> "Simply possessing CP in any format, with or without knowledge or consent is illegal."
From a recent New York State supreme court decision [0], citing federal law on page 12: "to possess the images in the cache, the defendant must, at a minimum, know that the unlawful images are stored on a disk or other tangible material in his possession". And on page 14, "a
defendant cannot knowingly acquire or possess that which he or she does not know exists".
Variations of the word "know" appear over and over again in the decision, particularly in the line "knowing the character and content thereof." All three judges concurred on this point -- possession requires knowledge.
From a recent New York State supreme court decision [0], citing federal law on page 12: "to possess the images in the cache, the defendant must, at a minimum, know that the unlawful images are stored on a disk or other tangible material in his possession". And on page 14, "a defendant cannot knowingly acquire or possess that which he or she does not know exists".
Variations of the word "know" appear over and over again in the decision, particularly in the line "knowing the character and content thereof." All three judges concurred on this point -- possession requires knowledge.
[0] http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2012/May12/70opn12....