sexual exploitation of children over the internet - Meldpunt ...

clicks on his or her image, forwards it, or distributes it. This is the reason why victims ofInternet child pornography like Masha Allen, a child victim who testified at theSubcommittee’s May 3, 2006 hearing, have pleaded for every effort to be made toprevent the distribution of child pornography images. As Ms. Allen stated in hertestimony, the thing that upset her most about the abuse she suffered is that her imageswould be on the Internet “forever.”The prevalence of online child pornography also has a distinct psychological impacton those who collect and possess it. According to psychologists who study the issue,individuals collect child pornography not only for sexual gratification but as a “plan foraction.” 9 A study conducted by Dr. Andres C. Hernandez and published in a posterpresentation entitled “Self Reported Contact Sexual Offenses by Participants in theFederal Bureau of Prisons’ Sex Offender Treatment Program: Implications for SexOffenders” supports the notion that viewing child pornography is likely to lead to contactoffenses involving a child. The study showed that, of the inmates who elected toparticipate in the Federal Bureau of Prisons Sex Offender Treatment Program, 76 percentof those who were convicted on charges related to Internet sex crimes, such as possessionof child pornography or luring a child, had also committed sexual contact offensesagainst children. This conclusion was based on polygraph examinations of offenderswho chose to enroll in Dr. Hernandez’s program. This link between viewing orpossessing child pornography and molesting a child has been demonstrated in otherstudies as well, including one conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Servicebeginning in 1997. This study found that 33 percent of the 2,433 individuals arrested byUSPIS agents since 1997 for using the U.S. mail and the Internet for the sexualexploitation of children had molested children. These findings are alarming and lendcredence to the notice that exposure to images of child pornography can, in fact, createchild molesters, and hence, result in more child-victims. 10Of additional concern is that commercial Internet child pornography has become alucrative and growing business. Although it is impossible to pinpoint the revenuegenerated by an illegal business, such as commercial child pornography, some estimatesindicate that commercial child pornography may generate billions of dollars a year inrevenue. 11 To evade detection by law enforcement agents, the payment schemesemployed by commercial child pornography websites are increasingly complex andinvolve the use of digital and electronic currencies and other forms of barter. Thoseindividuals who sell child pornography images often set up fictitious businesses in orderto obtain a merchant account for credit card processing. The technology supporting thesewebsites is equally sophisticated. It is not unusual for websites to be registered using9 Dr. Sharon Cooper Testimony, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, “Sexual Exploitation ofChildren over the Internet: What Parents, Kids and Congress Need to Know about Child Predators,” April4, 2006.10 A polygraph study currently being conducted in the Netherlands of convicted sex offenders furthersupports Dr. Hernandez’s finding that a link exists between possessing child pornography images andcommitting contact crimes against children.11 See Cassell Bryan-Low, “Dangerous Mix: Internet Transforms Child Porn Into Lucrative Criminal Trade— Company in Belarus Collected Millions From Pedophiles; A Landmark Prosecution — Agent’sRendezvous in Paris,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 17, 2006, at 1.12