual aspect of his child porn conviction, however. The creative excuse dreamed up by his lawyers and explained in court filings also made the Christian Hine case noteworthy. More on that below.

Originally from Fort Mill, South Carolina, Hine was arrested last November after police showed up at his mother’s home in Fort Mill a few months earlier with warrants on 20 counts related to what Hine later admitted was his addiction to child porn — two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and 18 more counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to the Herald Online news site.

When the cops showed up in June, Hine voluntarily led them to his computer and mobile devices where they found what investigators said were more than 700 child porn images — and that wasn’t all. The forensic police technicians also discovered that those images have been shared over the internet thousands of times over the course of a decade, mostly using a file-sharing software called eMule.

The arrest came as a shock to the conservative political community in both Carolinas, where Christian Hine was well known as a public speaker on various causes ranging from opposition to Obamacare and use of taxes to finance pro sports stadiums, to toll roads, which Hine was also against.

The following video shows Hine speaking in 2013 at a rally in opposition to the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

Hine was the founder and editor of Pundit House, a conservative news and opinion site, which he started in 2010. But he has since distanced himself from the site and its parent company, New Majority Media, as the extent of his child pornography habit became public knowledge.

But according to his lawyers, who filed a six-page “sentencing memorandum” with the court on August 22, Christian Hine had a good reason for his obsession with images of underage children engaged in sexual acts. He was depressed from the breakup of a relationship, and due to his autism, he was unable to adequately socialize with other people.

Hine, they said in the memorandum, suffers from “autistic spectrum disorder” and depression. His taste for internet porn, and specifically child porn, was a form of “self medicating,” they contend in the court brief.

Christian Hine (l) with Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson, in July [Image via Christian Hine/Facebook]

“The spectrum disorder has prevented Christian from socializing as much as most men his age,” the laywers said in the brief, citing a psychiatrist who examined Hine. “She also attributes a large degree of emotional trauma to the disruption of his 4 12 year relationship years ago. Sadly, after that episode in his life, and with limited social skills to find someone, an outlet for his sexuality became the computer.”

According to the lawyers, what began as exposure to routine, adult online pornography quickly descended into a “spiral” that “led him to stumble upon deviant and illegal sexual interests he did not know existed.”

Read Christian Hine’s entire sentencing memorandum by clicking on this link.

The lawyers also say that Hine “takes full responsibility” for his child porn crimes — and then proceeds to ask the court for a sentence of house arrest, rather than sending the conservative activist to prison.


RELATED STORIES FROM THE INQUISITR:
Phillip Kirk: Sicko Begs Politician To Legalize Sex With Children, Judge Calls Him ‘Deluded’
Phillip Dutfield: Kiddie Porn Collecting Grandpa Dodges Jail Over Wi-Fi Access Dispute — Here’s Why
Father Stephen Pohl: Priest Targeted In FBI Kiddie Porn Probe, Placed On Leave By Archdiocese
Kathryn Thomson Planned Child Rape Just To Keep Sicko Boyfriend Shayne Lund Happy, Court Told
Leroy Junior Moore: Man Using Free Wi-Fi In Store Parking Lot For Illegal Reason Learns His Harsh Fate


Instead, a judge sent Christian Hine to prison for three years on the child pornography conviction, with another eight years possibly tacked on if he violates the terms of his probation anytime within three years of his release from prison.

[Featured Photos via York County Sheriff’s Office]

Share this article: Christian Hine: Tea Party Political Activist Guilty On Child Porn Charges — ‘Self Medicating’ For Depression, Autism
More from Inquisitr