Sexual Exploitation of Children
While information on these subjects is incomprehensible to most people, it is a sobering dose of reality that these evil acts do occur and more frequently than you would think!
Having a GPS Tracker is critical in the first few hours that a child is victimized! Stay connected to your kids. (Click Here To Learn About The New GPS Child Tracking Device)
Child Prostitution
While the existence of prostitution has been acknowledged as an age-old problem, little is known about the recent explosion of juvenile prostitution and its abuse and exploitation of youth in the United States.
Each year thousands of children run away from home, are forced out of their homes, or are simply abducted by their parents or guardians. The National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children 2 (NISMART-2), conducted by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), estimates that in 1999 more than 1,680,000 children had runaway or thrownaway episodes.
Some of these children leave home to escape physical or sexual abuse or neglect. Unfortunately, many end up on the streets. Without legitimate means of support and a safe place to stay, they are often victimized again through pornography sexual exploitation, and drugs.
Child Pornography
Under federal law (18 U.S.C. §2256), child pornography1 is defined as any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where
the production of the visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
the visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
the visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Federal law (18 U.S.C. §1466A) also criminalizes knowingly producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing with intent to distribute, a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture or painting, that
depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and is obscene, or
depicts an image that is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in graphic bestiality, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex and such depiction lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Sexually explicit conduct is defined under federal law (18 U.S.C. §2256) as actual or simulated sexual intercourse (including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex), bestiality, masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse, or lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person.
Sex Tourism Involving Children
Sex tourism involving children is defined as traveling to a foreign country with the intent to engage in sexual activity with a child. Under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2423), it is illegal for a U.S. citizen to travel abroad intending to engage in sexual activity with a child younger than 18 that would be illegal if it occurred in the U.S. Individuals who commit these crimes are subject to prosecution in the U.S. even if the crime was committed on foreign soil.
Extra-Familia Child Sexual Molestation
Extra-familial child sexual molestation is the molestation of a child by someone other than a family member. Child victims can be any age, sex, or gender. Molestation can take on many forms and offenders use many ways to introduce children to the sexual activity.
Child molestation can include
Fondling or touching
Adults encouraging children to touch either their own or the adult's genitals
"Flashing" or exposing adult genitals to a child
Showing sexually explicit material to a child
Vaginal or anal intercourse or oral stimulation of the genitals
Sexual activity involving urination, defecation, sadomasochism, or bondage
Child molesters can use many methods such as
Grooming- This describes an offender who is overly patient, attentive, and loving when attempting to introduce the sexual activity and gain the child’s trust.
Overpowering or threatening to harm a child into sexual activity
Affection and gifts to convince the child the sexual activity is positive
Coaxing or persuading a child into sexual activity
Gaining a relative’s trust in order obtain access to a child
Online Enticement
Online enticement, the use of the Internet to entice, invite, or persuade a child to meet for sexual acts or to help arrange such a meeting, is a serious offense.
The Internet holds tremendous potential for our nation's youth; however, the misuse of the Internet to prey on them is a serious problem requiring action by legislators, families, communities, and law enforcement.
There are risks for children who use the Internet or online services. Teenagers are particularly at risk because they often use the computer unsupervised and are more likely than younger children to participate in online discussions regarding companionship, relationships, or sexual activity. A child might provide information or arrange an encounter that could risk his or her safety or the safety of other family members.
Predators have used E-mail, instant messages, bulletin boards, and chat areas to gain a child's confidence and then arrange a face-to-face meeting. This sometimes leads to the child traveling to meet the person he or she is chatting with or the person traveling to meet the child. Sometimes the other party is an adult whose intent is to have sex with the child.
Based on a study of 1,500 Internet users, ages 10 to 17, approximately one in seven received an unwanted sexual solicitation between 1999 and 2000. Four percent of these youths experienced an aggressive solicitation, where the solicitor attempted to contact the child offline. Only five percent of these solicitations were reported to law enforcement, an Internet service provider, or other authority.
Misleading Domain Names
It is a federal crime to knowingly use a misleading domain name on the Internet with the intent to deceive a minor into viewing material that is harmful to minors.
Federal Law
18 U.S.C. § 2252B (2008)
§ 2252B. MISLEADING DOMAIN NAMES ON THE INTERNET
(a) Whoever knowingly uses a misleading domain name on the Internet with the intent to deceive a person into viewing material constituting obscenity shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Whoever knowingly uses a misleading domain name on the Internet with the intent to deceive a minor into viewing material that is harmful to minors on the Internet shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.
(c) For the purposes of this section, a domain name that includes a word or words to indicate the sexual content of the site, such as "sex" or "porn", is not misleading.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the term "material that is harmful to minors" means any communication, consisting of nudity, sex, or excretion, that, taken as a whole and with reference to its context-- (1) predominantly appeals to a prurient interest of minors; (2) is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors; and (3) lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
(e) For the purposes of subsection (d), the term "sex" means acts of masturbation, sexual intercourse, or physcial [physical] contact with a person's genitals, or the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.
Misleading Words or Digital Images
It is a federal crime to knowingly embed words or digital images into the source code of a website with the intent to deceive a minor into viewing material that is harmful to minors.
Federal Law
18 U.S.C. § 2252C (2008)
§ 2252C. MISLEADING WORDS OR DIGITAL IMAGES ON THE INTERNET
(a) In general. Whoever knowingly embeds words or digital images into the source code of a website with the intent to deceive a person into viewing material constituting obscenity shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not more than 10 years.
(b) Minors. Whoever knowingly embeds words or digital images into the source code of a website with the intent to deceive a minor into viewing material harmful to minors on the Internet shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not more than 20 years.
(c) Construction. For the purposes of this section, a word or digital image that clearly indicates the sexual content of the site, such as "sex" or "porn", is not misleading.
(d) Definitions. As used in this section--
(1) the terms "material that is harmful to minors" and "sex" have the meaning given such terms in section 2252B [18 USCS § 2252B]; and
(2) the term "source code" means the combination of text and other characters comprising the content, both viewable and nonviewable, of a web page, including any website publishing language, programming language, protocol or functional content, as well as any successor languages or protocols.
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