[1]Forbidden by the terms of his probation from accessing obscene material, Michael Bedtelyon landed in hot water with his probation officer after watching sexually suggestive anime cartoons. The court concluded the material constituted obscenity and revoked four years of Bedtelyon’s suspended sentence. On appeal, Bedtelyon argues that the State failed to prove the videos constituted obscenity as defined by statute. We agree.
Facts
[2]Bedtelyon was convicted of Level 4 felony sexual misconduct with a minor for criminal acts he committed with a 14-year-old girl he met on a dating app. After serving part of his eight-year sentence, Bedtelyon was released on probation. As a term of his probation, Bedtelyon was “prohibited from accessing, viewing, or using internet websites and computer applications that depict obscene matter as defined by IC 35-49-2-1.” App. Vol. II, p. 193.[1]
[3]Through software required by the terms of his probation, Bedtelyon’s probation officer learned that Bedtelyon had viewed several anime[2] videos on YouTube with concerning titles, including: My Mother and Sister Pretend to Be Expecting My Babies After I Lost My Memory; I Seduced My Cousin and Let Him Do Everything He Wanted; and I am the Seventh of Sextuplet Girls and I Am a Boy. After viewing these- ↑ Though this condition was set forth in the parties’ briefs, it does not appear among the conditions of probation entered by the trial court at sentencing or elsewhere in the record. Compare id. at 59 with id. at 193. Because Bedtelyon does not challenge this discrepancy, we will not address it.
- ↑ Anime is a style of animation that originated in Japan. Tr. Vol. II, p. 7; see also Anime, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anime (last visited Feb. 16, 2022).
