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Records Law Gives Free Access To Wilson Sex Tape

The Douglas County District Attorney's office said they have handed out numerous copies of a home video taken the night Genarlow Wilson and other teens engaged in sex acts that would later land Wilson and five other boys in jail.

The district attorney's office said they are complying with the state's freedom of information act by handing out the video to people who submitted open records requests. But former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Brickman said the distribution is "unlawful" because it is video tape "of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct."

Other critics like state representative Mary Margaret Oliver said distributing the tape violates privacy and child pornography laws. "It’s not fair to the victim," Oliver said. She believes privacy laws trump the public's right to information in this case.

Just how many of these explicit tapes have been handed out and who has them? It is hard to tell.

In an e-mail response to CBS46 Investigates, Douglas County District Attorney David McDade stated, "I do not know the exact number of people who have made open record requests in the Genarlow Wilson case." He went on to write, “we do not keep a list or data base of the numerous requests."

The mother of one of the girls engaging in oral sex on the tape wants to know what purpose the distribution serves.

"Who would want to sit and watch something like that,” the mother asked.

Legal experts say it may be up to a judge to decide if the tape should be released. First amendment advocates say arguing the release of this tape is uncharted territory in Georgia -- never has something like this been distributed in the past.

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