Splintered Lives - Barnardo's

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chapter
11
The need for specialised investigative teams was stressed by a senior American
policeman, Seth Goldstein in 1984:
Since child exploitation is multi-jurisdictional in nature and crosses lines of
investigative responsibility, unique specialized units and investigative training are
necessary. (p22)
He points out that some investigations take years, and may as a result open out into
further investigations. The point is illustrated by a case involving one of the US's largest
distributors of child porn who was arrested after a 10 year investigation. The arrest resulted
in access to a mailing list containing 30,000 customers, 30-40% of whom were
registered sex offenders. Goldstein, like the OPS staff, notes how cases 'mushroom',
and investigators need the time and resources to follow through all the new leads;
sexual exploitation requires 'specialized concentration' (p30).
The role of the police as investigators and law enforcers received considerable attention
at both seminars, and information was exchanged and recommendations made. The
open employment frontiers in Europe make the exchange of information and resources
for police checks a vital matter. A joint data base is clearly needed - although who
should be listed is not that clear (see Definitions chapter and especially the discussion of
'paedophilia'). Perhaps a beginning could be those convicted of more than one offence,
and those known to collect child pornography and/or network with other abusers.
Currently Interpol issues 'green notices' on what they define as known 'paedophiles' to
all member countries. It is then up to national forces to act on them. Public information
on who holds what information is needed for all agencies who have responsibility for
children. It is also vital that private and voluntary sector organisations have access to
police checks for prospective employees/workers.
Whilst the understanding of child pornography has shifted somewhat, there still needs
to be more emphasis on the harm done to children in its production, an approach to
prosecution and support services which emphasises production as a form of child
abuse, and which is aware of the connections between pornography and prostitution.
Within this, attention needs to be paid to the fact that children themselves, especially
young children, are often unaware at the time of the potential consequences of what has
been done to them. It is only when they are older that they may be troubled by the fact
that a record of their abuse may still exist, and may be being distributed to unknown
others, or that elements of their abuse included forms of prostitution.
Within discussions about responses to sexual exploitation, the tensions between child
protection and children/young people's rights to choice and self determination also need
to be addressed. In particular do we need to make distinctions between children and
young people, and if so in what ways and for what reasons? Only when these issues
have been discussed and debated within agencies and by policy makers will it be
possible to produce policy and practice guidelines which are sensitive to the complex
issues involved.