Philadelphia ? In the fall, a California man received seven years in prison for planning to bomb his college. In March, three Ohio teens were charged with molesting an unconscious girl. Last month, British troops were accused of torturing Iraqis.

Recently, a New Jersey teacher was charged with taking pornographic pictures of a Philadelphia boy.

The cases have one thing in common:

One-hour photo labs.

The accused took film to a photo lab, where a technician who did not like what developed called authorities.

Laws in some states do not directly compel photo technicians to alert police if they come across illegal acts.

Even so, most photography labs, including those at national chains, have policies instructing employees to call authorities if film contains child pornography.

They say it’s a moral issue, not a legal one.

“If there’s any hint of anything like that, we would call the police,” said Pam Nucera, who owns Cresent Photo Lab in Pennsauken, N.J. “Anybody who wouldn’t call it in, I couldn’t understand that.”

Company policies on other illicit or erotic pictures — such as those showing drug use or nudity — vary. At Ritz Camera and Wal-Mart, for example, employees are trained to contact police only in clear cases of child pornography.

“This is a judgment call,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Danette Thompson said. “We err on the side of caution and protection of the children. Our policy occasionally causes hard feelings.”

Law enforcement officials and spokeswomen for national corporations with one-hour film operations say they do not keep figures on child-pornography cases in which photo technicians discover illegal activity. But they say such cases are rare. With the advent of cheap digital photography, authorities suspect that more pornographers are developing pictures on home computers.

Although some officials say they cannot prosecute photo technicians who do not report child pornography, some lawyers cite other possible legal liability.

Some speculate photo technicians could be prosecuted under child-abuse reporting laws.

“There is an affirmative obligation to report child abuse,” said Len Baker, a Haddonfield criminal-defense lawyer. “If a photo lab, or any person, has reasonable cause to believe a child has been abused, the Jersey law mandates that they report that to DYFS.”