United States v. Cox

For two years, Defendant and two others, engaged in sexual acts with eight children. Defendant photographed and videotaped those sexual acts. Child 1, then in sixth grade, testified that Defendant forced him to watch pornographic videos, and threatened to kill Child 1’s family if he told anyone. Child 1 and Child 7, then in third grade, described specific sexual acts. Child 6 testified that Defendant provided the children with liquor and cigarettes. After two children told their mother about Defendant’s conduct, police executed a search warrant on Defendant’s home and seized electronics that captured Defendant’s sexual exploits on the children. Defendant was charged with seven counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child and/or Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Child, 18 U.S.C. 2251(a) and (e); and two counts of possession of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252A. Defense witnesses testified that Defendant engaged in activities at night that he would not be able to remember, such as preparing food and talking in his sleep. The Sixth Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions, upholding the district court’s decision to allow the children to testify by closed circuit television; admission of evidence pertaining to Defendant’s: grooming activity, sexual assaults on children, activity with children, and attempted production of child pornography; and the imposition of a 2,880-month sentence. View "United States v. Cox" on Justia Law