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04.21.06
Gonzales Targeting Online Child Predators
 By
David A. Utter
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales spoke candidly about the growing threat of child porn and a need to take greater action against those who commit the acts and distribute them online.
At the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Gonzales cited a study that claimed one child in five is solicited online. The transcript of his speech showed Gonzales calling for greater parental awareness of the threats posed by sexual predators online, and he detailed some of the graphic evidence he has viewed from various investigations.
"If we do not talk candidly, then it is easy for people to turn away and worry about other matters," Gonzales said. He briefly touched on several scenes captured by DOJ investigators to illustrate the horrifying and painful abuses perpetrated on children, some as young as infants.
"It is not a victimless crime," Gonzales said. "Most images today of child pornography depict actual sexual abuse of real children. Each image literally documents a crime scene."
He also pointed a finger of blame at the Internet itself, and claimed the ability for these criminals to find a community has driven them to produce even more images, with the victims becoming younger and the abuse "more graphic, more heinous, and more disturbing."
Part of combating the problem, which President Bush has demanded "will be a primary target of law enforcement," will be the formal implementation of Project Safe Childhood by the Department of Justice. Gonzales said he would announce more details of that in May.
The Project will have an impact on Internet service providers, some of whom Gonzales criticized for failing to keep records for a reasonable amount of time. He also noted that such retention must also address legitimate privacy rights.
To enforce that, a new piece of legislation, the Child Pornography and Obscenity Prevention Amendments of 2006, will require ISPs to report child porn on their systems, and provides criminal penalties for ones that fail to do so. "It will also prevent people from inadvertently stumbling across pornographic images on the Internet," Gonzales said.
About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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