This past July, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Youth Protection Section announced that it arrested a 52-year-old man from Gifu on suspicion of violating the Child Pornography Law, in what it trumpeted as the first "exposure of computer graphic child pornography" nationwide. <br /><br />The suspect was a graphic designer and he had allegedly drawn a number of computer graphic child porn images based on nude photo books of under-age teenage girls since late 2009. What's more, he sold his image collection to a man from Shimane Prefecture, which led to his arrest.<br /><br />During his first trial hearing, he offered a rebuttal of the accusations, saying the graphics were produced by his own imagination and that his photo collection was "reference material." <br /><br />At the trial, he stood squarely against the prosecutors, maintaining his innocence and stating that computer graphics are not child porn. If found innocent, the case could establish a precedent that would legalize "virtual child porn." On the other hand, a guilty verdict could have major ramifications for content providers, artists or graphic designers who could be charged with child porn offenses for their virtual creations. <br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.<br /><br />For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:<br />https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:<br />http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Stay connected with us here:<br />Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS
