Handley will be imprisoned for a term of 6 months and, if he meets his release conditions at that time, be released with three years of probation for his Possession of Obscene Visual Representations of the Sexual Abuse of Children charge. Handley was also given five years of probation for Mailing Obscene Matter, to be served concurrently with the probation on the other charge.
From what I can tell here, Handley has been given relatively standard probation terms: no firearms, will cooperate in DNA collection, will go through a treatment program as directed by a probation officer, and may be given polygraph exams in an attempt to ensure his good behavior.
Handley is NOT being required to register as a sex offender, one of several possible harsh conditions that Handley's defense suggested might be attempted in their sentencing recommendations from the day prior.
On the more editorial side: you all probably know that I'm thoroughly biased in favor of the defense; in my opinion Handley should not be serving any time at all. But I understand not wanting to be the test case on an attempt to get a law thrown out, and for Handley's personal sake I'm glad that it looks like he'll have a chance to live a normal life after all this.
But what do YOU guys think? I know some of you talked about how lolicon should or should not be banned-- I'd like to hear from you. (Also, help us-- and manga fans --out by spreading the word and digging this! You know I don't ask often.)
For dear god I hope the gov't never looks into 4chan more because as soon as they find /d/ everyone is gonna be going to jail. Good thing I live in Canada I guess, but I'm sure our gov't will be adopting the same style soon.
PS: LOL at Noodles comment.
I'm relieved to see that it wasn't worse. I know Chris, and I really didn't want to see him spending years in prison over this. I just hope that he can get his life together again after this. I also I hope the terms of his probation doesn't prevent him from getting together with the rest of us to watch anime like we used to.
(not just the loli stuff that got him trouble -- 6mo. w/o *any* manga at all)
It's like a life sentence.
I'll go grab some pitchforks while you get the mob together, those bastards will pay!
@sunflower: Though its still unfair, I think we're overall lucky that such sweeping, logical continuations probably won't happen here.
I do not believe Handley deserves any punishment though, that indeed is ridiculous.
What's also scary is the premise (I think that's the correct word) that he was prosecuted in prevention of abuse. Because of his current situations and the argument that many kiddy porn fans have no criminal history before their first charge, he's to be labeled as a threat to society? I don't think it's too far fetched to link this to violent video game arguments either.
For Mr. Handley, who recognized his compulsion, this may turn out to be the best thing for him. But what about the rest of us who have no compulsions on the subject, only an open-mindedness. It's worrisome...
The difference in what is considered socially acceptable between foreign cultures just bewilders me. As far as I can tell from the prosecution's arguments from what I looked up on ANN, they seem to consider the lolicon manga from Handley to be some form of thought crime as there's no factual basis for the material to be legal to own in the eyes of the country. It's quite appalling that they're calling the guy a "sexual deviant" even though he hasn't gone out and committed any kind of crime. As gia pointed out, there still hasn't been any legitimate evidence that proves reading or watching any lolicon anime/ manga or other sexually explicit material makes someone commit a violent or sexual crime as all criticisms of the mediums have, for the most part, been fueled by personal beliefs and bias.
If you don't want to read this, basically the precedent established is that if any material on the internet is considered illegal by any county law, the producers of said material can be prosecuted for it. In other words, the content on the internet is held to the standard of the strictest county laws regarding obscene material. If I've ever wished we'd lose the bible belt to a tornado...