16-year-old’s “Moving Porn” Conviction Upheld
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Note to drivers who play porn vids in their cars: Neither tender age nor arguments about lack of intellectual intervention will liberate you from obscenity charges if you broadcast porn from the back window of a moving vehicle.A 16-year-old Indianapolis boy discovered that July 15 when the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld his conviction on pandering charges. The boy reportedly was driving through the streets of town while an adult video playing on a 15-inch screen mounted in the rear window of his car engaged the eyes of nearby children.
This is not exactly the kind of entertainment about which parents rejoiced when in-car video became commonplace as a diversionary tactic for soothing savage rug rats during long trips in the family minivan.
Most states have outlawed viewing video while driving, and many have passed laws defining where screens must be mounted and what types of content may be visible outside the vehicle. Rest assured adult entertainment is mentioned in all the extant laws, including Indiana’s.
“People have to be responsible for what’s on those screens,” Indianapolis Metro Police Sgt. Paul Thompson told the city’s Channel 6 News. “We had a situation where someone had a pornographic video that was visible to people outside the vehicle. Indiana has laws that protect children from obscene matter.”