Webb
The Hardest Topic I Have Ever Researched.
by Jessica Webb
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/massive-child-porn-sting-nets-14-deviants-preyed-251-victims-feds-article-1.1726752
Technology is increasingly becoming more advanced. It is ever changing, whether it is the newest social media platform, a top rated application or a popular new online video game. There are more and more new ways for predators to find children. Child pornography is distributed usually in two ways; either trading happens among like-minded offenders on peer-to-peer networks or it is made for a profit by making it a commercial business, and purchased by collectors of juvenile pornography. While most of these pedophiles are collectors, they consider the child porn they collect to be a treasure to them, and rather than risk the possible loss of their treasures they do not password protect their images. A fear that any person would have is forgetting their password but these predators it is something they cannot dare to chance (Deputy Sheriff Andrew Brosi). News of child predators rarely has printed or promoted on television or in the newspapers, because it is heart wrenching, disgusting and know one wants to know what people do to children. But the truth is predators are becoming more prevalent in our culture and it needs to stop. Society needs to know that we need to keep a better and closer watch on our children and who we allow to be around them.
Deputy Sheriff Brosi, Talks about Predators who are treasure collectors
The interviewees that I chose collectively have experience in the entire investigation process in catching online predators. Investigating from the front line of online searches, home stakeouts and seizures, as well as the exploration of confiscated electronic devices. My first interviewee was Deputy Sheriff Andrew Brosi from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office; who has been in law enforcement for fourteen years, for the past six years was a Detective in the High Tech Crimes Unit where roughly fifty percent of his workload was computer forensics in cases that were pursuing the apprehension of child predators. Sheriff Brosi would receive and scour computers, phones and other electronics seized from the predators that have collected numerous files of child pornography. Deputy Sheriff Brosi had much insight on what goes on in investigating the evidence found by the task force revealing the many reasons these predators should be put away. My second interviewee was Sergeant Gregory Lombardo with the San Jose Police Department; who has been in law enforcement for eighteen years, and is the Sergeant for the Child Exploits Detail as well as the Commander of Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Lombardo has been a Sergeant for 6 years, worked in the sexual assault units 4 years, 1 year as the Megan’s law supervisor and for the last 3 years has worked as the ICAC Commander. Sergeant Lombardo is the front line in the investigations against child predators and had more information than I ever thought I would know about child predators. Being the head of the ICAC he revealed to me that large companies are starting to do their part in caching these criminals while the task force will go to great lengths to do the same.
Sergeant Lombardo informed me that there are roughly three different ways the International Crimes Against Children Department (ICAC) Links to an external site. goes about finding the predators. The first one is via cyber tips; on most of the new social media site such as; Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, etc., they sign a user agreement allowing the companies to look at your content with out a search and seizure and no need for a search warrant.
Sergeant Lombardo, Facebook helps ICAC
Stated on the CNET article Links to an external site. (2011), “Facebook is expanding its efforts to fight child pornography using Microsoft technology. The world's largest social network has joined the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's PhotoDNA program.” If you store photos on these companies' websites you give up your right to privacy. If any from of child pornography is found they will report the images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Based on an IP address they will search what area of the country the images are coming from and they will send the cyber tip to the International Crimes Against Children Department in that area. The second way the ICAC task force is finding child predators is going into ever-popular chat rooms and pretending to be 10-12 year old girls or boys and talking to whom they think may be a threat to children.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/massive-child-porn-sting-nets-14-deviants-preyed-251-victims-feds-article-1.1726752
On occasion Sergeant Lombardo and his task force portray themselves as a parent trying to pimp his son or daughter out to anyone who may be interested. The third and most often used tactic of the ICAC is child porn investigations, searching through peer-to-peer networks; there are so many different sites out there that are for the most part anonymous. People who know about these peer-to-peer networks; Limewire, Frostwire, Aries Network, Emule, and Bitorrent, often think it is for downloading music but for years criminals have been using these sites to download and share child pornography with one another. A site that is popular because of its anonymity is 4chan, the site itself advocates for online anonymity, it gives the opportunity for these pedophiles to post their treasures of child pornography photos with other people who desire to see them as well, but also including people that are disgusted by the images. 4chan also gives an easy hidden access route for pedophiles to share such awful images (Meikle and Young, 2012). With the use of these sites and the government watching their every keystroke, pedophiles and other criminals have switched over to Darknet. Thompson states, “Darknet sites are hosted on regular servers, but to access them you need special software, usually something that encrypts all users’ traffic and allows them relative anonymity. Get set up with the right technology and presto, you can see a second, parallel Internet” (Discussion, Para 2). This anonymous Internet called Darknet cannot be seen by regular Internet users; you have to have the desire, smarts and secrecy to use this kind of Internet, which is crowded with criminals spanning from weapon and drug sales to pedophile rings.
The Internet has become a stand-alone culture; people use the Internet so much during their waking hours, it is no wonder the children of the world are starting to do the same. They want to be on the latest applications, websites and gaming platforms, which grants easier access for pedophiles to reach children, than if they spent less time on their electronics. Social interaction is a big priority to kids these days and they are raised that way, but the fact is that there needs to be set limits on who or how they are interacting with people. Castells describes, “Technological systems are socially produced. Social production is culturally informed. The Internet is no exception. The culture of the producers of the Internet shape the medium” (Castells, 2002). The Internet’s success is based on the numerous people who access it every day and cannot seem to stay away.
There are more people online than you can possibly imagine trying to lure our children into sending explicit photos, videos or even trying to meet up with them without our knowledge. Now is the time to teach and watch our children closer than ever. If it was anything that I learned from researching the capturing of online child predators is that you become more cynical about who is around your children and more cases than not it is a male figure. Whether that male is a teacher, after school caregiver, boy scout troop leader or anyone that is around our children the most and suppose to care for their safety and well being.
End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography & Trafficking off Children for Sexual Purposes Links to an external site. or ECPAT is and organization that strives to keep children of all ages, race, and gender, safe from predators worldwide. Keeping children safe from harm is there main goal, as it should be for everyone else in any culture, these children are one day what our world will be run by and they don’t need to have had a traumatic experience define and regulate the rest of their lives.
References
Meikle, G., & Young, S. (2012). Media convergence: Networked digital media in everyday life. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Castells, M. (2002). *The internet galaxy*: *Reflections of the internet, business, and society.* New York: Oxford University Press
Thompson, C. (2013). The Darkest Place on the Internet Isn't Just for Criminals. Retrieved April 4, 2014 from http://www.wired.com/2013/10/thompson/
Reisinger, D. (2011). Microsoft and Facebook team up to fight child porn. Retrieved April 4, 2014 from http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-and-facebook-team-up-to-fight-child-porn/
Stephens, M. (2014). Feds arrest 14 in huge child porn bust; 4 E. Texas children among hundreds of victims. Retrieved April 4, 2014 from http://www.kltv.com/story/25008753/feds-arrest-14-in-huge-child-porn-bust-4-e-texas-children-among-hundreds-of-victims
Hundreds of British paedophiles still at large as worldwide swoop on 341 suspected sex offenders fails to net any in UK despite police receiving tip-off list 18 months ago. (2013). Retrieved April 4, 2014 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2507733/Hundreds-British-paedophiles-large-Project-Spade-fails-net-UK.html