Cops Want to Give Teen an Erection and Photograph It… You Know, For Evidence

You read that right.

The authorities in Prince William County, Virginia, are pursuing
child pornography charges against a 17 year old who exchanged nude
picture texts with his 15-year-old girlfriend. The police have even
filed a warrant that would permit them to take the teen to the
hospital, give him an erection-producing injection, and photograph
his penis. Prosecutors want to compare this photograph to the one
the teen sent to his girlfriend, establishing that they depict the
same thing.

Some astute logicians might point out the irony of the police
effectively creating child pornography in order to prosecute
someone for creating child pornography, though long-time readers of
Reason know that law enforcement has a long history
of doing
precisely that.

Carlos Flores Laboy, the teen’s guardian,
told
The Washington Post that police efforts to prosecute this
case were “crazy.”

Carlos Flores Laboy, appointed the teen’s guardian ad litem in
the case, said he thought it was just as illegal for the Manassas
City police to create their own child pornography as to investigate
the teen for it. “They’re using
a statute that was designed to protect children from being
exploited in a sexual manner,” Flores Laboy said, “to take a
picture of this young man in a sexually explicit manner. The irony
is incredible.” The guardian added, “As a parent myself, I was
floored. It’s child abuse. We’re wasting thousands of dollars and
resources and man hours on a sexting case. That’s what we’re
doing.”

Foster said Detective Abbott told her that after obtaining
photos of the teen’s erect penis he would “use special software to
compare pictures of this penis to this penis. Who does this? It’s
just crazy.”

Keep in mind that police have already taken photographs of
the teen’s private parts after arresting him and holding him
in juvenile jail to await charges. Good grief, how many pictures of
a teenage boy’s penis does one police department need?

The teen has so far refused to plead guilty. If convicted, he
could stay in jail until he turns 21.