Child Pornography - SAGE Publications Inc

1 1357 Child PornographyPerhaps nothing causes as much personal and more outrage aschild Pornography (Holmes & Holmes, 2001; Strange, Doyle, &Miller, 2000). Commonly called kiddie porn or Child porn, thistype of Pornography has been universally outlawed in the UnitedStates. But most of the Child Pornography that is confiscated by lawenforcement officials in the United States has been imported from for-eign countries. How widespread is this distribution of Child pornogra-phy across the world? There is no easy answer to this question, and theanswer will vary from one country to another. It may be more preva-lent in some countries, while other countries deny any organized orcommercial production of illegal Child Pornography .

2 In other words,there is no clear agreement on theprevalence and cooperation amongcountries in the making and distribu-tion of Child Pornography (Taylor &Clemetson, 2001). Child Pornography is produced,collected, purchased, and traded bythose interested in making money inthis illegal venture or those interested in sex with children. Doubtless,pedophiles and other types of Child abusers collect Child Pornography ,and those in law enforcement often find huge collections in their CChhiilldd PPoorrnnooggrraapphhyyThe use of underage children in variousmedia for the purpose of sexual arousalfor the viewer 5/28/2008 2:58 PM Page 135possession when arrested. In a case of a minister arrested only recently,the police found hundreds of pictures, movies, videos, drawings, andcollages of hundreds of children in various sexual poses and Pornography of choice was pictures, stories, and other materials ofyoung boys prior to puberty.

3 The people in that community wereshocked to learn of his arrest. He was a pillar of the community, activein his church as well on various public and civic groups, serving as chairon several community boards. Many adults have been arrested in stingoperations advertising for children for sexual purposes. Many areteachers, and it appears that the genders are equally represented. Table selected alleged perpetrators gleaned from such a CRIMEST able Examples of Alleged Child SexualOffenders, 2006 NameAgeAlleged OffenseKarri Halln/aBaring her breasts to a 14-year-old male studentCameo Patch29 Sex with a 17-year-old studentKyle Sabo25 Sex with two students, one male and one femaleWendie Schweikert36 Sex with an 11-year-oldDebbie Selmen35 Encouraged a female student to bare her breastsDana Snyder24 Sex with a 14-year-old studentLaura Spurlock36 Sex with 18-year-old studentIn a different state, a computer operator was questioned by thepolice when fellow workers notified law enforcement of their concernabout him.

4 He was always talking of the Polly Klaas case, and fortu-nately he made a critical error in judgment when he showed some ofthis drawings that depicted Polly bound, her breasts skewered with asharp instrument, and finally deceased. No evidence was foundshowing that this man had carried out his fantasy about killingyoung females fueled by his own drawings, but his interests are onrecord with the local criminal justice system. Illustration is one ofhis drawings. Child Pornography AND THE LAWMany countries have passed laws and regulations on Pornography ingeneral and Child Pornography in particular. China has been 5/28/2008 2:58 PM Page 136the world in the enactment of laws regulating Pornography .

5 But nocountry has been successful in developing laws and the enforcement ofsuch laws to combat adult, Child , and Internet Pornography . Before1977, there were few laws on either the state or the federal level thatregulated the production, distribution, or sale of Child , however, every state and the federal government have laws thatprescribe penalties against those who exploit children sexually. In addi-tion, these jurisdictions have laws that make possession and distri-bution of Child Pornography a crime (Walsh & Wolak, 2005). TheProtection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act extended thefederal government s role to include prosecution of those involved inchild Pornography .

6 This law has also made it illegal to transport chil-dren across state lines for immoral Pornography137 Illustration 5/28/2008 2:58 PM Page 137 All states have passed legislation against Child Pornography . Morethan a few states have merely amended their adult Pornography laws toinclude acts that involve children. Other states, however, have devisednew laws that deal specifically with children. Under these laws, penal-ties are prescribed for those who use children in a sexual performance,promote a sexual performance by a minor, or distribute and sell materi-als that depict children in sexual scenes. The fundamental question ofdefining Pornography is not addressed and is only vaguely alluded to bythe inclusion of a broad, three-pronged criterion of obscenity and anaccompanying definition of sexual performance (Pope, 1978).

7 TYPES OF Child PORNOGRAPHYMany Publications exist that cater to adults who are interested in see-ing children posed in sexual situations. One study estimates there areas many as 264 magazines produced and sold in adult bookstores inthe United States that deal with sexual acts between children orbetween children and adults (Densen-Gerber & Hutchinson, 1978).In our dealings with pedophiles we have never been involved withany who did not have some type of Child porn in their of this Pornography was homemade and some was of the com-mercial are several types of commercial Child porn. First, there aremagazines that are not unlike Playboy or Penthouse. These magazinescontain pictorial essays of young boys or girls in sexually suggestiveposes as well as letters from adults who desire to have sex with childrenor who describe their sexual activities with children.

8 These magazinestypically cater to pedophiles who are interested in having sex witheither young males or young females. It is unusual, for example, for achild porn magazine to contains photos and stories about both such as Lollitots and Lolita are aimed at pedophilesinterested only in young girls. These magazines contain pictures ofyoung females, often engaged in poses that are obviously designed toarouse erotic feelings. There are also editorials that reflect a philosophythat the real dangers to our society are the widely held negative atti-tudes regarding Child nudity and sex with children. Piccolo, Rare Boys,and Tommy are examples of Child porn that caters to the homosexualpedophile. The contents of these magazines are similar to those of thepublications that feature young 5/28/2008 2:58 PM Page 138 BooksAnother type of Child porn takes the character of paperback these books, a Child typically becomes the object of the sexual aggres-sion of the reader.

9 These paperback novels often contain graphic vio-lence directed against a Child , a powerful adult figure who victimizes achild, and a final scene in which the victimization becomes , Pictures, Chat ChannelsPhotographs purchased through the mail and ads exchangedthrough computer bulletin boards are other methods of Child pornChild Pornography139 FFeeddeerraall LLaawwss oonn CChhiilldd PPoorrnnooggrraapphhyyTThhee SSeexxuuaall EExxppllooiittaattiioonn ooff CChhiillddrreenn AAccttProhibits the use of a minor in the making of Pornography , the transport of achild across state lines, the taking of a pornographic picture of a Child , and the pro-duction and circulation of materials advertising Child Pornography .

10 Additionally itprohibits the transfer, sale, purchase, and receipt of a minor when the purpose is touse the Child in the making of Child Pornography . It also prohibits the transporta-tion, importation, shipment, and receipt of Child Pornography by interstate CChhiilldd PPrrootteeccttiioonn AAcctt ooff 11998844 Defines anyone under the age of 18 as a minor. Thus, a sexually explicit photo-graph of anyone under the age of 18 is Child CChhiilldd SSeexxuuaall AAbbuussee aanndd PPoorrnnooggrraapphhyy AAccttThis law banned the production and use of advertisements for Child pornographywith a provision of civil remedies for personal injuries suffered by a Child victim. Italso raised the minimum sentences for repeat offenders from imprisonment of notless than 2 years to imprisonment of not less than 5 CChhiilldd PPrrootteeccttiioonn aanndd OObbsscceenniittyy EEnnffoorrcceemmeenntt AAccttThis act made it illegal to use a computer to transmit advertisements for orvisual depictions of Child Pornography and it prohibited the buying, selling, or oth-erwise obtaining of temporary custody or control of children for the purpose of pro-ducing Child AAcctt ooff 11999966 This act makes it illegal for anyone using the mail or interstate or foreign com-merce to persuade, induce.