The Child Pornography Epidemic

I don't find myself watching Opera very often, but a recent episode caught my attention and really opened my eyes. The episode I'm speaking of involved a Florida investigation into child pornography. Being the parent of a four year old girl and "daddy to be" of a little boy any day now; the topic really peaked my interest. As I listened in, I quickly realized it was much worse than I imagined. I knew there were some real sick individuals out there, but I guess it didn't really hit home as to what they were doing. This is not just pictures. This is absolutely horrifying and must be stopped. Law enforcement is calling it an epidemic with literally hundreds of thousands of offenders nationwide. Let me be clear, child pornography includes sexual conduct. Sexual conduct means penetration, means rape of children, means bondage with children. It is disgusting and the thought of this happening to a child turns my stomach, but at the same time invokes rage. These animals prey on babies as young as a year old. Often they force children to do things with animals! Now I believe in our justice system and the concept of innocent until proven guilty EXCEPT for offenses such as these. Now my intention is to help raise awareness, to that you need to understand what is going on. You need to be offended when you hear the details, this is the only way I know to really motivate the public to take action. WARNING: THE MATERIAL DISCUSSED ON THIS PAGE IS GRAPHIC AND OFFENSIVE. THIS IS NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN. As I discussed earlier the episode involved child porn and specifically a case being investigated in Florida. Here is a description of what police found on the suspects computer. A little girl who was 4 or 5 years old. "She is in a bedroom. There are other children on the bed as well, and she is bound from her hands. They're bound to her ankles by duct tape," she says. "There is an adult male in the room with no clothing on who begins to fondle her. The child is completely exposed, and there is no mistaking what is happening. The guy rapes her." This video goes on form more than 40 minutes. In this time, the child endures repeated penetration by an adult male. Another video shows a young girl putting her mouth and hands on a dog's sexual organs. "There's a person shooting that from underneath the dog telling her: 'No, do it this way. No, do it again." This is what they mean when they speak of child porn! It has to be stopped, so what can we do? What do parents need to know to keep their children safe? First, mothers and fathers need to be aware of how much volume is out there and understand what their children are doing on their computers. We (as parents or guardians) can't tell our children what not to do if we don't know what they're talking about. To inform yourself and get resources, visit websites like SafeFlorida.net or MissingKids.com. Knowledge is power and key to us keeping our children safe. Please use these resources and please tell everyone you know about this problem of "epidemic proportions". You may also want to watch Raising Awareness About Child Porn Video