A local filmmaker who is the former head of CEPA Gallery in Buffalo entered a guilty plea Wednesday to an obscenity charge. Lawrence Brose, 62, was arrested in November 2009 and charged with possession of child pornography, which carries a prison term of up to ten years. Today's guilty plea could result in up to 12 months in prison.
Brose, an experimental filmmaker, has maintained his innocence since his arrest, when prosecutors charged him with knowingly having 1,300 child porn images on his laptop computer. Brose denies having downloaded those images, saying that someone else did so without his knowledge or permission.
Members of the art community, both locally and from out of town, have supported Brose during this time. Many of them say Brose is being denied his rights of free speech and expression.