Kids snatched by govt because of "Child Porn"

[IluvJae]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/arizona-co...ory?id=8624533 Bath Time Photos Prompt Child Porn Allegations Arizona Couple Sues Wal-Mart for Calling Cops Over Bath Time Photos For A.J. and Lisa Demaree, the photos they snapped of their young daughters were innocent and sweet. But after a photo developer at Wal-Mart thought otherwise, the Demarees found themselves in a yearlong battle to prove they were not child pornographers. "I don't' understand it at all," A.J. Demaree told "Good Morning America" Monday. "Ninety-nine percent of the families in America have these exact same photos." The eight photos in question were among a batch of 144 family photos the Demarees had taken to their local Wal-Mart. The developer alerted the police and the investigation into child pornography began in earnest, even though the parents maintained they were innocent bath time photos. The Peoria, Ariz., couple had their home searched by police and worse, their children -- then ages 18 months, 4 and 5 -- were taken from them for more than month. Their names were placed on a sex offender registry for a time, and Lisa Demaree was suspended from her school job for a year. The couple said they have spent $75,000 on legal bills. A report issued by local authorities described the photos as "child erotica" and "sex exploitation," the couple's lawyer Dick Treon told "Good Morning America." He said the person responsible for the report was unqualified to make such judgments. The Demarees are now sharing a few of the photos with the public, he said, so the "truth to catch up with the lie." "These photos were never intended for anyone to see except for family members," Treon said. "Perversion is in the eye of the viewer." Eventually, a judge threw out charges against the Demarees, but now they're going on the legal offensive by suing the state, the city and Wal-Mart for their role in what they call a "nightmare." "I think that we need to have an awareness of how our innocent photographs can be misconstrued and misperceived," Lisa Demaree said. The Demarees are suing the city of Peoria and the State Attorney General's office for defamation. They're also suing Wal-Mart for failing to tell them that they had an "unsuitable print policy" and could turn over photos to law enforcement without their knowledge. "At Wal-Mart, we're committed to providing quality service and convenience to our photo customers," the company said in a statement. "These are sensitive allegations and we're taking them very seriously." "It was unbelievable. I was in so much disbelief. I started to hyperventilate. I tried to breathe it out," Lisa Demaree told "GMA" this weekend, struggling through tears. "Some of the photos are bath time photos, but there are a few after the bath. Three of the girls are naked, laying on a towel with their arms around each other, and we thought it was so cute." Lisa Demaree told "Good Morning America" today that the girls seem to be doing well, but that her oldest is showing some signs of anxiety when she visits other people's homes. She calls her experience in state care as time at the "stranger's house." "They're doing really well, I think, considering what happened," she said. "But sometimes we don't know the effects that children experience and are undergoing when they go through things like this." House Searched, Children Taken After Wal-Mart alerted them, investigators went to the Demaree home to question them and search their residence where the children live with their parents. A.J. Demaree said he could understand why the police were there, but he said the pictures were innocuous snapshots of his kids goofing around, and some of them involved the children being naked. We have told our girls that they have freedom to be in their home and feel OK about their bodies and their nudity, but that there is a time and a place for it," Lisa said. Police seized numerous videotapes and the Demarees' computers and said they found more photos and videos of the children frolicking without clothes. Investigators and Child Protective Services saw it very differently and removed the children from the house. A medical exam of the children revealed no signs of sexual abuse, and a judge ruled that the photos were in fact harmless. ABC News legal expert Dana Cole said that in cases of child pornography authorities need to prove sexual intent on the part of the parents, and that after the judge reviewed the case and the Demarees underwent psychological evaluation, it was determined that there was no such intent. From the Demarees perspective, the damage was already done. Police and prosecutors insist they did what they thought was appropriate. "It took us a long time to take a picture [again]," Lisa Demaree said. "I even worry about them in their bathing suits now, if I get a shot of them in their bathing suits and they're tilting their heads a certain way or their hips are sticking out a little bit, all I think of is 'Does someone think that it was posed? Or how is that going to be perceived?'" Steve Meissner, a spokesman for Child Protective Services, released a statement saying, "When a police agency calls us on a matter, we have an obligation to act on that matter. If we refused, the community would be very unhappy with us." The city of Peoria also states that it stands behind the appropriate actions of their officers. "Honestly we've missed a year of our children's lives as far as our memories go," Lisa Demaree said, "As crazy as it may seem, what you may think are the most beautiful innocent pictures of your children may be seen as something completely different and completely perverted." Cliffs: Parents take pics of kids goofing around in tub on vacation, Parents take memory card to walmart to have pics printed, photo-tech thinks 8 pics of kids are pron, calls cops, child services and cops come and find other videos and pics deemed child pron, takes kids, wife gets suspended for a year from work, placed on sex offenders list, judge sees nothing wrong with the pics, parents now sue the city and walmart. Here's one of the pics I see nothing wrong, what are your thoughts

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[Nightshade]

Sue the fucking shit out of both the city and Wal-Mart they both deserve it for the overreaction

[å]

i hope they win some money for their kids to go to university.


its a sad world we live in.... i know my mom has some pictures of me as a child with my weenus showing.

[JessTD]

my buddy lost his job last year for failing to report noods and developing them for some girl ... he worked at the walmart photo center

chick was pretty hot though and like 21 ... fucker didnt keep copies though.

this is pretty pathetic though, i understand the call to the police in this day and age but they should have had a wee bit more discrimination about the whole ordeal. just goes to show 'innocent till proven guilty' is becoming rarer and rarer

[IluvJae]

What I dont understand is how come they were placed on the sex offenders list without being found guilty. I thought you had to be found guilty and released from jail for all that. Also that's a federal crime so you would've thought it would've taken more then a month for them to go to trial. Sounds like the detective doesn't have any kids and doesn't know how a camera works.

[b00gers]

Idiots work at Walmart. It sucks that they had to go through that ordeal.

[Fire]

Idiots are everywhere. People look for and WANT shit to be offensive. Gay

[flipped cracka]

my mom has a picture of my like that at her desk. you can't see anything, but i'm in a bathtub. i thought every parent had pictures like that.

[dj02]

Originally Posted by nightshade

sue the fucking shit out of both the city and wal-mart they both deserve it for the overreaction

d o t!!

[dom93hatch]

[IluvJae]

Yea, send them pics to chris Hansen and have him take a look.

[NOPD]

Originally Posted by dj02

d o t!!

d o t x 2

i hope they win shitloads of money.

[ShaolinLueb]

Originally Posted by Nightshade

Sue the fucking shit out of both the city and Wal-Mart they both deserve it for the overreaction

ditto agree with night shade.

[spanky]

And kick the kid's ass for reporting it. :o

[JessTD]

Originally Posted by spanky

And kick the kid's ass for reporting it. :o

no i dont blame the kid ...

he was covering his ass, i blame the management.

it's walmart policy that employees are to report any and all nudity when processing pictures and furthermore arent allowed to process when they find it. maybe it was a new kid or something but he probably just wanted to cover his ass and not get fired.

cops blew it way out of proportion.

[2gr84u]

this is crazy, I hope these people are able to rip wal-mart and the state a new one

[Jafro]

People still use film?

[PepsiShine]

it was a memory card

but stupidity on all parties involved.

[Wharbone]

I hope they get a HUGE settlement out of this. Seriously, how many parents are there that don't have pictures like these? By far, the majority of parents out there have pictures like this.

[RicoD]

I have nekkid pictures of myself as a child

[PepsiShine]

Originally Posted by RicoD

I have nekkid pictures of myself as a child

my penor never grew

[b00gers]

My grandma use to take pics of me bathing...I remember her with the camera right before my dinner dance. Its normal.

[white_n_slow]

Yeah, this is definitely one of those cases where suing the pants off of everyone involved is actually the right course of action. I hope they get a good early retirement and college tuition for their kids c/o Wal-Mart. :edit: And I have no fucking clue how the police looked at these pictures and determined it was kiddie porn. WTF?!?!!?

[spanky]

Originally Posted by JessTD

no i dont blame the kid ...

he was covering his ass, i blame the management.

it's walmart policy that employees are to report any and all nudity when processing pictures and furthermore arent allowed to process when they find it. maybe it was a new kid or something but he probably just wanted to cover his ass and not get fired.

cops blew it way out of proportion.

Fuck that.

If you work in a place where the policy is to do something that you know morally is fucked up would you do it?

There is a line between "child porn" and "family photos" and that one doesn't even come close to it.

[k3ifers]

i'd blame the kid a little bit, but then walmart manager people more and then cops even more.

it sucks for that family. hope they win everything.

[whoaitslen2]

America is a victim of its own product. This whole 18 thing is put on a higher pedestal everyday. The second you hear "underage nudity" all the nazis go apeshit over it without hearing the full story.

Walmart's company policy is there to cover their ass, period. They dont leave room for open interpretation so for this case any and all nudity is prohibited, even if the photos were truly not intended for "sexual arousal purposes". Personal judgement and morality doesnt exist when youre on the clock. Too much fear of being fired, fined, jailed.

Companies making their own law and playing policeman is so fucking communist. Little to no government regulation or oversight for big companies cause it cost too much... but guess whos lining up the pockets of our nations leaders...

[Llamaguy]

Yes, this is a case of sue the pants off everyone; the farther down the line, the more money they should have to pay for this bullshit.

but one of these ftw

[losiglow]