Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
October 9, 2005
A Lakeland man who runs a pornographic website was arrested on sexual obscenity charges, but his lawyer said the charges are related to grisly photos from Iraq.
By Travis Reed, Associated Press
ORLANDO - A man who runs a pornographic website that includes pictures of Iraqi war dead has been arrested on sexual obscenity charges.
Chris Wilson, a 27-year-old former policeman from Lakeland, was taken into custody Friday night on one felony and 300 misdemeanor indecency counts unrelated to the grisly pictures from Iraq. The charges come a week after his site made national news and launched a Pentagon investigation into how war zone photos of bodies described as victims of U.S. attacks could have surfaced.
Polk County sheriff's officials said he was charged because the website also features sexually explicit pictures and videos that users send of women who are supposedly their wives and girlfriends.
Sheriff's officials insist the charges are unrelated to the Iraq pictures, but Wilson's lawyer, Lawrence Walters, disagreed.
''Of all the hundreds of thousands of webmasters in the country, and even in Central Florida, why would Chris Wilson be arrested a week after he hits national spotlight news on the Iraqi war photos?'' asked Walters, a First Amendment specialist. ``I think any reasonable person would be suspicious of that.''
Wilson remained in jail Saturday afternoon after the judge in his initial appearance denied his request to lower the $151,000 bail.
In a recent interview with The Herald, Wilson defended his website.
''What people don't understand is that there's a big difference between what's illegal and what people don't like,'' he said.
Wilson said he started giving soldiers free access after some reported problems paying the $10 membership fee. To make sure he wasn't scammed, Wilson said, he asked for a photograph proving they were serving.
He allowed those pictures to be posted on the site, calling it ``a real look at what's going on over there.''
The website remained live Saturday because its servers are in Amsterdam, and Walters said Wilson won't be forced to take it down.
''That would be a First Amendment violation and a violation of his civil rights -- and frankly the rights of everyone across the world who's looking at those pictures,'' he said.
October 9, 2005
A Lakeland man who runs a pornographic website was arrested on sexual obscenity charges, but his lawyer said the charges are related to grisly photos from Iraq.
By Travis Reed, Associated Press
ORLANDO - A man who runs a pornographic website that includes pictures of Iraqi war dead has been arrested on sexual obscenity charges.
Chris Wilson, a 27-year-old former policeman from Lakeland, was taken into custody Friday night on one felony and 300 misdemeanor indecency counts unrelated to the grisly pictures from Iraq. The charges come a week after his site made national news and launched a Pentagon investigation into how war zone photos of bodies described as victims of U.S. attacks could have surfaced.
Polk County sheriff's officials said he was charged because the website also features sexually explicit pictures and videos that users send of women who are supposedly their wives and girlfriends.
Sheriff's officials insist the charges are unrelated to the Iraq pictures, but Wilson's lawyer, Lawrence Walters, disagreed.
''Of all the hundreds of thousands of webmasters in the country, and even in Central Florida, why would Chris Wilson be arrested a week after he hits national spotlight news on the Iraqi war photos?'' asked Walters, a First Amendment specialist. ``I think any reasonable person would be suspicious of that.''
Wilson remained in jail Saturday afternoon after the judge in his initial appearance denied his request to lower the $151,000 bail.
In a recent interview with The Herald, Wilson defended his website.
''What people don't understand is that there's a big difference between what's illegal and what people don't like,'' he said.
Wilson said he started giving soldiers free access after some reported problems paying the $10 membership fee. To make sure he wasn't scammed, Wilson said, he asked for a photograph proving they were serving.
He allowed those pictures to be posted on the site, calling it ``a real look at what's going on over there.''
The website remained live Saturday because its servers are in Amsterdam, and Walters said Wilson won't be forced to take it down.
''That would be a First Amendment violation and a violation of his civil rights -- and frankly the rights of everyone across the world who's looking at those pictures,'' he said.
