Lily v. Rosenow

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedSeptember 20, 2024
Docket3:23-cv-00644
StatusUnknown

This text of Lily v. Rosenow (Lily v. Rosenow) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lily v. Rosenow, (S.D. Cal. 2024).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 14 15 “LILY,” “SARAH,” JANE ROE Case No.: 23-cv-00644-WQH-DEB as next friend for “PIA,” a minor, 16 ORDER 17 Plaintiffs, 18 v. 19 CARSTEN IGOR ROSENOW, 20 a/k/a CARLOS SENTA, Defendant. 21 22

23 HAYES, Judge: 24 The matters before the Court are the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint, Partial 25 Summary Dismissal and Affirmative Plea (ECF No. 21) and the Motion to Dismiss the 26 FAC Complaint, Partial Summary Dismissal and Affirmative Plea (ECF No. 23) filed by 27 Defendant Carsten Igor Rosenow. 28 1 I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 On April 7, 2023, Plaintiffs “Lily,” “Sarah,” and Jane Roe as next friend for “Pia” 3 (“Plaintiffs”) initiated this action by filing a Complaint against Defendant Carston Igor 4 Rosenow (“Defendant”). (ECF No. 1.) 5 On July 13, 2023, Plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), which is the 6 operative pleading. (ECF No. 19.) Plaintiffs seek liquidated damages pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 7 § 2255, which provides a civil remedy for victims against individuals convicted of certain 8 child pornography offenses. 9 On September 14, 2023, Defendant filed the Motion to Dismiss the Complaint, 10 Partial Summary Dismissal and Affirmative Plea (ECF No. 21), and on October 16, 2023, 11 Defendant filed the Motion to Dismiss the FAC Complaint, Partial Summary Dismissal 12 and Affirmative Plea (ECF No. 23) (collectively, the “Motions to Dismiss”). 13 On November 9, 2023, Plaintiffs filed a Response in opposition to the Motions to 14 Dismiss. (ECF No. 25.) 15 On December 11, 2023, Defendant filed a Reply. (ECF No. 26.) 16 II. ALLEGATIONS IN THE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT 17 On August 30, 2019, a jury found Defendant guilty of attempted sexual exploitation 18 of a child in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(c) and (e) and possession of images of minors 19 engaged in sexually explicit conduct in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). (FAC ¶¶ 20 14–15.) 21 On February 26, 2020, this Court sentenced Defendant to a term of imprisonment of 22 300 months, followed by a lifetime supervised release. (Ex. 1 to FAC.) At sentencing, the 23 Court ordered restitution in the amount of $4,000 to each victim. Id. On February 27, 2020, 24 the Court “entered an Order making findings that each of the Plaintiffs herein is a victim 25 of [Defendant’s] crime as he knowingly possessed depictions of each engaged in explicit 26 sexual conduct while each was a minor and that each Plaintiff herein had suffered harm as 27 a result of [Defendant’s] crime.” (FAC ¶ 18 (citing Ex. 1 to FAC).) The Court’s Order 28 further held that Defendant was “proximately responsible for the harm to each of the 1 Plaintiffs as he had participated in the trade of their child pornography images.” Id. ¶ 18 2 (citing Ex. 1 to FAC).) 3 Plaintiffs bring claims pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2255(a). Plaintiffs each seek 4 liquidated damages in the amount of $150,000, reasonable attorney’s fees, pre-judgment 5 and post-judgment interest, and such other relief as the Court deems just and proper. 6 III. DISCUSSION 7 Defendant moves to dismiss the FAC on the following grounds: (1) Plaintiffs fail to 8 allege a concrete injury; (2) Plaintiffs fail to state a claim under 18 U.S.C. § 2255; (3) 9 Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by collateral estoppel and res judicata; (4) Plaintiffs’ claims 10 are not timely; and (5) venue is improper in this District. 11 A. Standing 12 Defendant contends that Plaintiffs fail to allege a concrete injury because Plaintiffs 13 “have not pleaded concrete and particularized facts supporting that they each have suffered 14 an ‘injury in fact’ by Defendant’s alleged possession of their images or alleged that the 15 [D]efendant’s action injured them in ‘a concrete and personal way[.]’” (ECF No. 21 at 11– 16 12.) 17 Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows a defendant to move 18 for dismissal on the grounds that the court lacks jurisdiction over the subject matter. Fed. 19 R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). A jurisdictional attack pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) may be facial or 20 factual. White v. Lee, 227 F.3d 1214, 1242 (9th Cir. 2000). “In a facial attack, the challenger 21 asserts that the allegations contained in the complaint are insufficient on their face to 22 invoke federal jurisdiction.” Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir. 23 2004). In a facial attack on subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1), the court 24 assumes the factual allegations of the complaint to be true and draws all reasonable 25 inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Doe v. Holy See, 557 F.3d 1066, 1073 (9th Cir. 2009). 26 However, the court does not accept “the truth of legal conclusions merely because they are 27 cast in the form of factual allegations.” Warren v. Fox Family Worldwide, Inc., 328 F.3d 28 1136, 1139 (9th Cir. 2003). 1 The Article III standing doctrine limits federal court jurisdiction. See La Asociacon 2 de Trabajadores de Lake Forest v. City of Lake Forest, 624 F.3d 1083, 1088 (9th Cir. 3 2010). “[T]he ‘irreducible constitutional minimum’ of standing consists of three elements.” 4 Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 578 U.S. 330, 338 (2016) (quoting Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 5 504 U.S. 555, 560 (1992)). In order “to satisfy Article III’s standing requirements, a 6 plaintiff must show (1) it has suffered an ‘injury in fact’ that is (a) concrete and 7 particularized and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical; (2) the injury is 8 fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant; and (3) it is likely, as opposed to 9 merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.” Friends of 10 the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Env’t Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 180–81 (2000) (citing 11 Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560–61). The party invoking federal jurisdiction bears the burden of 12 establishing that the standing requirements of Article III are satisfied. Spokeo, 578 U.S. at 13 338. 14 Here, the FAC alleges that Defendant was found guilty of possession of child 15 pornography in violation of 18 USC § 2252(a)(4)(B) and attempted sexual exploitation of 16 a child in violation of 18 USC § 2251(c) and (e). The FAC alleges that Plaintiffs were 17 victims of these crimes, and “have each suffered personal injury as a result of Defendant’s 18 federal child pornography crimes.” (FAC ¶ 24.) It is well established that victims of child 19 pornography suffer concrete injuries. See Elden v. Nirvana LLC, 88 F.4th 1292, 1296 (9th 20 Cir. 2023) (“In the context of § 2255, ‘pornography injures a child’s reputation and 21 emotional well-being’ just ‘[l]ike a defamatory statement’ and creates ‘reputational, 22 emotional and privacy injuries’ that constitute personal injuries.”); see also Paroline v. 23 United States, 572 U.S.

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Lily v. Rosenow, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lily-v-rosenow-casd-2024.