PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled in two cases that people who surf the Internet for child pornography haven’t violated a law against encouraging sexual abuse of children — so long as they haven’t paid for, downloaded or shared the porn.
The court said Thursday an Oregon law frequently used in child pornography cases predates widespread Internet use and doesn’t cover all the ways images get into computers.
In one case, the court said, it was impossible to tell whether a suspect accessed images on purpose, or whether they were the result of pop-up windows or hacking.
Lawyers say most suspects download or take obvious possession of the images, so the decision will have limited impact. But, they say, the Legislature can update the law.
