Child pornography in Maine can be defined as any depiction of sexually explicit acts involving a child, whether through images or film. It is illegal to produce, posses, and/or distribute child pornography in any form, and is punished severely under the law.
Child pornography is often viewed and distributed among pedophiles who become sexually aroused by the depictions of children engaging in sexual acts.
The child victims are often brutalized in the production of child pornography, and this offense is often an extension of child prostitution and/or human trafficking practices.
The Mayo Clinic reported that around 76% of individuals who were arrested for the possession of pornography had molested a child at some point and that 30%-80% of individuals who view child pornography on the internet had also acted out on their impulses at one point.
Under the law, child pornography is sometimes hard to define and/or classify and prosecute as a sex crime. Classifications of such have been roughly outlined in scales of increasing severity of inappropriate nature, including:
Erotic Posing
This is an inherently sexualized depiction of children, whether fully clothed or partially naked, by deliberately posing them in an erotic manner
Explicit Erotic Posing
Whether partially clothed or naked, it is any depiction that emphasizes the genital area
Explicit Sexual Activity
Images and/or videos illustrating explicit sexual acts between children or alone, but without the presence of an adult
Assault
Depictions of children being sexually assaulted by an adult
Gross Assault
Depictions of a child engaging in grossly obscene sexual acts with an adult
Sadistic
Images involving a child being physically tortured or subjected to pain in a sexual manner/rape
