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Child pornography: can Tanner's method be trusted?
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A method often used to determine the puberty of girls cannot be the main criterion in child pornography trials.
At least, this is what a group of pediatric endocrinologists believes, having studied more than 500 photographs of the breasts of models who posed for the popular Playboy magazine.
"People are often prosecuted for what I would call the felony of bad taste," says Dr. Arlan Rosenblum, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "They upload pictures that are not very attractive, but it's not illegal."
Often, law enforcement agencies open a criminal case against a person who allegedly posted a photo of a minor online, but they cannot determine the girl’s exact age.
In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, Dr. Rosenblum and his colleagues write that they were asked to examine "547 topless images that appeared in the monthly Playboy centerfold from December 1953 to December 2007" because Dr. Rosenblum saw flaws in the so-called Tanner scale used in the lawsuits.
The Tanner scale is a system of maturation of children, adolescents, and adults, described on the basis of observations of changes in a person's appearance.
Dr. Tanner published his research in 1969 and identified five stages of development of an individual before maturation.
The author of the method himself categorically disagreed with the idea of his table being used to determine the age of children who participated in the filming of child pornography.
He warned that chronological age may not correspond to this classification.
Experts, having studied the photos of the models, concluded that most of the girls on the cover can be classified not as adult women, but as immature girls.
In 2010, there was even a scandal over an actress who starred in a porn film. The accusation was that Lupe Fuentes starred in the film before reaching the age of majority. The controversial situation was resolved by the film's heroine herself, who came to the courtroom with an ID. It turned out that the filming took place legally.
"In addition, we should not forget that with the help of modern technologies, for example, Photoshop, it is possible to correct the body beyond recognition. Therefore, the Tanner method cannot be called universal for use in forensic medical purposes," says Rosenblum.
Rosenblum noted that Playboy models were hardly good examples for Tanner's method, since their profession required them to take particularly careful care of their bodies. That's why they could look younger than their years.
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