PITTSBURGH, PA -- In what is believed to be the first case of a text-only website having its contents declared obscene, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced Wednesday that 54-year-old Karen Fletcher, owner of the Red Rose Stories website, had been indicted by a grand jury on federal obscenity charges.
According to Buchanan, although no photos of minors were in any way involved with the website, "Use of the internet to distribute obscene stories like these not only violates federal law but also emboldens sex offenders who would target children."
Fletcher, when contacted at her home by members of the press, simply summed up the situation by stating that federal authorities "didn't like my site." She also indicated that she was unaware of the indictment, although aware that she had been under investigation since August of 2005, when FBI agents seized her computer.
Writing under the pseudonym "Red Rose," Fletcher had penned and posted a body of explicit fictional stories featuring plots associated with child abuse, rape, and murder. Full stories were only available to 29 subscribers, who paid $10 per month to access the materials. Prosecutors point out that excerpts of some stories were available to all site visitors, with complete works available on a fee basis.
Fletcher has insisted that her site is a "fantasy site," but has been charged with six counts of obscenity, one for each of six stories that tell tales of kidnapping, torture, adult/child sexual activity, and murder of fictional children under the age of nine years. She is also facing the threat of forfeiture. Prosecutors say that some stories featured characters as young as two-years-of age and that as many as 40 other people contributed material to the site.
If convicted, Fletcher faces a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine. Federal sentencing guidelines would ultimately determine her punishment.
Buchanan, famed for her support of prosecuting internet obscenity, brought charges in 2003 against Extreme Associates and has argued that pornographers must follow the community standards of both their place of origin as well as receipt.
Although a U.S. District judge dismissed the charges Buchanan had brought against Extreme Associates, ruling that prosecutors had gone too far in their efforts to block material from minors and those who do not wish to view such material, since the only people capable of seeing the content were those who had access to a private, member's only area, she successfully appealed. A new court date has not been set.
