Maryland journalist receives 18-month prison sentence

The Associated Press

GREENBELT, Md. -- A journalist was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for collecting and forwarding child pornography online in what he maintained was research for a story.

His voice quavering, Larry Matthews assured a federal judge he was acting as a journalist, but conceded that after reporting on child pornography for a year, "I had become desensitized and maybe even irresponsible." Matthews received the lightest sentence possible under federal guidelines. He could have been sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $500,000 fine after pleading guilty in July. He also was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine. "I believe Mr. Matthews crossed the line," U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams said. "I also believe that it was immoral." Matthews, who had worked as a producer at National Public Radio, was given 60 days to report to prison. It was unclear Monday whether his attorneys would try to keep him out of jail pending an expected appeal. Williams said he would recommend Matthews serve his sentence in a halfway house, provided federal prison officials agree. Matthews is the first journalist prosecuted for accessing child pornography on the Internet, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Media and civil rights groups have defended his right to research a story. The judge had refused to allow Matthews to use a First Amendment defense, prompting him to plead guilty to charges of receiving pornographic images on his computer and transmitting child pornography. Matthews, 55, had done stories on the increase of child porn on the Internet in 1995 while working for radio station WTOP-AM in Washington.

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.