Spike in child porn raising alarm

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From the ArDemGaz:

U.S. attorney in Fort Smith says only terrorism holds higher priority

FAYETTEVILLE — There’s been a spike in federal childpornography cases in Northwest Arkansas, and the crime is more pervasive and serious than people probably think, prosecutors say. Bob Balfe, U. S. attorney in Fort Smith, said child pornography indictments jumped from five to 45 between 2004 and 2007, and that convictions and referrals by police rose dramatically, too. Balfe’s office — which covers the western half of Arkansas — has about 40 outstanding child pornography cases. Six involve people accused of producing their own pornography with children as young as 6.

“People have a misconception about what child pornography is,” Balfe said. “They think we’re dealing with photos of scantily clad teenage girls, but that’s far from the case. More often than not, these are computer images and videos of young, young children — even infants and toddlers — being violently and sexually assaulted.” Each image represents a real child, said Balfe, who added that pornography investigations are his office’s second priority after fighting terrorism.

“One look at this material, and it’s instantly obvious that child pornography is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable,” he said.

The attention to child pornography is part of the 2006 national Project Safe Childhood initiative. It helps authorities concentrate on catching child predators, including those who solicit children for sex and who distribute child pornography.

In Balfe’s office, assistant U. S. attorney Kyra Jenner is coordinator of Project Safe Childhood. She and assistant U. S. attorney Candace Taylor prosecute the cases.

“Investigating agencies keep bringing us more and more of these cases,” Balfe said. “It’s incredible how many people have been engaging in this behavior for a long, long time and how pervasive the problem is.” Last week, a Springdale man was convicted in a six-count indictment in what the FBI said was their largest child pornography arrest in Arkansas.

Joseph Michael Rector, 56, had more than 192, 000 sexually explicit images on computers at his home, and he filmed a video of himself molesting a 6-year-old girl, the FBI said.

Jenner said the activity seems to coincide with the advent of digital and video cameras. She said the FBI worked a case where a defendant used a cell phone to take pictures of an adult having sex with a child.

“The victims being photographed are younger and younger, and the content of photographs has become more disturbing,” she said. “Instead of a photograph of a nude child posed in a sexually provocative manner, which most people think constitutes child pornography, the photographs and videos we see depict children performing sex acts on adults and adults of five years per count for possession and 10 years per count for production.

He said prosecuting the cases is a way to punish child predators without making the youthful victims endure the pain of a trial. In the cases, children who were victimized don’t typically testify at trial. Prosecutors instead focus on evidence showing that the defendant possessed, received or distributed the material.

“ It’s allowing us to get a lot of bad people off the streets without making the child take the stand and testify,” he said. sexually penetrating a child. ” Balfe said his office hasn’t investigated anyone accused of producing child pornography for profit, although nationally there are such cases.

“The defendants we see want the material to add to their own collection and also to trade for new images,” Balfe said. “They’re trading over the Internet, and they have to have something to offer in order to receive new images.” He said the child pornography convictions are netting average minimum prison sentences

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