Using obscenity laws to crack down on cybercrimes against children is an idea that got plenty of attention at this week's Internet Crimes Against Children Conference (ICACC) of leaders from its forty task force units nationwide. But it's also getting a thumbs-down from Adult Sites Against Child Pornography (ASACP), which says the idea perpetuates the misconception that adult entertainment material and child porn are similar.
"Going after obscenity is not protecting the children," said ASACP executive director Joan Irvine.
"I want to challenge you," Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention administrator Robert Flores told the ICACC conference August 19, "to think about obscenity prosecution and investigation as part of the day-to-day work of the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces."
This program was created five years ago in a nationwide bid to fight Internet predators whose particular targets of choice are young children, according to a published report, which noted obscenity investigations can get more complex when prosecuted but carry heavy fines and penalties regardless.
That may be why the idea of using obscenity prosecutions as a new route to attack Net predators will take time to accept, according to at least task force commander in Minnesota. "We'll have to see," said Michael Morehead of the St. Paul Police Department, "how it's accepted by the law enforcement community."
It isn't accepted by ASACP, Irvine said. "Once again, government officials are making the mistake of equating adult entertainment with child pornography. That is why it's very important for (us) to be working with government officials and attending conferences.
"There is so much child pornography out there that I'm concerned that the government isn't focusing on arresting these horrific criminals and, instead, are going to waste their precious and limited resources to arrest people for obscenity," Irvine added.
"There is a steady increase in Internet crimes as more and more people get computers, not only in America but in the world," Morehead told the ICACC conference. "There's never been a reduction in Internet crime; it's a steady growth industry."
Indeed, two days after those remarks, an annual child porn assessment showed it more than doubling in the past year in the U.K., according to the BBC. The National Criminal Intelligence Service added that online child sex predators "are becoming much more cunning in their attempts to avoid detection," the BBC added, while Internet Watch Foundation reported a 64 percent rise in illegal child porn sites – most in the U.S. but almost doubling in volume from Russia as well – reported last year.
Irvine said it's crucial for law enforcement to continue learning and communicating the distinction between actual pedophilia and child porn and lawful adult-oriented materials and their users.
"Once again, they're talking about pedophiles, online child sex networks," she said. "They're not talking about adult sites. Child sex offenders are not owners of adult sites. They're out there in the peer-to-peer (community), using Yahoo, MSN, those type of communities, to lure children and to be passing those horrible images. And that has nothing to do with the adult site industry. They're comparing apples to oranges.
"I think everybody agrees that child pornography and the people behind it to be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," she continued. "And I wish the government would focus on that."
