US v. Castellano: Castellano served a 144-month sentence for transporting child sexual abuse material, after which he has had numerous revocations of his term of supervised release. At one point, one of the conditions of supervised release prohibited him from possessing any pornographic material at all (not just CSAM), but the Fourth Circuit vacated that condition as not being based on sufficiently individualized factors. Ultimately, he agreed to a condition that prohibited him from using a phone or computer to view any pornography, but it did not prevent him from possessing in in written or offline form.
As part of a fifth revocation proceeding (including violations of the agreed-to condition), the Government asked the district court to impose a complete ban on Castellano’s access to pornography of any kind. In support, the Government presented testimony from Castellano’s sex offender treatment provider recommending the condition – but also admitting that she recommended such a restriction for anyone convicted of involvement with CSAM. The district court imposed the condition.
On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the imposition of the complete prohibition on possessing pornography. Unlike when a similar condition was imposed earlier, this time it was based on Castellano’s particular history and characteristics, notably is multiple prior failures to comply with supervised release terms. The court rejected Castellano’s argument that the treatment provider’s blanket policy of such prohibitions in these cases showed that such individualized determination had not been made.
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