November 4, 2013 | Sex & Society

Watching twink porn nearly lands British man in prison

A British man's life was nearly destroyed after he was caught in the UK looking at perfectly legal twink porn. 

The ordeal began when, during a business trip in September 2011, he checked out some twink porn on the hotel's computer in his room. A female guest stayed in the same room a week later, discovered the site in the browser history, and alerted staff. Police were called.

Six months later, cops arrested the 30-year-old man in front of his family. His own computer was seized at the time, but he was not actually charged until November, when prosecutors accused him of actually making and possessing indecent images of underage males. He faced jail time and being registered as a sex offender if found guilty.

His father died before the case went to trial.

Neither the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), nor police, provided any evidence in court that the models on the site were minors. In fact, the defense provided conclusive evidence that all models were adults.

The judge threw out the case three days ago after the CPS said it could not provide any evidence to support the charges. 

“While I feel utter relief and a sense of euphoria that the nightmare has ended, I am at the same time extremely angry: angry at the CPS, the police and, above all, angry that my father, who never doubted me and stood by me, never got to see this day," said the accused. "I’m angrier that that was the last year of his life and that I just couldn’t be the son during this time that I wanted to be to him."

"The images showed what appeared to be males below the age of 18 engaging in sexual activity, which the judge agreed was a reasonable conclusion, and this was supported by the computer’s search history," argued a CPS spokesman. "It was on this basis that we decided that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the defendant. ... When this [new] evidence was provided, the case was reassessed and the prosecution was stopped."

It is quite shocking that police and prosecutors cannot tell the difference between a legal site with 18+ young men and child pornography. The Crown Prosecution Service owes this man a huge apology.

And as a note to everyone else: remember to delete your browser history every once in a while, especially  since we now know the National Security Agency is watching everyone, all the time.  

Paedophile case thrown out against gay man who watched twink porn [Gay Star News]

The evidence is mounting. Is the CPS institutionally homophobic? [The Independent]