The New York State Senate passed a bill May 15 making it illegal to view child pornography, in response to a recent court ruling that said simply looking at such content -- but not printing or saving it -- was legal, WORLD News Service reports. The bill makes it a felony to "knowingly access with intent to view any obscene performance which includes sexual conduct by a child less than sixteen years of age." The bill now moves to the General Assembly, where it is expected to gain approval. In its May 8 ruling, the New York Court of Appeals tossed out two child-pornography counts against a former college professor because the judges didn't consider viewing such content on a computer to be the same as possession. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that 15 states have made viewing child pornography a crime after similar court decisions.
