Obscenity Plea Deal Leads to Home Confinement for Pa. Woman

[WSJ Law Blog]

The premise of this prosecution is that words have power,” he said. “The images conjured by [Karen] Fletcher’s words are as horrifying or more horrifying than any photographs or videos of child pornography which can be seen on the Internet. — Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kaufman

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, we have news of an interesting obscenity case, long in the making, that reached a conclusion recently when the defendant, Karen Fletcher, agreed to a plea bargain that will keep her confined to her home for the first six months of a five-year probation.

Fletcher, 56, pleaded guilty to violating federal obscenity law based on several stories she wrote for her Web site, “Red Rose Stories,” which depicted the rape, murder and torture of children. According to the Post-Gazette, Fletcher, of Donora, Pa., began writing the stories as “a kind of self-imposed therapy” to help deal with her own sexual abuse, published them on a Web site and charged 29 members a $10-per-month subscription fee. (Click here for the plea agreement, which — be forewarned — contains graphic language.)

“The individuals willing to pay money to subscribe to this Web site clearly have a very strong sexual interest in children — not just a sexual interest, but a violent sexual interest,” said the prosecutor, Stephen Kaufman.

“In my stories, I have created new monsters,” wrote Fletcher in a 2007 affidavit. “[They] rise above the horror of the real life monsters. Somehow, making these monsters so much worse makes me feel better, and makes my life seem more bearable. . . .I may still be afraid of the monsters, but at least in the stories, they prey on someone else, not me.”

U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti reportedly told Fletcher that she would have seriously considered a sentence of incarceration had the government not recommended against it. (The sentencing guidelines reportedly called for a range of 27 to 33 months in prison.) “If anyone would have read the story and acted upon it, a little child could have suffered devastation that you would have had to live with for the rest of your life,” Judge Conti said.

Writes the Post-Gazette: “Ms. Fletcher, an agoraphobic, has already spent years inside that house — afraid to leave. She has no family, and only one friend. . . .She spends the majority of her time alone, dealing with what she calls her ‘monsters.’”