The Crime

Child Pornography

In America child pornography is a legal term used in the criminal justice system. There is a growing movement objecting to the term and a corresponding debate about what this crime should be called. Some argue child sex abuse is not adequate because sex describes legal, consenting adult behavior rather than the illegal rape of children. Child exploitation, others say, is a weak phrase that does not capture the reality of the crime. These arguments are accurate. What is being done to our children is not child pornography, exploitation or sex. It is rape and torture often meeting the Convention Against Torture (CAT) definition.

Pedophiles frequently discuss being aroused by committing and watching others commit violence against children. They say they want the child to suffer. They want to "see blood." Children are often bound, gagged and violently assaulted. Pedophiles like Benjamin Levin, a former University of Toronto professor and Deputy Minister of Education in Canada, say things like they want to "f— all three (of her children) in front of you with your help ... would they submit or would I need to tie them?" Pedophiles ask for images of babies being raped saying, "the bloodier the better."

Pedophiles also discuss, and are involved in, killing children with what seems to be alarming frequency. In 2000, for example, the Guardian reported son a British child-snuff network which included a video series titled Necros Pedo where children were raped and tortured until they died. Many of the children had been taken from Russian orphanages. In June 2017, Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commander Lesa Gale warned about child snuff films seen by the AFP in their investigations. More than a few of those arrested in America, including people holding government positions, have discussed killing children. People like the former Acting Director of Cyber Security at the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Timothy DeFoggi, who "expressed an interest in the violent rape and murder of children" and planned these crimes with other pedophiles.

Additionally, murdering and/or attempting to murder the child witness is not uncommon. As Rita Karakas, of Save the Children Canada, explains "sexual abusers kill children to eliminate witnesses." Such as Michael Gardner, Democratic Party Chair in Falls Church, Virginia. Gardner attempted, from jail, to have the children he abused killed so he might avoid prosecution. He had used his own children as bait, as pedophiles often do, to sexually assault their friends during a "slumber party for his daughter's 10th birthday." If pedophiles are killing children for pleasure, as documented by investigators and media reports of arrests, then murdering a child to avoid prosecution is not surprising pedophile behavior.

The "trade in child rape and torture" is the phrase I am most comfortable with because that is what is occurring. Although I agree with Interpol's position "terms such as 'kiddy porn' and 'child porn' are used by criminals and should not be legitimate language used by law enforcement, judiciary, the public or media," I do use "child pornography" throughout this book because it is still a current legal description in the United States. Of course, this term needs to change. The crime should be legally called what it is and prosecuted as such. Prosecutors should use the Convention Against Torture. Organizations devoted to ending torture, such as Amnesty International, should focus on aiding American children depicted in these crime scenes.

Pedophilia

There is also a debate about the word "pedophilia." Some believe the term should be "pedosadism" because what is being done to children is not "child love," as pedophilia implies, but sadistic, violent abuse; sadism. While I agree with this logic, I use the term pedophile because it is commonly understood in America. I do not use any of the terms that seek to differentiate pedophiles, like hebephilia, because I find the views of some mental health professionals who use these various terms to be incorrect and, perhaps, based on false premises.

This crime is not about sexual attraction. The "sexual attraction to pubescent youngsters" is not normal – as some mental health professionals argue. It is important to note, when considering the mental health research, that more than a few in the mental health sector have been arrested for trading in child rape. So many, indeed, it is a subject for an entirely separate book. Mental health experts making the argument that pedophilia is normal may be creating a legal cover to justify their own crimes. In naming the crime, it is important to consider three key flaws with the mental health argument about "attraction."

First, from my own extensive reading of hundreds of child pornography arrests, what pedophiles most often discuss is a desire to harm children – not an attraction to children. They trade files labeled "torture12.jpg." They write "slut hurt me" across the bodies of small children before raping them. They want to see the children bound and gagged, hurt, bleed and sometimes murdered. If there is any "attraction" within this crime in America, judging by the arrest records, it is white men in leadership positions "attracted" to their own power to harm society's most vulnerable; our children.

Second, it is documented that most offenders "do not automatically have a sexual preference for children." Pedophiles rape and abuse children because it is easy to do. The more vulnerable the child the better. They do this because they care about obtaining gratification for themselves, regardless of the damage it does to anyone else. In fact, the pain they inflict on others is often what gives them gratification. Children are easier to control and abuse than adults, with a far greater chance of impunity for the crime. That is why pedophiles target children. They are an easy and safe mark. It is a strategic choice, not a sexual preference.

Third, the extensive involvement of organized crime in the trade of child rape is well established. Organized crime's sexual exploitation of children "is motivated by the vulnerability of the child rather than a specific sexual interest in children." People who obtain pleasure watching, possessing, trading and producing the rape and torture of children are criminals. Pedophiles are situational offenders who rape children and trade in child rape because they can, "simply because it is available." Because we, as a society, have allowed child pornography to be easily and profitably accessible.

Because we have failed to protect our children.

Background

It is beyond the scope of this book to provide a detailed description of the history of child pornography and legal statutes prohibiting the offense. It is also outside my remit to include a complete analysis of all the literature. Instead, I provide a brief overview of key...