COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a case that has implications for Internet free speech, the state Supreme Court is considering whether composite or invented images depicting child pornography are still pornography.

Prosecutors say the images are pornographic as long as parts of them are of real children.

“True virtual pornography has never been demonstrated and certainly not demonstrated in this case,” said Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci, who argued the case before the court on Wednesday.

In 2003, Vigluicci’s office filed 25 charges against Roger Tooley Jr., accusing him of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material and pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

Thousands of pornographic images, including many that appeared to be of children, were found on a computer hard drive seized after Tooley, 30, was suspected of hacking into Kent State University’s computer system and stealing Social Security numbers.

Tooley was convicted of five charges, based on an expert who identified by name and date of birth specific minors pictured in three images.

An appeals court reversed the convictions because the images were composites in which pictures of adults and children were merged to create the appearance of children involved in sex acts without actually depicting child nudity.