Appellate court: Forcing father to install home security cameras does not encourage him to disseminate child pornography

We do not often write about family law cases on this blog, but I recently ran across an interesting custody order from an Ohio case. I'm not sure if this is ever a standard provision for certain types of cases, but I figured it was worth sharing.

In O'Malley v. O'Malley, 2013 Ohio 5238 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013), the mother argued that it was a violation of the children's constitutional right to privacy for the court to order that the father install security cameras in his home. Here's the order:

6. For the purpose of assisting the children in making the transition to Father's home, Father shall do the following:

a. He shall provide security cameras in his home for the purpose of securing the safety of the children and others in the home and providing a record of the children's interaction with him and others.

While the opinion doesn't go into any detail on the allegations, the mother claimed that the father "was known to possess child pornography," and she feared that the installation of the security cameras would encourage him to "disseminat[e] naked pictures of the children."

The court, however, disagreed:

The use of security cameras to record the children in their Father's home is similar to the previously ordered videotaping of Father's visits under the shared parenting plan with the children. Indeed, the court stated that the purpose of the cameras was to secure "the safety of the children and others in the home and providing a record of the children's interaction with him and others."

The court also made clear that while the father certainly could disseminate any videos from the security cameras, it would be against the law if they were images of child pornography.

The court's order does not require Father to publish the videotapes to anyone. Father could decide to install security cameras in his home for his own protection if he so desired without a court order. Although the court's final order does not expressly prohibit Father from disseminating naked pictures of children, both Ohio and federal laws proscribe such conduct and impose strict penalties to prevent such actions.