A Picture is Worth a Thousand Child Abuse Investigations

An emotionally charged and somewhat infuriating tale over at Salon, of how a family can be thrust into a world of endless investigation, warrantless searches, the fear of state-sponsored kidnapping at any moment, and guilt until proven innocent if a drug store drone gets in a tizzy over a whimsical camping-trip snapshot of skinny dipping and drying-underwear-over-a-fire by children.

Sitting through an ad is required to read the whole thing, which is worthwhile--by the fourth page, it widens out from the author's personal story to some of the larger policy facts regarding misguided investigations into supposed child porn and child sexual abuse based on some random stranger's uncharitable interpretation of a photograph.

Showing the sort of interest that would probably get its own children taken away by a child protective services agency, if it had children, Salon has run stories on this topic of legal troubles arising from misinterpretation of innocent photos of kids before.