San Francisco Sheriff Denies Home Detention After Child Porn Conviction (CA Penal Code 311)

San Francisco Sheriff denies Home Detention After Child Porn Conviction

In a far too common turn, Enrique Pearce’s sentencing for possession of Child Pornography (CA Penal Code section 311) was delayed because the San Francisco Sheriff declined to accept Mr. Pearce into it’s home detention program. 

While the Sheriff may deny anyone from the home detention program, Bay Area Sheriff departments routinely will deny those convicted of offenses involving minors from home arrest.  To be clear, home arrest allows a defendant to work but demands HOME ARREST at all other times. 

Prosecutors, under pressure from public outcry, and now the Sheriff’s office have yet again turned a negotiated plea agreement into a public display of false disgust.  While Mr. Pearce was convicted of more that simple possession of child pornography (distribution under penal code section 311.2) , it is clear that the facts of his case do not lend themselves to harsh sentencing under the statute.  Given that this material is most often shared via file sharing software, any one who downloads and possesses, often unknowingly, also distributes. 

At some point the emotional reactions to these crimes become nothing more than fear mongering.  Much like the military industrial complex sows fear to accommodate the large budges it enjoys, this fear mongering is putting money in someone’s pocket and we just eat it up.