Bart Simpson, Lisa cartoon is ruled kid porn
Posessing artwork of 'The Simpsons' children performing acts of a sexual nature caused a man to be conviced of child porn charges.
A court in New South Wales, Australia yesterday, upheld an appeal against the decision to convict Alan J. McEwan for having kiddie porno. This followed a case presided over by Judge Adams in which 'crass' pictures or hand drawings of the Simpsons children Bart, Lisa and Maggie in various states of undress and performing acts of a sexual nature, were found in the man's computer. A fictional cartoon character could be considered to "depict a person" under state and commonwealth law. Justice Adams ruled the word "person" included imaginary or fictional characters and that an unrealistic representation of a figure did not preclude that figure from being a "person".
As an alternative to jailing, the man was fined the sum of 3 thousand Australian dollars (about $2000 USD) and was forced to undertake a good-behaviour bond. He appealed the decision, but then Justice Adams said amongst other statements, that the simple truth that the depictions were not realistic interpretations of humans, did not suggest that the 'persons' shown in the pictures were not actually people per se.
In his summation the judge included that while the main purpose of the case's outcome was to stop promotion of exploitation and child abuse of "real" children, it was also for deterring interest in other such pictures that may "generate more demand for graphical imagery which does involve actual children". The appeal was rejected summarily each party was required to pay court fees and other expenses.
NOTE: The Simpsons Movie released in July 2007 created much interest due to the appearance in the film of Bart Simpsons' private parts, despite having been
rather crudely depicted. That film's release was not the subject of legal wrangling over offensive imagery.
Credits: The Australian