Is a picture worth 1000 more days in federal prison?

This interesting article highlights the perverted logic of the federal sentencing guidelines by detailing that, under the guidelines, a pervert who looks at pictures of children having sex can face a lot more prison time than a pervert who has sex with children:

A Daphne man pleaded guilty in Mobile’s federal court Wednesday to driving to Florida to have sex with someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl.  Another Daphne man pleaded guilty to possessing and receiving child pornography in an unrelated case.  When both are sentenced in March, the child pornography defendant faces significantly more prison time — perhaps six times as much — under advisory sentencing guidelines.

“It’s one of the strange things about the child pornography guidelines,” said Assistant Federal Defender Lyn Hillman, who represents Lonnie Ray Hodnett.  “I’ve had defendants on child porn charges (for whom) the guidelines would have ended up being lower if they had actually molested a child.”…

UPDATE:  In the comments and elsewhere, a number of folks have sensibly highlighted that the article referenced above is comparing apples and oranges in terms of the severity of the two offenses discussed.  And, to avoid any misleading implications, I should point out that the federal guidelines in most cases will recommend longer sentences for offenders who have sex with children than for those who look at pictures of children having sex.  Nevertheless, as the quote by the federal defender suggests, there are some instances in which looking at the wrong kind of pictures can get you as much or more federal time than engaging in the wrong kind of sex.

Also, for anyone interested in more perspectives on these important topics, consider this article about a federal sentencing for an on-line sexual solicitation and this article about a state sentencing of a coach having sex with an underage team member.