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	Restitution for Child Porn Victims Is Growing Issue By Joe Fryer Kare January 07, 2010 http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=834829 ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Minnesota is part of a nationwide debate on how much victims of child pornography can be compensated. In a court order issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz wanted to know why federal prosecutors did not seek restitution for a victim after Brandon Anthony Buchanan, 28, was convicted last year of possessing child porn. The victim was seeking nearly $3.5 million in restitution, according to the judge's order. Schiltz said there is a clear Congressional mandate that offenders in these cases should pay restitution to their victims. "The court will no longer accept silence from the government when an identified victim of a child-pornography offense seeks restitution," Schiltz wrote. "If the government declines to seek restitution, the government will have to give the court some explanation for its decision." Jeff Anderson, an attorney who represents sexual assault victims, applauded the judge's order. "It's important that Judge Schiltz brought this issue to the fore because it has not been talked about," he said. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Minneapolis could not comment on the case because it's ongoing. But community relations director Jeanne Cooney said this is "an emerging issue" that U.S. Attorneys around the country are reviewing. Jim Hilbert, executive director of the Center for Negotiation and Justice at William Mitchell College of Law, said this is a fairly new issue for courts and prosecutors. "As we move through more of these, we'll get a better handle on what the norm might be," Hilbert said. "But right now, it's pretty open as to what that appropriate compensation level should be." Schiltz is asking the U.S. Attorney's Office to file a memorandum explaining its decision by January 29. Anderson said civil restitution is also an option for victims, in addition to criminal restitution.Under a federal law called Masha's Law, he says, anyone who downloads child porn can be sued in civil court for $150,000.
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