Reactions continue to mount up to Christopher Handley’s guilty plea, although details about what actually happened remain scarce. Matt Thorn was asked to be an expert witness, and he reproduces his correspondence with the lawyers and some more recent e-mails from Handley’s mother at his blog. (It looks like his mother posted this comment as well.) From Ms. Handley’s e-mails (Thorn is convinced it’s really her), it seems that Handley pled guilty in hopes of getting little or no prison time, but the prosecutor is going for 71-90 months and Handley is now regretting the plea—but can’t withdraw it. It sounds like his job is in jeopardy as well.
I think a lot of the sympathy for Handley comes from the perception that he doesn’t seem to be a collector of child pornography per se, just a regular manga fan like you and me who happens to have a few over-the-top images in his collection. Susie of Studio QT sums this up nicely:
I think Handley’s real crime here is enjoying something from a different culture in a state that doesn’t really like anything outside of itself.
Indeed, one of the great unanswered questions about this case is why the postmaster was suspicious enough to open Handley’s mail in the first place. Tim Broderick wonders if there was something about the package that flagged it as containing obscene materials. That part puzzled me, too. Broderick argues that Handley is a “creepy guy” because of his reading material, which seems a bit unfair. The vast majority of Handley’s comics are not obscene; he is being prosecuted on the basis of a handful of images in a large collection. That’s what troubles many of us. Many perfectly ordinary-seeming manga contain images that go beyond the bounds of what’s acceptable in America, but if it’s an isolated image in an otherwise good story, you shrug and move on. Apparently that is no longer an option. Broderick acknowledges that being a creepy guy should not be a prosecutable offense, but I think most of us find Handley a more sympathetic defendant than Dwight Whorley, another defendant in a similar case, precisely because Whorley, who had a prevoius conviction for child pornography is creepy but Handley is not.
Hi Brigid, just a clarification: I said I didn’t know whether or not Handley was a creepy guy, just that some of his actions may put him in that category.
That may not mean a lot to some people, but I felt it important to make that distinction because I don’t know Handley and am not in a position to judge him.
But if I had a friend who collects this kind of stuff, I’d definitely say this kind of thing to him or her. At the very least because right now that’s the law we have, and I don’t like to see friends go to jail.
Many perfectly ordinary-seeming manga contain images that go beyond the bounds of what’s acceptable in America, but if it’s an isolated image in an otherwise good story, you shrug and move on.
This is exactly the thing.
Brigid,
I think what Broderick posted was irresponsible and showed a lack of knowledge of the Japanese adult market. I emailed him to let know my thoughts. What’s creepy is that Broderick’s pre judgment of a man he’s never met in person.
That his package was opened by customs may purely be a coincidence. International packages are always subject to routine inspection, mostly to check whether the value of the contents match the customs declaration, and the proper amount of import tax paid.
>But if I had a friend who collects this kind of stuff, I’d definitely say this kind of thing to him or her. At the very least because right now that’s the law we have, and I don’t like to see friends go to jail.
I prefer to take the “Give me liberty, or give me death” route.
I was finally able to post Ed’s comment – and my response – this morning. Sorry about the delay.
I always notice the word ‘creepy’ coming up in everyone’s description, as if that’s a condemnation in and of itself or something… is it synonymous with rapist now?
“I think Handley’s real crime here is enjoying something from a different culture in a state that doesn’t really like anything outside of itself.”
Y’know, “a state that doesn’t really like anything outside of itself.” is a different culture too. Why is it that when some Japanese direspect little kids enough to promote the idea of sex objects we’re supposed to give them a break because it’s part of a Japanese culture but when some Iowans disrespect bookmakers with Lolita Complexes enough to outlaw imports of their stuff we’re not supposed to give them a break because it’s part of an Iowan culture? If the pedophiles were in Iowa and the customs officials were in Japan then whose side would we be supposed to take (is this a kneejerk pro-Japanese anti-American thing or a kneejerk pro-more-pedophilic anti-less-pedophilic thing)?