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Registration date: 05/21/2009
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• On Chris Handley pleads guilty to charges of possession of drawings of 'children being sexually abused' at 05/23 10:54am

  [quote]I find it really disturbing how some Japan-enthusiasts are willing to overlook something as fundamentally wrong as the depiction of sexual abuse of children just because its in the form of anime or manga!
  
  Just because its in a drawing does make it right, or acceptable. It doesn't make it any less insensitive or offensive to real life victims of abuse, does it?
  
  This glamorisation of sexual abuse and rape through lolicon, shotacon and hentai only succeed in justifying the real life crime![/quote]
  
  I'd like to respond to this. Before I start responding, I want to make it very clear that I do not advocate the sexual abuse of children. I've seen what these children have to deal with on a first hand basis and it is a travesty.
  
  With that being said, children and sex have not only been in art but have been in literature for years as well. Take Romeo and Juliet for instance, both of them were under what is now considered the legal age. Juliet was supposed to be 13 and Romeo was 15. In the 1960's there was an excellent film adaptation of this play. In the film, both of the actors portraying those roles were playing characters that were underage, and they themselves were actually underage. There is a sex scene between them in the film. I watched this movie in the ninth grade for literature class some twenty years ago. Was I watching child porn? According to the law nowadays, technically, yes. Brooke Shields starred in a movie called "Pretty Baby" when she was an early teen. The movie portrays a girl that is raised in a whorehouse. It also shows her with full frontal nudity. Many argue that this movie was an art film. What about Shields in "Blue Lagoon"? Again, she was a teenager when this movie was filmed. It not only shows her fully nude, but it also shows her having sex with her "brother". Is this movie child porn?
  
  As far as literature is concerned, the author V.C. Andrews made her living off of writing books that had scenes of sex between teenagers and the sexual assaults of children. In the book, "Flowers in the Attic", there are multiple scenes of a brother and sister discovering their changing teenage bodies and engaging in sex. In the novel "My Sweet Audrina", she talks about a girl that is gang raped by other boys when she is around seven years old and it causes her to have trauma induced amnesia. These are only two examples out of a multitude of books in her repertoire. Many of her books revolve around the subject of child molestation, rape, and teenage sex. Her books have sold millions of copies, and you can still find her books in bookstores today. A famous poet, Anne Sexton, wrote poems that centered around her own sexual abuse as a child.
  
  In the art world, there have been many painting throughout history that depict teenagers or young children nude and in sexual poses. Just because they are more artfully drawn or painted, does not make them worth any more than someone who is a collector of manga or anime. Did you know that every time you look at the statue of David, that you are looking at a sixteen year old boy? The model that had posed for that infamous statue was only sixteen years old.
  
  I will admit, that in some anime and manga that it can be drawn pretty extreme. Is it my cup of tea? No. But I am not going to tell someone else what he/she can or cannot read. If this type of censorship is allowed to continue, it will spread. Books that have been on the shelves for years will be lost, famous plays will be lost, art will be lost. Do you think that the government needs to hold our hands like children and tell us what is appropriate for us to see? I don't need it. I'm also sure the bulk of the American people don't need it either.
  

• On Chris Handley pleads guilty to charges of possession of drawings of 'children being sexually abused' at 05/22 08:48am

  [quote]I read the Gaiman stuff, thanks for the link.
  What other charges was he facing if that's the lesser charge?
  
  "From what we were told, the lesser charge was simply the possession and import of obscene materials."[/quote]
  
  It was essentially a grocery list of stuff.
  
  -The import of child pornography
  -The possession of child pornography
  -The possession of child pornography involving bestiality
  
  The list went on and on. The thing of it is, the four comics that started this whole mess, he didn't even see what pictures were inside of it. At one point, they even tried to claim that he was a child molester (never at ANY time has Chris been inappropriate with a child. NEVER) They stated that they could prove that he had a thing for kids. They never found ANYTHING other than comics and drawings of anime. PERIOD. They claimed that since the females in the drawings had no pubic hair, then they must be minor children. Which is ridiculous. They tried to claim that he was a threat to society. He's not a threat to anybody.
  
  He had told his sister that he was taking the plea for obscene materials, because that he was guilty of. But he was NOT guilty of obscene materials containing children. The "containing children" part was not told to him by his lawyer. I think Chris got screwed three ways to Sunday on this.

• On Chris Handley pleads guilty to charges of possession of drawings of 'children being sexually abused' at 05/22 01:15am

  [quote]Does anyone know if the drawings were of anime girls or if they were like realistic drawings of little girls(I have seen some that look like the artist used real life references for his drawings).[/quote]
  
  
  They were anime. Not realistic drawings of little girls.
  
  One thing that I had forgotten to add in my above post, was what his lawyer had told him. According to a conversation I had with his sister just a few hours ago, his lawyer had told him a month or so ago that if he took the plea then he would be plea bargaining down to possession of obscene materials. Nothing mentioning obscene materials with children in them. Also that he would not serve any time in jail because he's been a good boy while he was on probation, and that his fine would be under a grand. His family is rather upset over the whole thing and is like every one else, in wishing that he hadn't taken the plea. However, it all came down to what his lawyer wanted to do. His lawyer didn't want to fight it. So, he threw Chris under the bus.
  
  Quite honestly, I don't think it really matters what drawings are of anyway. Why does it matter? What one man considers to be art, another man will consider garbage. If the feds are able to go after people for cartoons, and that's what they are folks, cartoons, then what is going to stop them from going after other forms of art? They have already been able to shut down websites because of dirty stories, which like this case, has no real life victims in them. How long is it going to be before they start putting us all in playpens and dictate everything that we say, see, or do?

• On Chris Handley pleads guilty to charges of possession of drawings of 'children being sexually abused' at 05/21 8:04pm

  Hello all. I am a close friend of Chris' family. To shed some light on what happened, I thought I would share what I know. It was his own lawyer that encouraged him to take the plea. His lawyer convinced him that the case could not be won, and that he would be better off to plea to the lesser charge. However, it is my understanding that Chris was mislead in this. From what we were told, the lesser charge was simply the possession and import of obscene materials. He was also told that if he plead out, that he would more than likely not see any time as he has been on probation this whole time and has not been any kind of a threat to society since he had been placed on probation. Many of us that know Chris, are just as disappointed and upset as many of you. It is a miscarriage of justice, and with any luck it can be appealed.
  
  I feel that his lawyer failed him greatly. This really is a travesty, especially considering the kind of money that was paid to this lawyer and to his defense. This whole situation has been an incredible blow, not only to the anime community, but to the art world at large. I will pass on well wishes to his family. Thank you all for your support and thoughts over the last couple of years, and God willing, hopefully this won't happen to anyone else out there. But just in case, a word to the wise, don't forget...Big brother is watching.