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1-Week Update on Handley Case over 'Obscene' Manga
posted on by Egan Loo
Christopher Handley accused of receiving and possessing obscene manga, as opposed to child pornography, via the United States Postal Service in May of 2006.
Wired magazine posted an article about the case and the full text of Handley's plea agreement. Wired reports that Handley's package contained seven books with "cartoon drawings of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts," including one with depictions of bestiality. Minneapolis College of Art and Design professor Frenchy Lunning characterized the manga as "lolicon," and emphasized that Handley "had no photographs of child pornography.” While Mike Bladel, a spokesperson for U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa, said that the manga contained hundreds of obscene s, Handley's lead counsel Eric Chase said that Handley "was a prolific collector. He did not focus on this type of manga. He collected everything that was out there that he could get his hands on. I think this makes a huge difference.”
Simon Jones noted that Handley's legal team had asked Thorn in those emails on how to the erotic manga creator Henmaru Machino — thus giving one of the first public indications of which titles led to the case. Jones also points out that the United States Customs and Border Protection organization is allowed to search packages between countries without probable cause, but not packages sent within the United States.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund holding a charity Book Expo America Welcome Party tonight in New York City.
Newbery Medal-winning novelist and comic book writer spoke about the case, and he offered his reaction to the "disappointing" plea bargain last Thursday.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history