Internet usage creates challenges for protecting children



The creation and increased popularity of the Internet has allowed millions of users the ability to buy products, re-connect with old friends, and learn about new places and environments.  However, the Internet has also allowed child predators to lurk in the dark corners of the World Wide Web and share illegal images of children.  In the United States it is a federal crime to knowingly access, distribute, manufacture, and possess with the intent to view child pornography.  All 50 states and the District of Columbia also have laws against child pornography.  

According to a July 29, 2012 Boston Globe article by Jenifer B. McKim about investigating Internet child pornography: “There has been a proliferation of sexual abuse pictures in recent years with the spread of high-speed Internet access and identity-masking software, according to Ernie Allen,” who is the founding chairman of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

According to a 2008 study by Michael Bourke – chief psychologist at the U.S. Marshals Service, 85% of men arrested for possession of child pornography had also been sexually exploited as a child.

Research has indicated the 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be the victims of sexual assault before adulthood.

For more information and resources regarding prevention of child pornography, abuse and neglect visit:

Stop it Now: http://www.stopitnow.org/

The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW): https://www.nsopw.gov/en/Home/About

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: https://www.ice.gov/cyber-crimes/resources

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: http://www.missingkids.com/home

Sources: “Led by an innocent into a web of evil,” by Jenifer B. McKim, The Boston Globe. July 29, 2012

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recovery Month supports addiction treatment programs and services

F or twenty-three years Americans have celebrated the month of September as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.   The purpose of Recovery month is to educate Americans about mental health services and addiction treatment programs that can help people struggling with substance abuse.   Recovery month also raises awareness about specific challenges that people in recovery face.   Although drug and alcohol addictions are complex problems with the correct treatment and support people who struggle with these addictions can recover. In a Presidential Proclamation On August 31, 2012, President Barack Obama declared September 2012 as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.   In his proclamation Obama said: “Over the past 3 years, we have worked to strengthen substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, and to support Americans in recovery… Drug and alcohol abuse continue to take a tragic toll on millions of lives across our country.   Yet, while more remai
Read more

The Life and Art of Allan Rohan Crite

Image
The Boston Public Library was one of three locations in the city of Boston to display the art work of longtime Bostonian and artist Allan Rohan Crite. Beginning in the fall of 2007 until February 3, 2008, the BPL, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists exhibited collected works of art from Crite’s storied career in The Life and Art of Allan Rohan Crite: 1910-2007 . Funded in part by the Boston Public Library Foundation, the exhibit offered onlookers a view into Crite’s lengthy artistic career. When I visited the exhibit on January 19, 2008, over fifty collages, drawings, paintings, and sketches adorned the Wiggins Gallery in the McKim Building of The Boston Public Library. Crite was born on March 20, 1910, in Plainfield, New Jersey. In that same year, his family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Crite would later make Boston his home as an adult. Over the course of his distinguished career he promoted visual art as a lecturer, p
Read more

Political legislation brings attention to US Dental Care Crisis

A ccording to a report created by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) there is a national crisis in American dental care.   On June 7, 2012 Cummings and Sanders – the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, introduced legislation to address the inefficiencies in the American dental care system.   Approximately 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance.   ¼ of American adults 65 and older have lost all of their teeth.   More than 75% of American adults over 30 have gum disease.   Additionally, about 17 million low-income children do not go to the dentist every year. On June 26, 2012, PBS aired a documentary about the U.S. dental care system on the investigative news program FRONTLINE .   The 50 minute documentary, Dollars and Dentists , analyzes current economic trends and patient access in the dental care industry.   The documentary is a joint investigative piece by FRONTLINE and the Center fo
Read more