NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–America has become a far more dangerous place for children because of an onslaught of online child pornography and because the U.S. Supreme Court appears more intent on protecting adults’ rights than children, Richard Land said Aug. 31.
“It is a far more dangerous world in which we now live when it comes to sexual predators and being victimized by sex criminals than the world we lived in just two years ago,” Land insisted on his weekly Saturday afternoon radio program, “Richard Land Live!”
“When the Supreme Court made its decision last April that virtual child pornography was constitutional and protected under the First Amendment, I went on the air and said, ‘This would be a disaster for women and children, it would greatly increase online child pornography and increase crimes of sexual violence against women and children,'” Land said. “I am depressed that I was right on this count. It is already happening.”
“Richard Land Live!” is a caller-driven, midday talk program that airs each Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern time over the Salem Radio Network.
Land cited Wendy J. Murphy, a former child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor and visiting scholar at Harvard Law School, who reported on a Fox News Network program that federal officials are telling her that reports of online child pornography are up 30 percent so far this year. She appeared on the network’s “O’Reilly Factor” Aug. 28.
The pornography industry is making money by perverting the hearts and minds of men and women and endangering America’s children, Land stated.
Immediately after the court decision was announced, he noted, one of the sites offering pornography featured a waving U.S. flag and an expression of gratitude to the court.
“These perverts who are pandering to other perverts are grateful to the Supreme Court for their First Amendment cover,” Land said. “This is outrageous.
“The April 16th Supreme Court ruling allowing computer-generated child pornography means that anyone can conjure up images of adults sexually abusing children on the Internet or in another media and not be prosecuted as long as an actual child is not used in the making of the pornography,” he said. “This is about as wrongheaded a decision as the Supreme Court has ever made.”
Land said the justices made their decision upon an old and totally disproved belief that pornography is a victimless crime if real people are not used to make it.
The six justices who said this pornography was protected speech ignored the massive amount of evidence that shows exposure to child pornography leads people to become sexual predators and that this material is used in their attempts to seduce and molest victims, he continued.
In congressional testimony, FBI agent Michael Heimbach reported that nearly 40 percent of child pornography purveyors busted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were found to have also been involved in the sexual molestation of children. Heimbach appeared before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security on May 1.
In his House testimony, Heimbach said child pornography is used by child molesters to demonstrate sex acts to children; lower the sexual inhibitions of children; desensitize them to sex; and sexually arouse children.
Child pornography acts to seduce child pornographers to act, Land said. “This disgusting material feeds on itself, giving these child predators false assurance that they are not alone in their perverted behavior.”
Sexual predators come from every walk of life, Land noted. In its Operation Candyman, the FBI has arrested a school bus driver, a foster parent, a mentor for underprivileged children, a member of the armed forces, a janitor, an office manager, a security guard and his wife, and many others as part of an international child pornography e-group.
A study conducted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons revealed that 76 percent of incarcerated child pornographers admitted committing “contact sex crimes” with children that were not discovered by law enforcement, Land noted.
In the 2000 study, Andres Hernandez, director of the sex offender treatment program in the federal bureau, wrote, “These offenders target children in cyberspace in a similar manner as offenders who prey on children in their neighborhood or nearby park. They seek vulnerable children, gradually groom them and eventually contact them to perpetrate sexual abuse.”
There is a stunning and sickening correlation between the viewing of images of children being molested — whether or not they are real children or electronically contrived — and the actual sexual abuse of children,” Land said. “That is the fact that the Supreme Court ignored.”
In its decision, the Supreme Court tossed a web of protection around child pornographers while leaving innocent children unprotected, Land stressed.
While child abductions in general have remained level from last year, the number of sexually motivated child abductions has jumped dramatically, he explained. “What this means is that your children are in greater danger today than they have ever been before,” Land said. “On the playground, at school, in a store, your children are in a much more vicious environment. Parents have to take precautions like never before. We must warn our children about predators, including warning our teenagers about online predators.
“On average, one in five children is sexually solicited over the Internet,” Land said, citing research conducted by the University of New Hampshire and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on youngsters 10-17 years old. “Even more disturbing,” he continued, “is the finding that one in 33 of these children were aggressively solicited, that is, they were asked to meet the solicitor somewhere or were contacted by phone or U.S. mail.”
Another guest on the “O’Reilly Factor” demonstrated that many children are easy prey for sexual predators, Land said.
David Lundberg, a Salt Lake City-based private investigator known for his work in the Elizabeth Smart abduction case, explained Aug. 30 that he approached six children in a Salt Lake City park and asked them to accompany them to his car for a treat. Five out of the six youngsters compiled, voluntarily entering his car anticipating the gift, Lundberg recounted. The children’s parents gave approval for the impromptu experiment.
“I want to get the attention of parents and grandparents as well as those responsible for caring for children,” Land said. “You cannot rely on children’s judgment of the safety of their environment.”
Land encouraged parents to talk about the dangers in the culture on a regular basis. “Role play with your child, help them understand adults don’t need children’s help, no matter how convincing an adult is.”
He urged parents to listen to their children and to give credence to their reports about the suspicious behavior of other adults, adding, “We must do everything we can in our churches and daycares to screen caregivers so we minimize the opportunities for sexual predators to sneak into positions where they have access to our children.”
–30–
