A Queensland man has been charged for re-publishing on a
video-sharing site a viral video of a man swinging a baby around
like a rag doll.The controversial three-minute video had already been published
widely across the internet and shown on American TV news shows. The
clip can still be found online today.Chris Illingworth, 60, a father of four from Maroochydore,
thought he would share it with fellow users of Liveleak, a site
similar to YouTube but focused on news and current events. In two
years, he has uploaded hundreds of videos to Liveleak.His home was raided on Sunday, November 30, by Queensland Police
from Task Force Argos, which specialises in combating child
pornography and child groomers.He was charged with using the internet to access and publish
child-abuse material and is scheduled to appear in court in
Maroochydore on December 18.It is understood that he had no involvement in the creation of
the video, which cannot be published on this website for legal
reasons.The baby is laughing and smiling at the end of the clip, but the
video has attracted criticism from child-welfare advocates because
of how vigorously the man swings the baby by its arms.In a phone interview, Illingworth described the clip as a
"common interest story" and rejected any suggestions he was a child
abuser or interested in such material.He said that since being charged he could not eat, sleep or work
and was worried his children and people in the local community
would think he was a pedophile.
From the Sydney Morning Herald. Obviously, child pornography is a real problem, but shit like this show how dangerous it is to get swept up in a witch hunt. What's next? Are they going to prosecute TV stations that showed the clip of Michael Jackson dangling his kid from that balcony?