In Commonwealth v. Christie, the Appeals Court reversed the defendant’s convictions for statutory rape “because evidence of [his] possession of videotape depictions of adult men engaged in same-sex sex was improperly admitted to demonstrate the defendant’s sexual interest in the alleged victim, a twelve year old boy.” At trial, the judge admitted testimony describing the acts depicted in the videotapes on the grounds “that the same-sex pornography was relevant to the defendant’s sexual interest in [the victim] and to the manner and means by which the charged … sexual assault[s] were allegedly committed.” The judge gave the jury a limiting instruction to that effect. In its decision, the Appeals Court ruled that because “evidence of an adult’s homosexuality is irrelevant to sexual interest in children,” “[t]he admission of the descriptions of [the defendant’s] videotapes for the purpose of showing interest in sex with [the victim] was… error, as was the instruction permitting the jury to use the evidence for this purpose.”
