I believe the intent of the laws intent for child pornography is the same as it is for adults in prison.
lemme elaborate.
In both cases these individuals are seen as not able to make informed legal decisions of a sexual nature due to environmental or emotional problems.
I think most of us would like to believe in the hope that a child feels at least somewhat "safe" or "protected" in our society. We make laws to limit or prohibit what we see as violations of a sexual or abusive nature. In a good percentage, I say it that way because I dont have a study handy to give an accurate number, of child molestation or pornography cases the person who performed the act or took the photos was known to the child prior to the event.
In prison this is seen as an inability to escape a situation. When you are locked up it is very hard for a 5'6" 150lb man to tell a 6'6" 300lb man to go to hell. But the state and federal gov't see it as unlawful whether it was consentual or not.
to argue over where the age of consent is 16 or 18 is a hard road. For each of us it is different. Even at 30 years old would you say a severely mentally retarded person is able to totally understand the possible outcomes of being videotaped having sex?
I think what most child protection laws come down to is environment. We just want to give our children the best chance to grow up being slightly less messed up than we are. And I dont think there is a single one of us who, even if we waited until we were 18 to have sex, could not think of at least one person we wish we hadnt had sex with.
