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Child Porn Among Fastest Growing Internet Businesses

By LifeSiteNews.com Staff

ALEXANDRIA, Va., November 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Within only a few years, child pornography has become a multi-billion dollar commercial enterprise, and is among the fastest growing businesses on the Internet.  Through the use of digital and web cameras, child pornography has become easier and less expensive to produce.  Distribution on the Internet has facilitated instant access by thousands and possibly millions of individuals throughout the world. The ability to use credit cards to purchase child pornography has made it easier than ever to obtain.

Arrests in the United States for the possession of child pornography, during a one-year period from 2000 to 2001, exposed alarming activities.

According to investigators, the majority of those arrested had images of children who had not yet reached puberty.  Specifically, 83% had pornographic material that involved children between ages of 6 and 12; 39% had material involving children between ages 3 and 5; and 19% had images of infants or toddlers under age 3.

"The ease and anonymity of using home computers has revolutionized accessibility as well as the production and distribution of child pornography, especially across international borders," said Ernie Allen, President and CEO, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). "The fact that child pornography can be purchased using a credit card, or traded at no cost on the Internet, is causing an exploding global problem and an immeasurable impact on the sexual exploitation of children."

The exact number of Web sites is difficult to determine.  Since 1997, the number of child pornography images on the Internet is estimated to have increased by 1500%.  It is estimated that 100,000 child pornography Web sites exist on the Internet, and that number may be increasing. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline received 21,603 reports of child pornography in 2001, and in 2004 it received 106,176 reports -- a 491% increase over a four-year period.

Child pornography is illegal in most countries.  The possession and/or distribution of child pornography is a federal crime in the United States.  It is estimated that 20% of all pornography on the Internet involves children.

"Traditionally, we have viewed pedophiles as the users and distributors of child pornography," said Allen. "However, we are shocked to learn that the consumer market for child pornography is growing and becoming much broader.

Younger and younger children are being victimized, and the content is becoming more graphic and more violent."

Resources:
http://www.missingkids.com
http://www.cybertipline.com

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