Opinion ID: 792174
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Purpose of the E-group

Text: 58 The content of the corrected affidavit does not support the majority's conclusion that the overriding purpose of the E-group was dedicated to illegal activity. Op. at 74-75. There is nothing in the corrected affidavit that alleges or otherwise establishes that the E-group was wholly or mostly dedicated to the trading of illegal visual depictions. While the file posting function of the E-group was dedicated to the activity of uploading and downloading illegal visual depictions, the affidavit lists a number of other E-group functions that were purely text-based. See Perez, 247 F.Supp.2d at 483 (Subscribers could have engaged in protected, non-criminal activities, such as answering survey questions or chatting.); see also United States v. Kunen, 323 F.Supp.2d 390, 400 (E.D.N.Y.2004). 59 Although we may deeply disapprove of activities such as visiting chat rooms, taking online polls, and posting textual messages within the context of the girls12-16 E-group, these text-based activities are not illegal within the meaning of Section 2252A, the offense with which Martin is charged. Contrary to the majority's assertions, the corrected affidavit does not establish that these text-based functions were principally dedicated to the acquisition of illegal visual depictions. The girls12-16 E-group welcome message, which the majority quotes at length, is undoubtedly distasteful, but its distastefulness does not indicate that the overriding purpose of the site was illegal. In fact, the welcome message indicates that the E-group had functions that did not contain illegal visual depictions; it states, inter alia, that members could use the group to connect with others, share views and opinions . . . without censorship, tell stories, get together socially and share personal information. 60 The majority's assertion that the overriding purpose of the E-group was illegal is further challenged by the fact that the vast majority of the e-mail messages that Agent Binney received while he monitored the girls12-16 E-group contained text and did not contain illegal visual depictions. See Binney Aff. at 32. During the two-week period that Agent Binney was a member of the girls12-16 E-group he received a total of 193 e-mails (1) 14 of which contained child pornography; (2) 77 of which contained depictions of child erotica; and (3) 102 of which contained only text. Therefore, only 7.25 percent of the 193 e-mails sent to Agent Binney from the girls12-16 E-group contained illegal visual depictions. Id. In light of the fact that less than 8 percent of e-mails contained illegal visual depictions, it is purely speculative for the majority to infer that the overriding purpose of the E-group was to trade illegal visual depictions. 12 61 Not only is it legal to trade textual depictions and child erotica under the relevant statute, but this Court has also indicated that, as a general matter, possession of child erotica is not relevant to the crime of trading illegal visual depictions. See United States v. Harvey, 991 F.2d 981, 994-96 (2d Cir.1993). In Harvey, we held that evidence of simulated child pornography and child erotica 13 was admissible only because an entrapment defense was raised and because there was additional evidence of defendant's predisposition. We stated that we did not believe that possession of images of child erotica alone would demonstrate a predisposition to obtain child pornography materials illegally. Id.; see also Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540, 551, 112 S.Ct. 1535, 118 L.Ed.2d 174 (1992) (Evidence of predisposition to do what [is] lawful is not, by itself, sufficient to show predisposition to do what is . . . illegal . . . .).