Brooklyn State Sen. Martin Golden sponsors bill to make watching child pornography a felony

Seeks to close loophole after appeals court ruled that simply viewing it was not a crime
By Kenneth Lovett
Thursday, May 10, 2012

ALBANY — Legislators are moving quickly to close a legal loophole permitting people to view kiddie porn on the Internet.

Two Brooklyn lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday to make viewing child pornography a felony crime.

The legislation comes just days after the state’s highest court unanimously ruled that viewing child porn on the Internet under current state law “is not enough to constitute their procurement or possession.”

The court found that printing, saving, downloading or other action is needed to prove someone “exercised dominion and control over the images that were on his screen.”

Senate bill sponsor Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican and former city cop, called kiddie porn “highly offensive in its very nature.” the rest

“It should not matter if you view it, read it, or download it,” Golden said. “Simply the fact that you are viewing it is a crime and New York should treat it as such.”