Jenny v. Mollick ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 JENNY, et al., Case No. 23-cv-05634-AGT 8 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO 9 v. PROCEED WITH PSEUDONYMS 10 JOSEPH ANDREW MOLLICK, Re: Dkt. No. 6 Defendant. 11 12 13 The defendant in this civil action, Joseph Mollick, was charged in the U.S. District Court 14 for the Northern District of California for knowingly possessing child pornography in violation of 15 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(4)(B) and (b)(2). Dkt. 1, Compl. ¶ 35. Mollick pled guilty in January 2023, 16 and he was sentenced and a judgment was entered against him in May 2023. Id. ¶ 36. The 17 plaintiffs, who were depicted in the images of child pornography seized from Mollick’s 18 possession, brought this action for civil damages and have moved to proceed pseudonymously. 19 Dkt. 6. Their motion is granted. 20 “[M]any federal courts, including the Ninth Circuit, have permitted parties to proceed 21 anonymously when special circumstances justify secrecy.” Does I thru XXIII v. Advanced Textile 22 Corp., 214 F.3d 1058, 1067 (9th Cir. 2000). Such special circumstances are present when, as 23 here, “nondisclosure of the party’s identity is necessary . . . to protect a person from harassment, 24 injury, ridicule or personal embarrassment.” Id. at 1067–68. The plaintiffs have demonstrated the 25 highly personal, intimate, and violative nature of the images at issue and have shown that they face 26 continuing humiliation and harassment based on their victimization and sexual exploitation as 27 young children. There is more than ample justification for allowing these vulnerable plaintiffs to 1 this matter under the pseudonyms “Jenny,” “Raven,” “Anna,” “Cara,” “Lily,” “Sarah,” 2 “Savannah,” “Skylar,” “Maureen,” “Violet,” “Jessy,” “Pia,” “Mya,” “Maria,” “Jane Doe,”! and 3 “Alena Doe.”” 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 Dated: December 5, 2023 6 7 A G. TSE 8 United States Magistrate Judge 9 10 1] as 12 «14 15 16 Oo Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ' “Jane Doe” is the mother and conservator of two of the plaintiffs: “Skylar,” who is currently a 27 || minor, and “Savannah,” who is a protected person. See Compl. §§ 15, 17. 28 2 “Aleana Doe” is the mother and next friend of plaintiff “Maria,” who is currently a minor. See Compl. § 29.