Last month, Evan Emory edited a video to make it appear that elementary school children in a local classroom were listening to him sing a song with graphic sexual lyrics. He then showed the video in a nightclub and posted it on YouTube. Evan Emory, who had gotten permission to sing songs like “Lunchlady Land” for the first graders, waited until the students left for the day and then recorded new, sexually explicit lyrics, miming gestures to accompany them.
The Supreme Court has ruled that child pornography is not subject to the same First Amendment protections as adult pornography, since it is assumed that the child is being abused. However, this case involved digitally altered images in which no child was abused. Thus, the outcome of this small town musician will set a pervasive precedent for child pornography law concerning modern technology.
The punishment does not always fit the crime. Often, those caught are penalized beyond what is warranted in order to prevent others from emulating their wrongdoings. Is it fair to “make an example” out of a vulgar prank in order to demonstrate a no-tolerance child pornography policy? Since his arrest, Evan Emory has been suspended from his job as a waiter at Applebee’s. In addition, the court expenses have forced his father, a power plant insulator who was laid off in November, to go out of state to find work. “Examples” are autonomous individuals who are not always as malicious as their charge makes them out to be. On the other hand, those children are clearly victims who did not consent to be pictured in an explicit music video. In addition, a lax child pornography policy could potentially allow real child-pornography sex-offenders to go scot-free.
If you support Evan Emory’s, then you can join the almost 3,000 people who have “liked” the “Free Evan Emory” page on Facebook. These supporters assert that the charge is a vast overreaction to a prank gone astray, and a threat to free expression.
However, many parents are furious. “Does 20 years fit the crime? No,” said Dan Peebles, one of the parents. But, he added, “Would I care if he got 20 years? No.”
