DISTRIBUTING "CP"

Published: March 5, 2024

During the Vaush saga, media was requested and distributed amongst the crew after and while it was said to be really bad and to contain sexual imagery of very young, little anime girls of certain ages. This was later dubbed "drawn CP":

"Should I call it drawn CP? Or just loli? Drawn CP is fine. Cause I don't want to put anything on him that's not correct, that's not totally accurate, you know."
H3TV #107

This not only undermined the severity of the case, for we would like to believe that if it actually was CP and truly that bad, there is no way anyone (let alone everyone) would have shared it in such a casual and reckless way, but it may even have been more illegal than Vaush's own actions.

As per federal law, 18 USC §1466A (a-d):

(a) IN GENERAL. — Any person who, in a circumstance described in subsection (d), knowingly produces, distributes, receives, or possesses with intent to distribute, a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting, that—
(1)(A) depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; and (B) is obscene; or
(2)(A) depicts an image that is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in graphic bestiality, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex; and (B) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value;
or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 2252A(b)(1), including the penalties provided for cases involving a prior conviction.


(b) ADDITIONAL OFFENSES. — Any person who, in a circumstance described in subsection (d), knowingly possesses a visual depiction of any kind described in subsection (a);
or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 2252A(b)(2), including the penalties provided for cases involving a prior conviction.


(c) NONREQUIRED ELEMENT OF OFFENSE. — It is not a required element of any offense under this section that the minor depicted actually exist.


(d) CIRCUMSTANCES. — The circumstance referred to in subsections (a) and (b) is that—
(1) any communication involved in or made in furtherance of the offense is communicated or transported by the mail, or in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, or any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce is otherwise used in committing or in furtherance of the commission of the offense;
(2) any communication involved in or made in furtherance of the offense contemplates the transmission or transportation of a visual depiction by the mail, or in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer;
(3) any person travels or is transported in interstate or foreign commerce in the course of the commission or in furtherance of the commission of the offense;
(4) any visual depiction involved in the offense has been mailed, or has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, or was produced using materials that have been mailed, or that have been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer; or
(5) the offense is committed in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in any territory or possession of the United States.

It's undeniable that the crew knowingly distributed and received (and possibly possessed with the intent to distribute) such visual depictions.

As for the "CP" terminology, it's defined in 18 USC §2256 (8):

"child pornography" means any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where—
(A) the production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor [any person under the age of eighteen years] engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
(B) such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct ["indistinguishable" means virtually indistinguishable, in that the depiction is such that an ordinary person viewing the depiction would conclude that the depiction is of an actual minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. This definition does not apply to depictions that are drawings, cartoons, sculptures, or paintings depicting minors or adults]; or
(C) such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct ["identifiable minor" means a person who was a minor at the time the visual depiction was created, adapted, or modified; or whose image as a minor was used in creating, adapting, or modifying the visual depiction; and who is recognizable as an actual person by the person's face, likeness, or other distinguishing characteristic, such as a unique birthmark or other recognizable feature].

So "drawn CP" would be drawings in which either the production involved an underage person or the depiction is of an actual, identifiable person. That is not at all what was meant by it, and fortunately so, because that would've made the situation and it being shared amongst the crew a lot worse too.

We think this just should not have happened, at the very least not on air and out loud. Perhaps the files could have been looked into as part of the show's preparation, for it is what the segments were based on in the first place.