Patrick Trueman is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Morality in Media, a national, not-for-profit organization established in 1962 to combat pornography and uphold decency standards in the media. He is also director of the War on Illegal Pornography, a coalition effort of more than 120 national and state groups seeking to restart federal obscenity prosecutions. Formerly, he served as Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Criminal Division, U. S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. from 1988 to 1993. While there, he supervised the prosecution of child sex crimes, child pornography, and obscenity. He managed an office of twenty of prosecutors and support staff, and worked with the nation’s ninety-three United States Attorneys to initiate and coordinate federal prosecutions.
During his 36 years as a lawyer, he has litigated cases at all levels of the federal system, including in the United States Supreme Court. He has been an advisor to many municipalities on First Amendment law and has helped draft ordinances to end or curb the impact of sexually oriented businesses such as pornography shops, strip clubs, and related establishments. In 2010 he founded the website, Pornography Harms, dedicated to providing the most accurate peer-reviewed research on the harm from pornography. The site has a companion YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/PornHarms, and a Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/PornHarms?ref=ts.
Trueman has also served as special counsel to the Alliance Defense Fund of Arizona, a national public interest law firm where he worked as a legal expert on obscenity, indecency, pornography and the protection of communities from sexually oriented businesses.
Other organizations benefiting from Trueman’s counsel include American Family Association, Family Research Council, the Paul & Lisa Program of Connecticut, and the Guardian of Angels Foundation in Colorado, which targets child sexual exploitation. Trueman served as a consultant on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Rescue and Restore Anti-Trafficking Campaign, training and advising federal, state, and local law enforcement officials on human trafficking. He is regularly called on to educate and train the public, police, prosecutors, and judges on child sex abuse, child pornography, obscenity, and sexual trafficking. He serves on the board of directors of the national anti-trafficking organization Global Centurion.
A recognized international expert, Trueman has traveled to South American, the Middle East, and other areas to speak and train on the issue of human trafficking or deliver papers on the effects of television sex and violence on the family. A sampling of his training, advocacy, legal briefs and presentations includes: Nicaragua: Trueman led the training of Nicaragua’s state police in the recognition and apprehension of perpetrators of human trafficking. Qatar: Trueman authored and delivered, “The Harm from Sex and Violence on Television: Practical Solutions to Protect Society,” to the Forum on the Cable Television Channels to the Moral Challenge for Gulf Youth sponsored by Her Highness, Sheikha Mozah, wife of the ruling leader of Qatar. Romania: Trueman authored and submitted a legal brief to Romania’s Parliament in opposition to the legalization of prostitution and incest. The paper, “Legalized Prostitution & Incest Will Harm Romania,” was written on behalf of the Family Research Council of the U.S. and used to successfully counter a policy recommendation by Romania’s Ministry of Justice (the equivalent of our US Department of Justice) that would have legalized incest and prostitution in the country.
Trueman has authored numerous memoranda of law for U.S. Courts of Appeals, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, including his most recent work urging sanctions in the case involving nudity during the broadcast of the Super Bowl of 2004. He serves on the Advisory Board of Parents Television Council.
Mr. Trueman served as chief of staff to a Republican Member of the United States Congress and, in 1984 was Republican nominee for Congress from Minnesota’s 6th District. From 1976 to 1982, he was Executive Director and General Counsel to Americans United for Life. He is 63 and lives just outside Washington, D.C., is married to Laura Clay Trueman, and has three children, Patrick, Claire, and Elizabeth.
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