More kiddie porn

May 8, 2002

Wired brings up the issue of child pornography again. This time, it is not virtual pornography but about people who work with loopholes in the current system. According to the article, "U.S. law defines kiddie porn as depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, such as intercourse and masturbation, or that show 'lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area.'" These sites get around the issue by depicting boys that are naked, and may even have an erection, but avoid any type of sexual conduct.

However, proving lascivious intent in court is extremely difficult. The prosecutor would have to demonstrate that the producer of the material intended to elicit a sexual response with the images or that the subscriber viewed the images for sexual arousal.

Unless the images are in a folder called something like, "hot little kids I'd like to have sex with," it would be hard for prosecutors to argue that the subscriber had lewd interest in the material.

Obviously, this is troubling. Even though many of the sites have titles that suggest lascivious content, it has still been tough to bring down these sites.

I wish I could say that the article had a happy ending, but there isn't one as of now. As I've said before, in almost all cases I am pro-free speech, but when a child is being subjected to ill will, that's a no go.

Update: Here is an interview with a man who runs a child pornography site. Nothing too surprising, but still intriguing.

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