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Sparkle (3)
Please note: This is a graphic topic. I feel physically sick writing about it.
Child porn is not a victimless crime. The babies, toddlers, ‘tweeners and young teens depicted in repulsive images on videos on Internet sites are not computer generated. They are real children being raped in the most graphic sense of the word.
On the enforcement side, the number of hidden pedophiles arrested for the possession of child pornography increases every year thanks to Internet crackdowns. Statistics from the year 2000, show over 1750 arrests.
As far as the law is concerned, federal law criminalizes “knowingly producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing with intent to distribute, a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture or painting” of a minor engaged in or appearing to engage in sexually explicit conduct or acts that are obscene.
Much of the child porn that comes into this country is not generated here. It’s generated in countries that have not criminalized this form of pornography, according to the United States Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children task force. While both distribution and possession are now criminal offenses in almost all Western countries, there are many countries where they are not.
But since the sale and distribution of child porn is a very lucrative industry, experts say that production is on the fast rise here in America. The Internet has become the primary means for pedophiles to collect, distribute and sell child porn and according to the Internet Watch Foundation, 50 percent of sites showing children being abused are operated on a pay-per-view basis made possible through credit and debit card transactions. It’s pegged at being over a billion dollar sub-industry of the overall multibillion dollar porn industry in this country.
Concern from activists stems from the growing lucrativeness, which is fueling the increase in the frightening trafficking of minors in this country.
There are some 300,000 children stolen and sold within the U.S. each year making them the largest segment of trafficking victims in the country.
The burning question for many of us is why isn’t child porn outlawed?
The debate has raged for decades over the First Amendment, otherwise known as freedom of speech. Thanks toGinsberg vs. New York, some sexually explicit images are protected under the First Amendment, which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Some contend that what people do in the privacy of their own homes is no one’s business, as long as it doesn’t hurt someone. But experts point out that constitutionally protected adult pornography is often used to lure in minors and “train” them. It is not a victimless activity.
