In U.S. v. Dodge, No. 08-10802 (Jan. 14, 2009) (2-1, Wilson, J., dissenting), the Court held that SORNA’s sex offender registration requirement did not apply to a defendant convicted of transferring obscene material to a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1470, because this offense did not constitute a "sex offense against a minor" under 42 U.S.C. § 16911(7)(I).
The Court noted that any definition of "against" requires a concept of contact or opposition. Here, Dodge emailed obscene images of himself to individuals he took to be minors. This conduct lacked any element of unwanted sexual assault. Unlike a "flasher" there was no invasion of private space.
