Be sure to watch today’s Oprah show. She is going to be exploring “Internet Predators: How Bad is It?” Here is the description of the episode from her website:
No one knows how bad it really is or [how] fast it spreads…it’s time we all found out. Online sex predators—we’ve got to change the law.
One issue she will be covering is a proposed change in the law. The Senate is considering Senate Bill 1738, which would appropriate millions of dollars toward fighting Internet kiddie porn. Here is a summary of the bill, which is also known as the Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2008:
A bill to establish a Special Counsel for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, to improve the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, to increase resources for regional computer forensic labs, and to make other improvements to increase the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute predators. – Govtrack.us
The statistics in the bill are disturbing but not surprising to me. The bill cites research by the Department of Justice, the University of New Hampshire, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that found that those arrested for possession of child pornography included the following:
- 83% have images of children 6-12 years old
- 39% have images of children 3-5 years old
- 19% have images of children under the age of 3 years old
See Sec. 2 Findings under subsection (2) in Senate Bill 1738.
It gets worse.
The images and videos being trafficked typically depict sexual assaults that are both graphic and brutal. The same research indicates that 80 percent of known child pornography possessors have images of children being sexually penetrated and 21 percent have images depicting children bound, gagged, blindfolded, or ‘‘otherwise enduring sadistic sex.’’ Just 1 percent restricted their collecting to images of simple child nudity.
See Sec. 2 Findings under subsection (3) in Senate Bill 1738.
These people are not only taking nude photographs of children. They rape every orifice. They take pictures of children being sexually assaulted by animals. This type of abuse is not limited to older children. Very young children, even toddlers, are photographed experiencing this type of severe sexual abuse.
Every single person reading this blog needs to contact your senator in support of this bill. As someone who was once a victim of a kiddie porn ring, I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is that we invest money in stopping these kiddie porn rings from continuing to hurt innocent children.
Kiddie porn has been a problem for decades, and it has only gotten worse. While the Internet has brought many positives into our lives, it has also enabled kiddie porn rings to more easily distribute their pornography. This needs to stop. The Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2008 is a good step in the right direction.
*** Updated 9/23/08 — See Update on the Protect Our Children Act for a way to help pressure the Senate into passing the legislation to protect children without having to get into party politics. We need to act fast. ***
Related Topics:
- Are Cults Really Covers for Kiddie Porn and Prostitution Rings?
- Coming to Terms With Kiddie Porn and Child Prostitution
- The Dirtiest Secret Behind Child Abuse
Photo credit: Lynda Bernhardt
Senate Bill 1738. Got it. Since one of my senators is on the campaign trail running for President, I will have to try the other one. Thanks, Faith!
Wow….that is scary stuff. It brings up alot of questions for me… Like how do you know if you are in one of these things..I always have wondered what happened to the movies they took of me…and I just am so scared they are somewhere online.. But WAY to scared to look…
Im from the uk and the government have just started a trial where anyone can find out if the person working with child is a convicted abuser. I hope it goes fulltime everywhere.
The argument that the abuser should be protected gets me so bloody angry. The sick ******** shouldnt of done it in the first place. Lets have it all out in the open and maybe that itself will be prevention for any sick minded person considering doing this.
I wonder if there is a way that all the victims could organize and work with the FBI or other authorities who have these photos, films, online videos, etc as evidence to have access to them to help identify if they are old ones of us, or being made currently. Not that I’d want to look at all of that horrendous stuff, but I’m like you, Sarah, I wonder if those photos and moving films they took of me are being circulated out there. We survivors might be a huge help to the authorities.
Looking online myself has not been something that I even attempt, for it would put me in the kiddie porn consumer category and might get me locked up for looking for it.
I think I would rather send the FBI (or whoever) a childhood picture of myself and let them check to see if any pictures match. Multiple pictures were taken of me back in the 1970′s. Who knows if those are still circulating. It’s a gruesome thought.
- Faith
That’s a really good idea Faith….still scares me to death…but I don’t want people looking at me. I know this sounds kinda strage but when I see nasty looking people I always wonder if they look at this stuff online and see ME… wow…crazy thoughts sometimes! sorry
I just watched the Oprah show, and I wrote about it for tomorrow’s post. I learned on the show that, right now, task forces only have the resources and man power to follow up on about 2% of the leads they get for children who are being exploited today.
As one guest put it, it is like being in an ocean of drowning children and having to choose which ones to save because you cannot save them all. Senate Bill 1738 will help with this if it passes.
So, I doubt that the FBI (or whoever) has the man power to sort through child pornography from 30-40 years ago when they have children who need saving today.
I am not so concerned about my own stuff. It happened, and I survived it. I care about the kids who are being raped on camera and video on a regular basis and having those images spread all over the Internet today.
Oh, on the Oprah show, the teenage girls who were exploited, as well as their parents, said that the police asked them whether they wanted to view the child pornography involving the teenage girls. What a tough decision that must have been.
If something came up today, I would want to see the pictures of myself. I am sure it would be incredibly painful, but it was also be validating.
- Faith
I saw the show today. It was covered in more depth than I’ve seen before–the reality that most is in the home. But no one is taking it to the level where it needs to be. Look at the way things are. They want more resources to put pedophiles in jail but those who survived the abuse with DID as their coping mechanism continue to be revictimized through health insurance and mental health practitioners.
I’ve been an advocate of survivors being a rich source of information since I became a therapist. It’s not even “acceptable” to have been DID in the therapy field. It’s out now about me. I don’t care at this point. I want people to hear the message about DID and pedophilia. Am wanting to change some of that therapist discrimination.
Of course survivors are an excellent resource! But the nation has been trained not to believe delayed memories. It sucks.
The issue about kiddie porn is tough to let go of. At one point I had actually called the attorney general’s office asking if i could see confiscated kiddie porn from the late 1950s and early 1960s. I’m glad they talked me out of it. I’ve seen descriptions too of the sick things they have kids doing and that are being done to kids. Porn doesn’t die. It just keeps circulating. I gave up my quest for that validation. But always feel so very sad when the topic is raised.
If they really want to catch these creeps, there should be a panel of survivors working with law enforcement and other arms of the community who plan to go after it. Sorry…so much to say. I wish Oprah would take up that last piece cuz the nation would listen to her.
Id bet theres that much child porn ‘doing the rounds’ that you could spend a life-time looking full time (if given permission by the authoritys) and not find anything with yourself in it. Thats how rife it is in my opinion.
Id bet all of us have walked past someone this week – probrably aged early 30′s or later- who was abused as a child and is totally dissociated and unaware. I was one of them people two years ago. This is why the figures are so misleading. The authoritys are never gone learn ive been abused even though im now confronting my demons.
“Of course survivors are an excellent resource! But the nation has been trained not to believe delayed memories. It sucks.”
I strongly suspect that the predators are the ones behind this. :0(
“If they really want to catch these creeps, there should be a panel of survivors working with law enforcement and other arms of the community who plan to go after it. Sorry…so much to say. I wish Oprah would take up that last piece cuz the nation would listen to her.”
There is a link on Oprah’s website where you could email her. Might be worth a shot. I am not willing to go on her show, so I am hesitant to email her. As open as I am about my experiences online, it is through a pen name. I don’t want my kid’s friends, teachers, etc. knowing the details about my history.
- Faith
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