~li~ Reprints
Federal prosecutors acknowledge the majority of federal judges are ordering relatively small restitutions in child pornography cases but continue to ask that a Valparaiso man be held responsible for paying almost $1 million to one of his victims.
Prosecutors reiterated their position in a new brief filed last week in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, although the filing also outlined a change in philosophy on how defendants such as Michael Thomas Wilson should be treated.
The government has asked that Wilson, who pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing 90,000 child pornography images, pay $983,767 to one of the victims identified in his pornography collection.
Federal prosecutors have argued in this and several other local cases that individual defendants like Wilson are responsible for the victims' entire harm because they create a world in which the victim constantly wonders whether anyone they know has seen the pornographic images.
This argument would mean the defendant is also responsible for the entire restitution, based on a victim's future therapy needs and other losses caused by the crime.
However, Clarke Holesinger, Wilson's attorney, and other local lawyers have argued that defendants should pay the restitution that they specifically caused, also known as proximate cause. According to a list included in the government's newest filings, most judges have agreed and ordered restitution amounts of $5,000 or less.
Local prosecutors say in the newest filing that the U.S. Department of Justice no longer disputes proximate cause, so they are dropping that argument in the case against Wilson. However, they add that Wilson said in his plea agreement that he would pay full restitution. Prosecutors acknowledge that Wilson is allowed to argue what that amount should be.
Holesinger could not be reached for comment.
Wilson is scheduled to be sentenced July 13.
Contact Teresa Auch Schultz
at 648-3120.
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