Bianca Devins was killed in July 2019 at the age of 17.
Before recording the attack, her murderer took video of them having sex.
The Devins family estate is accusing the Oneida County district attorney's office of sharing those videos with media outlets, and suing the office for disseminating child pornography.
Visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct involving someone under 18 is considered child pornography under federal law. But laws are different in New York state, where the age is a bit lower.
What You Need To Know
- A lawsuit was filed by the estate of Bianca Devins, a 17-year-old girl who was murdered in 2019
- It accuses the Oneida County district attorney's office of sharing child pornography with several media outlets
- The district attorney's office has not commented to Spectrum News 1
"Where you have two different laws which are addressing a similar topic and they have different ages, then either one could be enforced," said attorney Mark Wolber. "So the federal statute can be enforced, even though it's different from the New York state statute."
He believes the case may hinge on something other than Devins' age.
"That is a fact, unless the age is an issue, but if the age is agreed to by everyone, then that isn't the issue," Wolber said.
Instead, he believes it may come down to why the videos were allegedly shared.
Wolber says, typically, statutes are designed to punish those who engage in this conduct.
"That is an attempt to stop this type of trafficking," he said. "Where you have a situation such as this, I don't think the statute is designed to bring in this type of conduct, because this is certainly not something that is going to increase people engaging in this type of activity, because a district attorney in a criminal case may dissemonate the information."
Wolber says it's also not a cut-and-dry case, as he says the statute doesn't list exceptions.
"Does the statute cover this type of activity? If you read the statute, I think you could read that it could, but the district attorneys do have an obligation to be transparent with their cases and with the evidence that they have, and so does that exception apply in this case? And that, really, I think, will be the ultimate issue that will have to be decided by a court in this case," he said.
Wolber stressed that at this point, he's only commenting on allegations.
Spectrum News 1 has reached out to the Oneida County district attorney, but have not heard back.
The first court appearance in the case is scheduled for July 27.