Peoria, A.Z. – According to ABC News, an Arizona couple is suing Walmart after employees filed a police report against them on the suspicion they had taken pornographic pictures of their children.
Those pictures were naked bath time photos of their young daughters ages 5,4 and 1 ½.
“Some of the photos are bath time photos,” Lisa Demaree told ABC News at the time, "but there are a few after the bath. Three of the girls are naked, lying on a towel with their arms around each other, and we thought it was so cute.”
Peoria police sent the case to Arizona Child Protective Services Agency.
Lisa and Anthony Demaree lost custody of their daughters for more than a month.
After a judge eventually ruled the photos were not pornographic and a medical exam showed no signs of abuse, the girls were returned to their parents.
In 2009, the couple sued the city of Peoria and the State Attorney General’s office for defamation and sued Walmart for failing to tell them they had an “unsuitable print policy” and could turn over photos to law enforcement without the customer’s knowledge, according to the report.
Walmart did not respond to an interview request from ABC News. But, according to Courthouse News the company’s lawyer, Lawrence Kasten, argued that under Arizona statute employees who report child abuse without malice are immune from prosecution. He added that there was no indication of malice in this case.
Walmart won the federal case, but this week the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case.
There’s no word when a ruling may come down.
