MIAMI/DADE, Fla.—For only the second time during the entire 30-year existence of the federal record-keeping and labeling law, 18 U.S.C. §2257, someone will be brought to trial for violating it. That person is Bryan Deneumostier—and a recitation of those charges seems simply weird.
According to the five-count indictment filed against him on June 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Deneumostier is charged with two counts of "us[ing] any electronic, mechanical, and other device, including an Apple iphone [sic] and ipad [sic], to intercept any oral communication, as detailed below, when defendant knew, and had reason to know, that such device and any component of such device had been sent through the mail and transported in interstate and foreign commerce."
Hunh? Pretty much everyone knows that iPhones and iPads aren't made in the U.S., so of course its components "had been sent through the mail and transported in interstate and foreign commerce." What's the big deal?
Well, because of one of those "intrusive" federal laws that Trump hasn't gotten around to voiding yet, the fact that those iPhone/iPad components traveled across state lines in interstate commerce makes Deneumostier federally liable for the offenses he did commit: Violation of 18 U.S.C. §2511: "Unlawful Recordings of Individuals." Or in real-life terms, using a now-defunct website, StraightBoyz.com, to "con real straight men" into performing gay sex acts while blindfolded or wearing blacked-out goggles with Deneumostier himself in drag, and then posting videos of those sex acts on that website.
And oh, by the way, strange as it may seem, none of those straight guys provided any government-issued photo ID to Deneumostier, nor did Deneumostier keep copies of any of those IDs on file anywhere. Guess what law that failure to act breaks? (We won't keep you in suspense: It's 2257—and is responsible for the other three counts of the indictment.)
Although Free Speech Coalition largely won its case against 2257 in federal district court in Philadelphia earlier this month, both sides still have about six weeks within which to file an appeal of the judge's ruling, so the 2257 statute is still on the books, and people can still be charged under it.
"According to a law-enforcement document obtained by the Miami Herald, agents believe Deneumostier posed as a 'real, heterosexual female' and posted ads on Craigslist seeking flings at her house near the Homestead Reserve Air Base," the Herald's David Ovalle reported. "'When the men ask for assurances that there are no cameras, he assured them that "she’s" married to someone in the army and she would never photograph or video them', the document reads. In actuality, however, 'Deneumostier is video and audio taping the entire sexual encounter.'"
So Bryan Deneumostier finds himself in the same august company as former Girls Gone Wild owner Joe Francis, who in 2006 was sentenced by a federal court to community service for failing to have kept 2257 records on two 17-year-old girls who had appeared in one of Francis' topless videos in 2003, and whom Francis claimed told him they were over 18. Francis' company, Mantra Films, Inc., paid $1.6 million in fines over the same incident. Francis later paid a $500,000 fine in state court for related charges.
(We should note that just about every person the Justice Department busts for creating, selling and/or possessing child pornography is also at least threatened with 2257 violations, because as AVN pointed out in 2005, child pornographers don't keep 2257 records, but those charges are mainly used as a bargaining chip to get the perps to cop to the child porn offenses, and are usually dropped once a plea to the child porn is entered.)
Another interesting aspect to the case is that the Justice Department had asked for, and received, a Protective Order in the case to prevent the disclosure of "sensitive information" to the defense during the run-up to the trial. Such "sensitive information" includes "the audio-video recordings at issue, text messages between Defendant and certain victims, along with personal identification information about some of the subjects who went to Defendant’s residence or are otherwise portrayed on" StraightBoyz.com.
The Deneumostier case has been assigned to Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, who presided over a status conference held earlier today. At that time, the judge recognized that both sides had agreed to waive "speedy trial" requirements, and ordered that the case be placed on the court calendar on September 25, and that trial commence on or shortly after October 1. If Deneumostier decides to plead guilty, however, his plea would be due by September 27, though of course, he could plead guilty at any point thereafter if he so chose.
Pictured: Bryan Deneumostier as he appeared in a police mugshot.
