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SALT LAKE CITY -- Child pornography is a disturbing subject, but on Wednesday members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force reported a disturbing trend: More people who view pornography are also molesting children and making their own videotapes.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff called this a major announcement.
Child Pornography Arrests
| Year | Arrests | %Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 77 | - |
| 2008 | 108 | 40% |
| 2009 | 130 | 69% |
Sixteen arrests were made in January in connection to Operation Frostbite, which involved a number of agencies targeting suspects who were victimizing children on the Internet.
The task force gathered to announce arrests, but also to talk about a new concern. The officers warn that people do not view pornography simply as a curiosity. They are watching children being sexually abused, and many are now acting on what they are seeing.
Task force members have a new phrase: "Those who view it, do it." On average, they believe each molester has harmed at least 13 children.
On average, each molestor has harmed at least 13 children. -ICAC Task Force
Several of the men were charged and sentenced. Their crimes range from possession of child pornography to distribution of it to exploitation of children.
In Utah, arrests for crimes related to or stemming from child pornography have increased 70 percent in the last two years. The task force members made 77 arrests in 2007, 108 arrests in 2008 and 130 arrests in 2009. They believe even more are manufacturing their own pornography.
Capt. Jessica Farnsworth, commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said offenders often "upload these videos to the Internet to share with other offenders. This feeds their addiction and also fuels their desire to hurt more children."
There is some good news: Task force members have helped to rescue several children in this process, which the agents say is equally important. So far, they have identified three of them, but it's very hard to rescue them.
40 percent of child pornography offenders are "dual offenders," trading in child pornography and sexually acting out on a child. -National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Darren Williams, a special agent with the task force, said finding the children "started out [by looking at] stuff that was in the background of the picture, and we were able to identify that it was in Utah. And just through the course of the investigation, extremely long and tedious, we found out who the kid was."
Coy Acocks, a special agent at the attorney general's office, said, "The thing that really hit me the hardest was the fact that we empowered that child to say, ‘This isn't OK,' to trust the system and trust the police, and to come out and not let that happen to her any longer."
Acocks was talking about a 9-year-old girl. The children are now receiving counseling.
The agents said most of the time the parents are not aware their children have been molested and videotaped and are on the Internet.
E-mail: cmikita@ksl.com
