United States v. Serna

Podcast: Swear on the Stand · Daniel W. Swear

Opublikowano: 2026-10-02

In United States v. Luis Andres Serna, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's decision denying the defendant a jury instruction regarding the age of his victim. Serna had argued that under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a), the government was required to prove he knew the victim was a minor because he operated as a non-commercial producer of child pornography. However, the appellate court concluded that the statutory text contains no knowledge requirement and that the standard presumption of scienter does not apply to sex crimes against minors where the perpetrator personally confronts the victim. Furthermore, the c...