Sentencing — child pornography

Listen to this article

United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Sentencing — child pornography

Where the defendant administered an internet chat room that included videos of people molesting infants, a 480-month sentence was not unreasonable.  “Mr. Annoreno demands more of a sentencing record than the law requires with respect to protecting the public. The sentencing court made its best estimate as to when it would be safe to return Mr. Annoreno to the general public, taking into account the unusually large amount of information the court had about him. Mr. Annoreno might be right that a shorter sentence would have sufficed, or the sentencing guidelines might be right that the public still will be at risk if Mr. Annoreno ever walks out of prison alive. But a lack of certainty as to how to achieve a goal doesn’t mean a sentencing court can’t shape a reasonable sentence with that goal in mind. The sentencing court didn’t decide Mr. Annoreno’s sentence on the basis of unsubstantiated beliefs about the chances of rehabilitation or recidivism of child sex offenders as a class. Cf. United States v. Bradley, 628 F.3d 394, 398-99 (7th Cir. 2010); United States v. Miller, 601 F.3d 734, 739 (7th Cir. 2010). Federal sentencing law requires no more than reasonableness, and a 40-year sentence for this 35-yearold seems consistent with what we know from the perspective of incapacitation. See, e.g., United States v. Craig, 703 F.3d 1001, 1003-04 (7th Cir. 2012) (Posner, J., concurring) (‘For suppose the defendant had been sentenced not to 50 years in prison but to 30 years. He would then be 76 years old when released (slightly younger if he had earned the maximum good-time credits). How likely would he be to commit further crimes at that age? . . . It is true that sex offenders are more likely to recidivate than other criminals . . . because their criminal behavior is for the most part compulsive rather than opportunistic. But capacity and desire to engage in sexual activity diminish in old age.’).”

Affirmed.

11-2783 U.S. v. Annoreno

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Zagel, J., Miller, J.