Child Porn Judgment Has East Texas Link

WASHINGTON (AP/Staff) – A major Supreme Court ruling Wednesday on child pornography restitution has an East Texas link. The court tossed out a judgment of nearly $3.4 million — money that was supposed to be paid to a woman by a man whose computer was found to contain two images of her as a child. The man is Doyle Randall Paroline of Brownsboro. Paroline was appealing the lower court order holding him responsible for the judgment associated with the ongoing Internet trade and viewing of images of the woman being raped by her uncle when she was 8 and 9 years old. The court says federal law limits how much money the victims of child porn can collect from people who viewed the material.

The woman is known in court papers by the pseudonym “Amy.” Her case against Paroline cited psychological care, lost income, and attorneys’ fees. Justice Anthony Kennedy said lower courts went too far when they said Paroline was responsible for all of the woman’s losses, without determining how much harm he caused her. A federal judge will now work out what that amount should be. Advocates for child porn victims argue that holding defendants liable for the entire amount of losses reflects the ongoing harm that victims suffer each time someone views the images online.