413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

Almost half the sample (n=10, 48 percent) indicated that they were not looking for child pornography, but
rather passively “stumbled across” it. As one respondent recounted, “I didn’t have any interest in child
pornography before I went on the Internet” (C6). Seven of the respondents, 33 percent of the sample,
discovered child pornography when looking for adult pornography:
It was an accident actually, I was looking for other types of porn. I didn’t look for it, I
came across it. Holy shit, this is horrible, but it’s great, but it’s horrible. Like any other
addiction, look at it for the rush. (A12)
For these respondents who did not actively seek out child pornography, curiosity was mentioned as
offenders’ primary impetus for initially viewing the material. This was often supplemented by the
perceived “thrill” of viewing child pornography. One respondent described his curiosity when he came
across newsgroups with explicit titles related to child pornography, which led to further fixation:
Cost
You see the names of the groups, and think that can’t be real … I looked in there and was
surprised because they were actually real … It was a gradual process. You look at them,
you go look for some more. Pretty soon it becomes an obsession like anything. (A11)
The availability of free child pornography has resulted in an unwillingness to pay for images and distrust
of anyone who charges for material. In the sample, only one individual (5 percent) had ever purchased
child pornography, though seven individuals (33 percent) paid for services to support downloading child
pornography. These expenses included fees for creating or upgrading P2P or newsgroup accounts, as well
as anonymizer services to ensure privacy. One respondent explained this distinction:
I have paid for the method by which I collected child pornography. I’ve never paid for a
picture or video. I paid for access to the people I communicated with. (C7)
Some websites required users to pay to for a password in order to access a site. Offenders cited these fees
as ranging from $10 a month to $30 a week, though they could circumvent these fees by networking with
administrators, who would supply free usernames and passwords. Webb, Craissati, and Keen (2007)
found that nearly half of London-area Internet child pornography sex offenders in their sample reported
paying to view images, though they do not specify if this payment was for pornographic material or to
access file sharing programs.
Law enforcement reported that some individuals use alternative means to pay for child pornography,
including child pornographers creating Amazon wish lists that others will buy gifts from in exchange for
images. Other individuals may also send gifts to children through the mail to entice them into sending
images or videos of themselves.
With the abundance of free material, offenders were suspicious of websites or individuals that charged for
material. When asked if he had ever paid for child pornography, one respondent answered, “The most
basic way I can say it is ‘Why pay’ … I guess I just assumed that anyone asking for money was a sting”
(A6). Other offenders had similar responses, indicating they expected that any site or individual who
charged for child pornography was either law enforcement or a scam. As Jenkins (2001, 91) reports,
“There are instances in which money changes hands and videos are sold, but many web sites that demand
payment for access are bogus, and anyone gullible enough to pay will, if he is lucky, just lose the price of
admission; if he is less fortunate, he will have earned a visit from the FBI.”
Purchasing pornographic material may also affect how an individual perceives their involvement in an
illegal activity. When asked if he ever paid for child pornography, one offender replied, “I couldn’t see
myself doing that. It seemed wrong on a different level” (D1). Without the exchange of money, another
offender did not see his actions as supporting child abuse:
It’s like when you’re buying drugs you’re supporting crime or supporting terrorism. They
aren’t getting any money from me to do any bad things or other things. (B1)
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