Innocent photos or child porn?
Not too long ago my husband asked me if I ever planned on developing several canisters of film we've been dragging around from place to place for about six years now.
I said that yes, I would like to develop the film, but the main reason I hadn't was (well for one, I'm a terrible procrastinator; two, it costs a small fortune) because one of those canisters had photos I'd taken of my son Erik when he was a tot playing in the bathtub.
Soon after I'd taken the pictures — probably four or five years ago now — I'd heard of a woman who was arrested because photos she'd taken of her children in the tub were considered pornographic. So, I was wary about turning in my film.
Well, over the years that canister mixed up with all the other ones I didn't develop due to sheer procrastination, and after awhile I had no idea which was which.
So, I hadn't develop any of them, which maybe wasn't such a bad idea when hearing what happened to a family from Lincoln.
Last week, a woman made national news by suing Wal-Mart for humiliating her and invading her family's privacy. What happened was a photo clerk at Salina's Wal-Mart developed photos of the woman's three-year-old daughter the clerk found questionable.
One photo showed the tot, topless, playing in a kiddie pool with her dad. Another showed the child's naked rear as she lay on the living room rug.
As a parent and longtime amateur photographer, I can attest that what usually makes these events memorable and therefore, photographable for parents is the joyous expression on the children's faces and their squeals of laughter as they play. Their happiness is contagious. I remember running for my camera to capture my son's joy as he splashed in the tub.
Anyway, the police came to the store, escorted the woman and her two children (one three, the other nearly one) past other customers to the manager's office where she was detained and questioned extensively about the photos. When she was finally able to leave, they kept the photos for evidence.
As it turned out, the county attorney didn't press charges. But, the whole incident was terribly embarrassing. It makes you wonder what kind of nation we've become when parents can't even take innocent photos of their child without being questioned by police.
Yes, there are many weird people out there who do exploit and use children. However, modern technology has made it so any pervert with a brain has no need to use film developing services. All he or she needs to do is get a digital camera, and download directly onto their computer. Sad, but true.
That leaves dumb parents like us who are clueless we're doing something wrong who get busted when we take our 35mm film in for developing.
— KATHY HAGEMAN
