Judges Rule That Registered Sex Offenders Have Every Right To Take Pictures Of Children In Public Places


Judges have ruled that registered sex offenders have every right to take non-pornographic pictures of children in public places.

This shocking new ruling by the Court of Appeal was revealed after judges decided that a law prohibiting sex offenders from photographing fully clothed children violates their right to free speech.

If the law was once a bit odd, it now seems to have gone completely insane in Wisconsin, where this new ruling first reared its ugly head.

The law, which fails abysmally to protect those who need it most, namely innocent children, was passed after a registered sex offender was caught taking non-pornographic pictures of children and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

Christopher Ottoman
Christopher Ottoman

The Express reports that Christopher Ottoman was convicted of child sexual assault in 2002. When Ottoman was on probation in February 2011, an agent searched the 44-year-old’s home and discovered a camera and mobile phone with photographs he had taken of children playing outside his flat.

Ottoman from Wisconsin was found guilty on 16 counts of taking photographs of children without their parents’ consent and returned to prison.

Ottoman’s case went to the state’s Court of Appeal, which bizarrely ruled that even registered sex offenders have a right to free speech and should be allowed to take as many non-pornographic of children in public places as they please.

In their infinite wisdom, Judges Thomas Cane, Lisa Stark, and Thomas Hruz ruled that being photographed by sex offenders does not in any way harm children.

“Children are not harmed by non-obscene, non-pornographic photographs taken in public places”.

To back up their argument, the judges quoted from a US Supreme Court case, and implied that sex offenders who take pictures of children in public places are protected by the First Amendment in the same way free speech is

“Where the speech is neither obscene nor the product of sexual abuse, it does not fall outside the protection of the First Amendment”

Although the judges admitted some discomfort in regard to the new ruling and the possibility of sex offenders taking regular pictures of children for their own twisted gratification, they claimed laws can’t ban protected speech jet because it might lead to a crime.

“The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.”

[Image Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images/Daily Express]

Share this article: Judges Rule That Registered Sex Offenders Have Every Right To Take Pictures Of Children In Public Places
More from Inquisitr