Furious residents call for shut down of Arizona radio station for broadcasting child porn advice

Angry residents have launched an online petition calling for a south-east Arizona radio station to be shut down after it aired late night advice on how to hide child pornography.

Cave 97.7 FM broadcasts out of Benson, Arizona and has been running the messages late at night and in the early hours of the morning for two years, according to the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. They were transmitted under the format of a Public Service Announcement (PSA) – a way in which messages deemed to be in the public interest are disseminated.

An excerpt from the announcement said: "Never keep paper pictures, tapes or films of naked juveniles where anyone else can find them. A public service message from the CAVE 97.7 FM."

It has since been taken off the air after sparking an uproar, but furious residents are calling for the station to be shut down. "Once the community heard of this we were outraged. Regardless of how you have felt about this radio station in the past, this has crossed a huge line!" the petition reads.

"Cave broadcasted a sickening message, (apparently many times over more than one year) about a huge issue that plagues this country, child pornography, There is no excuse for this and they need to be shut down," it adds.

The petition had garnered more than 1,200 signatures at the time of publication.

The radio station is owned and managed by Paul Lotsof, who has stated that he disagrees with Arizona's laws on child pornography. Lotsof told KVOA News 4 Tuscon that he is performing a service for the community.

"Pictures of whatever you want to call them. They're minors, they're pictures of minors and you go to prison for the rest of your life for possessing them," he said.

Broadcasts may violate US laws

Lotsof also claimed there is a difference between creating child pornography and possessing it. "The difference is one case, you're molesting children and abusing them, causing children to do things that are not natural for children to do and the other case, they're just possessing pictures. There's no connection between those two," he said.

In an email to The Arizona Republic, Lotsof claimed the messages do not "condone child pornography in any way", but points out that the "penalties for possession of child pornography are draconian".

Lotsof even went as far as saying that "the real victims are the people serving these incredibly long sentences."

The sheriff's office is investigating whether the broadcasts violate the law.

The Federal Communication Commission told KVOA there is no regulation that expressly articulates what can or cannot be broadcast as part of a PSA.

A police statement released earlier this week said: "Freedom of speech does not include telling people to commit crimes and continuing to pass on this information could lead to judicial action being taken.

"The Cochise County Sheriff's Office is now aware of this activity and will continue to seek legal advice on actions that can be taken for the content that has already been released and to ensure this kind of information is not released again."