irish sexoffender's List: Child Porn Law Legislation

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - New York state lawmakers said on Wednesday that they will soon introduce legislation in response to a court ruling this week that viewing child pornography on the Internet was not necessarily a crime.<br />The state's high court, the Court of Appeals, held on Tuesday that while state law criminalizes the possession and promotion of child pornography, it does not forbid mere viewing.<br />But on Wednesday, two Brooklyn lawmakers said they intend to introduce a bill that would prohibit "knowingly accessing" child pornography "with intent to view."<br />"Federal regulations are already in place to see that those who access child pornography face the stricter standards of the law," said Senator Martin Golden, a Republican. "New York must adopt these same policies."<br />Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a Democrat, will sponsor the bill in his chamber, spokeswoman Amy Cleary said. The proposal will be introduced during this legislative session, which ends in less than six weeks.<br />In the case decided Tuesday, the court dismissed two of the 143 possession and promotion counts for which James Kent, a former Marist College professor, was convicted in 2009. The court held that to be guilty of possession, a person must print, download, or save computer files.<br />Judge Victoria Graffeo wrote in a concurring opinion that as a result of the Kent decision, "the purposeful viewing of child pornography on the Internet is now legal in New York."