Tuesday,  August 28, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 044 • 21 of 33 •  Other Editions

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said such investigations rarely yield close calls. He cited a case in which his client was investigated for taking a picture of her naked toddler on a beach. It was seen by day care workers, who went to authorities.
• Officials searched his client's home and conducted interviews to determine the context of the photo, Halberg said. They decided not to charge his client.
• "Usually, when I have a child porn case, this hasn't been a gray line," he said.
• In Minnesota, the legal definition of child pornography includes performances depicting actual or simulated sexual conduct, and the definition of sexual conduct includes masturbation or lewd exhibitions of the genitals. That's typical of state and federal laws on child pornography, which generally define videos or photos as such if they include images that have the intent of evoking a sexual response, said Parry Aftab, a New Jersey attorney and online child safety advocate.

• A naked child in the bathtub is not pornography by itself, she said, but a nude girl with her legs spread or a boy touching his genitals meets that definition.
• At a court hearing after Hoffner's arrest, his attorney, Jim Fleming, said the videos show nothing graphic, abusive or exploitive and defended them as "private family moments." Hoffner's wife said Monday the couple's three children love to dance, play and act silly, and to be photographed and recorded.
• "I assure you our children have not been exploited or abused -- they are healthy physically, mentally and emotionally; and have normal relationships with friends, family and teachers," said Hoffner, who works as a guidance counselor at Mankato East High School.
• Cordelia Anderson, a Minneapolis-based consultant on the prevention of child sexual abuse and exploitation, said one of the things investigators likely will look at is whether Hoffner was directing the children. The description of the videos offered by authorities state a man's voice can be heard, but does not include what is being said. The described actions don't sound like those of children between the ages of 5- and 9-years-old who were in front of their parents, she said.
• "Children can be smiling. Children can be laughing. The adult can be very skilled at setting this up as a game at these ages," Anderson said.
• Fleming rejected such assessments of the videos: "I don't know how they can say it when they haven't seen (them)," he said.
• Hoffner has been placed on leave at Minnesota State, where he was entering his fifth year as football coach. Authorities said they uncovered the videos after Hoffner brought his university-issued phone to the school's information technology department earlier this month because it wasn't working properly. An employee came across the videos and reported them to his superiors.

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