Did anime lead to Tumblr child porn?

Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with that mugshot either.

Anyway, Austin Stephens of Panama City Beach, Florida is facing child porn charges after he allegedly posted explicit images of children to his Tumblr account. The incident is said to have taken place in March of 2018 which predates Tumblr’s porn ban by nine months.

At the time of his arrest, Stephens reportedly told police that he was not sexually attracted to children. He was just ‘curious’ about child porn after viewing anime images and that he was just exploring the darker side of Tumblr.

I’ve enjoyed some anime in the past. (Trigun and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex for those of you who wanted to know.) I also know that there is some seriously creepy anime and manga out there. However, I seriously doubt that anime led to this guy allegedly sharing child porn on Tumblr.

Again, I am somewhat fascinated with the excuses creeps like this seem to give to police. It’s like they think they’ll be the first to come up with an excuse that will make the police just let them go. “So you were just exploring Tumblr after seeing some anime? Very well then sir, you’re free to go.”