I understand, however, doesn't the dost test completely change this? Also, isn't the definition of what a minor looks like based on the investigator?

My problem is that I can't go to trail since it will give me a harsher punishment and I avoid HYTA, meaning I can never fight my case that I never knowingly downloaded images or knew the images were 18.

This means that if an investigator thought that a girl looked 15 or 16 and she was naked, then it will be defined as child pornography used by the prosecutor for a conviction. I can't argue with them because the best chance I have is not getting on the sex offender registry is by not going to trial and pleading guilty for a possible HYTA.

If something like that happens, is trial the only place where I can make my case and defend myself? Or can I do that during a plea agreement?

Also, I'm not sure if it even matters if the images reported to NCMEC by Imgur (which they claimed to have did) were underaged or not. This only thing that went through was an accusation that child pornography was being uploaded from that address. Isn't that enough to warrant an FBI investigation?