Attorney Joseph Larsen Speaks With Press Regarding Child Pornography Case Against Forth Worth Museum
Weeks after Fort Worth police seized photographs featured in a Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth exhibit, the city has declined to release documents related to its investigation into child pornography allegations.
Earlier this month, the Fort Worth Police Department confirmed they had launched an investigation into decades-old images by Virginia-born photographer Sally Mann that were featured as part of the “Diaries of Home” exhibition, which opened Nov. 17. The investigation followed a series of Dallas Express articles quoting County Judge Tim O’Hare, among other Republican leaders, calling for the photographs to be investigated and removed.
Mann had 21 pieces included in the “Diaries of Home” exhibition, co-curated by Chief Curator Andrea Karnes and Assistant Curator Clare Milliken, including a handful from the 1980s that featured the artist’s then-young children. The images removed from the exhibit include a photo centered on Mann’s naked daughter jumping onto a picnic table and another portrait of her son with popsicle drips running down his torso, legs, and genitals.
No charges have been filed in the case, a police spokesperson told the Report on Jan. 30. The department confirmed it is storing the photographs in its police property room. The Modern did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation.
It’s unclear who made the formal complaint to Fort Worth police. The Fort Worth Report filed a Jan. 14 public information request for an incident report on the case. The police department declined to release the report and closed the request on Jan. 15 without seeking an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The department cited its right to withhold records related to alleged or suspected child abuse or neglect under Texas family code.
Joseph Larsen, a First Amendment lawyer at Gregory, Wynn, Arney in Houston, said the city’s claim that any report of suspected abuse can be withheld is a “misinterpretation” of the statute.
The Texas Public Information Act gives the public access to most government records, including police reports.
In his interpretation of the law, Larsen said, the incident report related to the removal of artwork from the Modern should be made available to the public, just as it would be in any other police case.
“As to whether or not this is child pornography or not, I’ll leave that to the politicians to sort out. If this were in court, it’s obviously not obscene because it has some socially redeeming value. It’s art,” Larsen said.
The statute describes child abuse investigation materials as confidential and not subject to public release, listing a series of scenarios in which materials can be released. Courts adjudicating child abuse cases can order the release of confidential information if they determine the information is essential to the administration of justice or not likely to endanger the life or safety of a child or the person who reported suspected abuse.
The Report submitted a letter to the attorney general’s office on Jan. 23 stating the code did not apply in this instance. The Report argued the photographs seized by the department are available online and were published in Mann’s 1992 book. If the attorney general determines there is cause to redact the photographs, there is still a “compelling reason” to release the incident report with redactions, the Report argued.
“Who created these images and how they were distributed is not a matter of dispute or investigation that should require withholding,” the letter reads. “There is a compelling public interest to release the incident report, which is commonly released in other investigations, in order to shed light on the nature of the investigation.”
The city plans to submit a brief to the attorney general, asking for the information to be withheld, City Attorney Leann Guzman told the Report in a Jan. 24 email. Open records cases can take months to resolve while both parties await a ruling from Paxton’s office. The Report had not received a response from the attorney general’s office as of Jan. 30.
The Report contacted all Fort Worth City Council members for comment on the investigation into the Modern. Alan Blaylock declined to comment, while Carlos Flores said, “the matter is under investigation.” The remaining nine members did not respond.