THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
by Diana E.H. Russell, Ph.D.
Written September 2004

DO NOT QUOTE WITHOUT OBTAINING MY PERMISSION.

Introduction and Background: I sent this manuscript to my editor at Routledge Publishers in September 2004. Unfortunately, I was very late in meeting my deadline for many reasons, especially my intense involvement in initiating a campaign against the richest landlord in Berkeley (after UC Berkeley) for his 15-year exploitation of minor sexual slaves imported from India -- among other crimes. My editor had just quit her position at Routledge to accept a job at the New York University Press, so my manuscript remained unread while Routledge searched for a new editor. By January of 2005, a new editor had still not been hired, so I wrote to Mary McGinnis, the Vice President of Routledge to ask her what I should do about this. I feared if I revised the manuscript before I had an editor, she might well request that I revise it yet again. Ms. McGinnis told me to go ahead and revise it. Meanwhile, she said she would also like to see my manuscript. Less than a week later, she called me and declared that, "There is no way that Routledge will be associated with a book of this nature." "Why not?" I asked her. "It's the branding issue," she replied. "What do you mean?" I asked her, but she didn't explain. I interpreted her statement to mean that she didn't want Routledge to become known for publishing such a shocking book. It included many sexually explicit child pornography stories written for pedophiles, as well as descriptions of child pornography, including gross cartoons, all of which were legal. I told Ms. McGinnis that I was willing to remove the material that bothered her, but she insisted that she had discussed the issue with members of the staff, and she wasn't willing to reconsider. She resolutely held to her position despite my continued pleas. Since my manuscript was late, I had broken our contract, so I knew she would have this excuse to disregard it. Of course, this wasn't a genuine concern for her, since she had told me that I should go ahead and revise my manuscript. She said that she would help me find another publisher for this book. However, she did not follow through on this promise. I contacted my previous editor at New York University Press to ask if she and this publishing house would be interested in publishing Stolen Innocence. It so happened that New York University Press had published the major social scientific book on child pornography in recently. So she said that there would be no interest in publishing a book that would be in competition with this volume. I considered suing Routledge for breach of contract, since the lateness issue was obviously not the real reason for refusing to give me a chance to revise my manuscript. A respected colleague advised me not to, because she believed this would make it next to impossible to find another publisher, as well as jeopardizing publishers' interest in future projects of mine.

Stolen Innocence: The Damaging Effects of Child Pornography
Chapter 15: Child Pornography on the Internet

Since it is illegal to view child pornography based on photographs of actual children, this chapter is limited to descriptions of child models whose genitals are covered, pseudo-child pornography, pornographic drawings, written child pornography, cartoons, custom-made cartoons, interactive child pornography, computer-generated child pornography, virtual reality, and accounts by other researchers. I will follow Jenkins' (2001) example of focusing on child pornography of girls on the Internet because, as he noted, the "pedo boards ... seldom traffic in images of young boys" (p. 80).

Jenkins makes the interesting observation that "much of the content of 'child porn' sites depict poses and behaviors that would not be considered pornographic were the subjects adult" (p. 80).

A typology of many different genres of child pornography available on the Internet is described and commented on in the remainder of this chapter.

A TYPOLOGY OF CHILD PORNOGRAPPHY ON THE INTERNET

IA. Borderline child pornography
IB. Borderline child pornography: Child models
II. Soft core child pornography
III. Pseudo-child pornography
IV. Voyeuristic child pornography
V. Child pornography drawings
VI. Written child pornography
A. Search engines and websites
B. Child pornography stories of incest
VII. Custom-made cartoons
VIII. Art as child pornography
IX. Computer-generated child pornography
X. Amateur child pornography
XI. Child pornography on chat rooms for pedophiles
XII. Hardcore child pornography
XIII. Interactive child pornography on the Internet
XIV. Virtual reality

IA. Borderline Child Pornography: Non-Sexualized Images of Children

Jenkins points out that:

Jenkins argues that these pictures "become 'pornographic' only through their setting and their juxtaposition to masturbatory images" (p. 81). I do not believe these pictures of children would meet the Federal Government's definition of pornography, even given the context within which they are situated. These pictures are neither sexualized nor objectified. Some men may masturbate to these photographs, but this alone is not sufficient evidence that the material is pornographic. Some pedophiles undoubtedly masturbate to pictures of children they find attractive, even if they fail to meet the broadest definition of child pornography. Furthermore, pictures of children to whom males masturbate do not necessarily meet my definition of child pornography. Hence, I consider such pictures as belonging in the Borderline Child Pornographpy category.

IB. Borderline Child Pornography: Female Child Models

Websites portraying pre-teen models featuring "girls as young as 6 wearing revealing clothing and striking sexually suggestive poses but display[ing] no nudity or overt sexual material that would run afoul of child pornography laws," have become very popular. There are a growing number of these sites "operating in the legal gray area between innocent imagery and child pornography" (Mike Brunker, "Legal child porn under fire," www.msnbc.com/news/730491.asp, April 17, 2002, p. 1).

A 12-year-old calling herself Lil' Amber had one of the most celebrated of these websites before she suddenly retired in December 2002. At one time her fan club boasted 9,000 members. A paid membership to her website enabled viewers to see all the photos of her and to receive a videotape of her modeling clothes costing $25 in the first month , and $19.95 each month thereafter. While the photos all stop well short of the Federal Government's definition of pornography (no genitalia or breasts are shown), many of the photos are quite revealing and some are clearly intended to depict her as an attractive sexual object.

Although Kenneth Lanning is quoted as saying that this material is "exciting and stimulating and arousing for people with a certain deviant interest" (Brunker, 2002, pp. 2-3), he notes that "it's not against the law (p. 2). Nevertheless, these pre-adolescent female model websites have caused concern and controversy even in the law enforcement community (Brunker, p. 2). In addition, "they have drawn the attention of the Justice Department and prompted a congressman [Rep. Mark Foley] to declare war on the 'reckless endangerment' of such kids by their parents and Web site operators" (Brunker, p. 1). Rep. Mark Foley described these models as "performing like a circus animal" (p. 2).

These sites, "which sell photos and videotapes to members, cater primarily to adults [male adults].... Many -- if not most- customers are sexually interested in children, and some are pedophiles, according to law enforcement officials and children's advocates." (p. 2)

On the opening page of Lil' Amber's website, this tiny long-haired young model is shown seated in a modest dress with her arms folded coyly over her knees. With regard to the pictures on her website, Brunker (2002) notes that, "The photos of ... Amber cavorting in a swimsuit and various skimpy outfits wouldn't have raised so much as an eyebrow if they had been posted on a family home page," but on lilamber.com, they have caused quite a stir (p. 1). Brunker (2002) concurs with law enforcement officers that, "There is ample evidence that these sites, which sell photos and videotapes to members, cater primarily to [male] adults, very few of whom are in the market to hire models" (p. 2). Children's advocates also maintain that, "Many -- if not most -- customers are sexually interested in children" (p. 2).

Many of the parents of children who appear on these "model" sites have spoken out on behalf of their children. For example, the mother of a pre‑teen model called "Jessi the Kid," said that the site "was created to help her daughter fulfill her dream of becoming an actress and was no more racy than ads for fashion lines ...." (Brunker, 2002, p. 3). She complained that "the media are focusing only on the revealing outfits and missing the other material on the site geared to appeal to other kids," such as games, crafts, and other pre‑teen interests (p. 3).

A video entitled, "Amber Models Summer Fashions" shows the young girl frolicking about and dancing in her living room in various outfits that were apparently requested by website members. "In one scene, she lifted her skirt, giving the briefest glimpses of underwear. In another, the unidentified cameraman lay on the floor and shot up her skirt as she danced away unselfconsciously" (Brunker, 2002, p. 4).

Lil' Amber's mother was discovered to be a pornography performer on the Internet just a few years ago, creating even more doubt that these sites are "innocent" modeling ventures. However, Stephen Levine (2002), a professor of psychiatry who is described as an expert on sexuality, comments that, "it's reasonable to think that these sites are pandering to pedophiliac interests ... and they are unsavory ...[,] but this is America, where we tolerate lots of unsavory things for freedom of expression...." (Brunker, pp. 6-7).

However, the key issue is not unsavoriness but whether or not these sites are harmful a) to the children who participate in them; b) to the male viewers; and c) to the victims of the viewers. Clearly the adult(s) responsible for the participation of these young girls on these sites are responsible for them being sexually objectified at a very young age. This teaches them a very harmful lesson: that it is their appearance and their abilities to perform in a sexually seductive fashion that is of prime importance for obtaining approval, money, and fame or notoriety. Those who become aware that adult men are their primary audience will learn a very destructive lesson in patriarchal sexual politics. It would be interesting to know how many -- if any -- become prostituted girls or women later in life, since the performances required of these young girls resemble training for this degrading and dangerous occupation.

II. Soft-core Child Pornography

Jenkins (2001) describes the content of soft-core child pornography photos and movies of young girls on the Internet that feature "nudity but no sexual activity (p. 81).

Jenkins (2001) suggests that:

But for the pornographic context within which these pictures are situated on child pornography websites, "the scenes would seem remarkably wholesome" (Jenkins, 2001, p. 81). Thus, even non-sexualized pictures of children can become pornographied (to coin a word).

Jenkins (2001) maintains that these images "are the least harmful, since the photographs were taken without causing any harm to the subjects" (p. 82). Nikki Craft, a feminist anti-pornography activist who was also very active in the nudist movement for many years, would strongly disagree with Jenkins' statement that no harm is caused to the young girls photographed in nudist camps. Craft has exposed numerous pedophiles who have used nudist camps as a stalking ground for children to abuse and photograph for use in pornography collections and/or to trade with other pedophiles and interested buyers (see the testimony of some of these victims in Chapter 11).

III. Pseudo-Child Pornography on the Internet

1. Cover page of child pornography website

Table 15-1 shows a web site cover page with a picture of a young sweet-looking long-haired blond dressed in pink, sitting on the "U" of huge letters of the word "Pussy" below the word "Little." Her picture reveals a side view of her buttocks and legs -- naked but for a pair of white socks or boots. She holds a lollipop in her hands in order to make her appear younger than the legal age.

Table 15-1

Join Now! Members

LITTLE YOUNGEST
TEEN GIRLS
PUSSY (enlarge writing) ALL 18-21!
INSTANT ACCESS!
Free Pussy Tour
ENTER Little Pussy
YNOT - Click here for Links to FREE PICS
WANT SOME...?Your email address
(In your email) Send me some Pussy!
All persons shown are of legal age 18 years or older. You must be 18 years of age or older and certify it is legal to view adult material in your area. Copyright c 2002
LittlyPussy. All rights reserved. 4/22/02

Note that on the one hand, viewers of this cover page are told that the girls are the "youngest teen girls" on the Internet; on the other hand, viewers are reassured that they are not so young after all: 18 to 21 years old. This inconsistency is typical of many website cover pages. Needless to say, it is impossible for the site's creator to know if "his" girls are the youngest on the Internet. However, the creators of child pornography websites on the Internet appear to have no compunction about making numerous false claims.

Viewers of child pornography sites are frequently offered a "free tour" enabling them to see three examples of the pornography they can expect to find on the website once they pay the access fees required. Tragically, children have free access to these child pornography pictures as well as adults. Only paying members can know how representative the sample pictures are.

2. "Youngest Teen Lolitas on the Net"
Legal because site claims that all "girls" are over 18 [www.extremelolitas/com/preview.htm]

This preview site features three pages of approximately 40 small photos of a variety of very young-looking girls (however, all are described as being over 18 years old) most of whom are engaged in various types of sexual activity alone or with a male or female "partner." One of the photos shows a young Japanese girl who looks like a preadolescent. Another exhibits a humiliated-looking young girl; an adult man's hand holds his penis under one of her eyes and his ejaculate is all over her face. In some cases only the girls' heads are showing. These photos would in no way meet any definition of child pornography except for the context within which they appear. There is no knowing if these young girls ever even participated in the making of child pornography. Their heads could have been taken from non-pornographic web sites.

Comments: These photos are presumably designed to try to tempt male viewers to become paid-up members of the website thereby giving them access to "over 100,000+ pix-Largest collection of private photos+more." A quip on the first page reads: "You haven't seen nothing yet!!! Your excited about this find - so enjoy!!"

The genitals of the young girls in all of the photos in this preview site are covered by a small black circle. The reason for this concealment, combined with the small and sometimes hard-to-see photos, is probably to increase the motivation of viewers to become members of the site so they can see the girls' naked genitals in larger more visible photos.

3. The Dirty Old Man

The only 2 "girls" whose pictures are shown, are identified as 18 and 19. [www.thedirtyoldman.com/tours/blue/index.htm, April 30, 2002]

The first page of this website shows a series of frames depicting two young girls named Bianca and Blue Rose engaged in various sexual acts including masturbation and oral sex. Mike, the "dirty old man" featured on this website, is described as "the charming pornographer" who "loves anal virgins and teenage cocksuckers!" (p. 1). Mike recounts how he recruits his so-called "models," describing that he

Bianca is described as an "anal virgin" who answered Mike's ad "because she wants to prove she's a woman." Although she is at first doubtful about Mike's "training techniques," she "soon realizes its (sic) experience that matters!" (p. 1) Despite the fact that Blue Rose is described as being adamantly opposed to having any kind of anal sex, she is described as having "a SQUIRTING ORGASM while being anally probed" (p. 1).

Comments: Both the young girls are described as eager to have sex with Mike -- "the dirty old man." This old man's wishful fantasy is described as if it were a plausible reality.

A destructive message conveyed here is that it is reasonable to portray a young girl (Bianca) as seeking out a total stranger (a "dirty old man" to boot) for sex because this is the way to prove her womanhood. In reality, most young girls are not attracted to old men, often finding them sexually repulsive. Furthermore, most young girls do not want to engage in sex at all.

Blue Rose is described as having an intense orgasm as a result of being subjected to the kind of sex act that she is resolutely against having. The message here is that men would be wise to ignore what females tell them about the kinds of sex they dislike because they don't know what they want. When they say "No," they often mean "Yes." This destructive myth can result in sexual assault. As feminists have frequently stated: "Pornography tells lies about women and girls."

4. Pee Teenagers

Legal because "all models (sic) are 18 years or older" [www.peeteenagers.com]

This website is described as "the number one site for beautiful peeing young teen girls," and boasts that the photos are illegal in some countries. The claim is made that, "This site will absolutely satisfy all your needs for young peeing girls." The collection of child pornography pictures, movies and "free live shows" on the website are described as "hardcore." Viewers are invited to "Join the site and get free access to 13 Megasites!"

The young women are described as "100% first‑timers" with "shaved pussies." The main picture features a young girl lying on the floor with her head cocked to the side, her eyes closed, looking as if she is sexually aroused. She is stimulating her clitoris with one of her hands and exposing her genitals to provide viewers with a classic crotch shot. A large pool of what is depicted as urine is flowing from her genitals onto the floor.

The second picture, titled "teenagers: bad girls do it all," depicts a smiling nude young girl. This picture provides the background for statements such as: "52,000 Pics", "7,400 XXX movies" "Voyeurpics, Amateurpics, Chatrooms, Stories."

Near the bottom of the page, "Webmasters" are invited to "CLICK HERE FOR MONEY MAKING OPPORTUNITIES."

Comments: Girls urinating, sometimes on the face or body of a male, constitutes a particular genre of both child and adult pornography. Sometimes the male in child pornography pictures also urinates on one or more girls. Other pornography pictures show girls urinating in toilets, unaware that they are being spied on by a male voyeur who finds this a sexually exciting experience. This genre of pornography is referred to as "Golden Showers."

Pictures showing young girls defecating, often preceded by an enema, comprise another genre of child pornography. Males who are turned on by these websites and/or in real life are diagnosed as suffering from coprophilia.

The portrayal of the first young girl as masturbating while she is urinating has nothing to do with the reality of female sexuality. The description of her as a "firsttimer" is even more unrealistic. This is another example of child pornography telling lies about girls.

IV. Voyeuristic Child Pornography: Upskirts

The term "voyeuristic" when applied to child pornography is used to refer to photos that are taken surreptiously without the victims' knowledge of their being violated.

"Upskirts" child pornography is a genre of voyeuristic child pornography that applies to photos taken up the skirts of girls ranging from pre-pubescents to teenagers. Some pornographers seek to make a profit by taking such photographs and placing them on their own Upskirt websites, or selling them to others. Miniature cameras the size of a quarter cent piece facilitate pornographers' abilities to take such pictures.

Victims of these non-consenting experiences often feel very upset and traumatized if they find out that these indecent photos of their crotches are circulating on the Internet. Although these girls are fully dressed, the photographs nevertheless qualify as child pornography or pseudo-child pornography -- depending on the ages of the victims -- because the view up their skirts is sexually provocative and presumably intended to be sexually arousing to heterosexual male viewers. For some men, the surreptious manner in which these photos were taken is also sexually exciting.

The more people become aware of the upskirt phenomenon, the more likely it is that parents will become suspicious of the sometimes odd behavior involved in taking these pictures. I recently saw a case on TV news in which a mother's misgivings were aroused by the strange behavior of a man with whom she was talking. He was taking upskirt pictures of her little daughter while chatting to her mother. When the mother confronted the pornographer, he ran out the door and she called 911. The police found the man's camera which he had thrown away when effecting his escape. Prints of the film in the camera revealed upskirt pictures of the mother's daughter, as well as similar pictures of other little girls.

V. Child Pornography Drawings

This Japanese drawing of a little red-haired girl of about three years old shows her with a cat's ears and tail and large socks resembling a cat's paws. She is alone in the picture, nude but for being heavily bound with ropes around her torso, her knees, and with a strap around her head and a gag over her mouth. Tears are falling out of her large sad eyes. Despite the full view of her genitals, they are brushed almost to oblivion, since it is illegal in Japan to show the genitals of children or adult women. Nevertheless, urine is pouring out of her and collecting in a pool in front of her.

Comments: This drawing shows a little sexually objectified girl, bound and urinating, which presumably is sexually arousing for men who find any one of, or all of these features appealing. The drawing qualifies as pornography because of the degrading portrayal of the nude little girl who has been designed to be sexually arousing and used for masturbatory purposes.

VI. Written Child Pornography

All written forms of child pornography are legal. However, most men are far more sexually aroused by visual images.

A. Search Engines and Websites

1. Search Engines: Header. Animal Fuck Movies, Bestiality Pornography Video, Free Horse Sex Pictures (www.xxxpower.net/; April 23, 2002)

This search engine lists three pages of very graphic pornographic titles of pornographic movies, videos, or sex pictures under headings such as "animal sex," "teenie sex," "video sex," "fetish sex," "interracial," and "cum shots." Internet surfers can click on the titles that appeal to them most. Although there is no child pornography heading, child pornography titles are included under most of the headings.

When clicking on a title, the pictures advertised often fail to appear. Instead, a link to a gallery site or a pop-up window advertising another pornography site emerges.

Following are a few examples of the child pornography titles listed on this search engine:

A. Animal sex

Horse Fucking Young Girl
Dog Fucking Schoolgirl
Animal Cock Inside Teen
Dog Fucked My Sister
Lolita Fucking Horse

B. Teenie sex

Masturbating schoolgirl
Teenie Pornstar
Schoolgirl's first sex
Sweet tight teen
Hardcore teen sex
Horny schoolgirl
Shy teen stripping
Hot Lolita baby
Young pink pussy
Enjoying young pussy

C. Video sex

Teen orgy videos
Dirty horny Lolita
Lolita fucked hard
D. Fetish sex
Fisting my sister
Punish me, father!!!

Comments: Child pornography about incestuous abuse and bestiality (mostly involving adults) are among the most popular forms of sexual abuse on the Internet. The "LOLITA FUCKING HORSE" website portrays a young preadolescent girl as the initiator in "fucking" a horse. Such an act is beyond my capacity to even imagine. What does "fucking" refer to in this context?

The examples of bestiality child pornography listed above qualify as particularly deviant and denigrating toward children.

The video entitled "Dirty horny Lolita" describes a young girl as being "dirty" -- i.e., defiled -- and sexually aroused -- placing the responsibility on her for whatever abusive sex acts are perpetrated on her. The same applies to the websites entitled, "Hot Lolita baby" and "Horny schoolgirl."

Long lists of child pornography titles created for the masturbatory gratification of male adolescents and men convey the notion that it is commonplace for children to be sexually precocious and to seek adult men -- and in this case animals as well -- to gratify their sexual needs. This inaccurate portrayal reinforces a destructive pedophilic myth that is used to justify the sexual abuse of children.

2. Le Little Girls

This search engine lists many websites featuring "little girls." Viewers are enticed to "just click and connect with [an] innocent world...." Examples of the sites include:

"My mum fucks my brother and me! Daddy makes pictures of that scene!!!";
"Little Lolitas Brutally Fucked;"
"Lolita Ready to Fuck, suck, masturbate ...";
"Noooooo Daaaaddddyyy, Noooooo!";
"Very Little Gils (sic) -- from different ages!";
"Young Lolitas and Boys Fucking;"
"Perverted sex in US family! Real incest here!"

Comments: The name "Lolita" is a popular synonym for a prepubescent girl. The first title describes a form of incest which is among the most rare. Yet mother-son incest is portrayed on the Internet at a much higher rate than it actually occurs.

The title of one of these websites ("Little Lolitas Brutally Fucked") suggests violent, sadistic sex. "Noooooo Daaaaddddyyy, Noooooo!" sounds to me as if a young girl's "No" is in the process of changing into "Yes!". In the last title, the use of the phrase "Real incest here!" is often presented on websites as a particularly sexually exciting attribute for male viewers. This indicates that some males find the notion of sexually abusing a real child to be much more sexually exciting than having confronting the fact that the portrayal of child pornography is just a fantasy.

3. Hymen.com: Young girls lose virginity www.hymen.ca/members

This site is limited to text intended to induce viewers to enter "if you are over 18 years of age." The claim is made that this website contains "ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING PICTURES AND VIDEOS!" that "only on our site will you find real unique cases of loss of virginity," and that there are free pictures of "real virgin girls hymen" (p. 1).

Additional text declares that "A virgin's hymen is the most sensitive part of her body," and comments that "it is really amazing to watch how excited these young girls get as they lose their virginity forever!" (p. 1).

Comments: This website promotes the myth that young girls are thrilled to lose their virginity. Undoubtedly some such girls exist, but the reality is that many young girls lose their virginity by being raped or coerced or sweet-talked by males with a bunch of lies. As so often in child pornography, males' desires are projected onto their young victims. In this case, males are the ones who are thrilled to "take" the virginity of girls, which is why this is a popular theme in child pornography. Mens' projections serve to justify their preoccupation with such acts.

4. Daddy's Incest/Pedo Library (daddysgirls.com/outside/pages/storiesdiaries, April 30, 2002)

This members'-only website cover page tries to induce Internet surfers to become members by offering brief descriptions of the incest stories to be found in full by paid-up members. Following are thumbnail sketches of four of the nine stories copyrighted as "the exclusive property of Daddy's Girls Adult Entertainment." [States that "all of these works" are for the purchasers' entertainment only and may not be reproduced or resold in any medium." Does this include quoting from the cover page?]

Barbara P.:

"After she sees her daddy fucking her mom and her aunt together on the same bed, 6th grader, Barbara can't get her daddy's dick out of her mind until she gets it up her tight little cunt, that is. A fond memory of sex with Daddy."

Megan & Becky:

"Becky gets an eyeful during an overnight visit at her best friend Megan's house. After watching Megan's daddy perform his fatherly duties with his hard dick, Becky gets some of that hard Daddy cock too."

Belle T.:

"Belle is a high-school senior, trailer trash waif, working at a Mexican fast-food restaurant, when an (sic) porn producer takes an interest in her -- even attending her high school graduation with his real daughter, Stacey. He and Stacey initiate young Belle into daddy-daughter sex. She makes her first video on her 18th birthday, learns to lick pussy, suck cock and fuck her new Daddy. Very hot fuck scenes with cum-swapping."

Leslie G.:

"Leslie gets to know her daddy's dick real well when she sneaks into her parents' bed and slips under the covers next to Daddy. Her mother watches but never says a word, until one special night when she gives Leslie to her daddy and watches the girl ride her daddy's cock for the very first time. Nice 'Mommy watches Daddy fuck daughter' erotic angle."

Comments: In none of these thumbnail sketches are the daughters and other female children portrayed as upset or traumatized by incestuous abuse with their fathers or other perpetrators -- an outrageously inaccurate myth popular with pedophiles and other child sexual abuse perpetrators. Nor are there any negative consequences for any of the participants in the many sex acts described in these brief descriptions. Were the truth about incestuous rape and incestuous abuse to replace these myths, there would presumably be no customers for this website.

B. Child Pornography Stories of Incest

Several fantasy stories about the joys of incest are described and analyzed in the next chapter.

VII. Custom-Made Cartoons

Custom-Made Incest Cartoons (no date) (www.trueincest.com/store/cartoon/)

Although most cartoons are not designed to sexually arouse viewers, those described in this section seem likely to have some arousal value.

The creator of this website tries to attract customers who will be willing to pay for a series of cartoons portraying incestuous abuse that will be made to their preferred specifications. The cover page of this website is confined to text. The text opens by proclaiming:

Potential customers are informed that they can order and purchase picture cartoon series ranging from 5 to 20 pictures, the price of which ranges from $40 to $100 dollars for a 20 picture series. They are given the choice of paying with a credit card or check. The final message is that customers should remember that "NO ONE ELSE ON THE NET OFFERS YOU THIS SERVICE!"

Comments: This website, like all the other incest web sites, legitimizes and normalizes incest for the viewers and customers.

It would be interesting to know how many individuals order these custom-made incest cartoons from this website and how many send family photos for the artist to use as models for his/her work. Some individuals who request cartoons be made of children in their families or children they know, may request that cartoonists sexually objectify them, or design them engaged in sexually explicit acts to use as masturbatory material. Masturbation, after all, is the purpose of most pornography.

The quality of the cartoons must be quite inferior at the dirt cheap prices advertized. When I asked another website how much they would charge to draw cartoons that I had designed, they quoted a price of [fill in price here].

As previously noted, cartoons are generally intended to engender laughter in their viewers. However, it would seem more likely that these custom-made cartoons of incestuous abuse would be constructed to sexually arouse the males to whose specifications they have been drawn. It would be interesting to know how effective the cartoons are as masturbatory material -- if at all.

VII. Art as Child Pornography

Child pornography that appears in the form of art typically escapes the label of pornography in favor of "art." However, some of these cases have been very controversial, and some photographers have been prosecuted for their photographs of children whose genitals are displayed, for example, Maplethorpe. However, these men have so far been found not guilty for producing and/or distributing child pornography.

Jenkins (2001) appears to agree with these verdicts. For example, he refers to what he calls "the serious and non-pornographic work of art photographers like David Hamilton" (p.). However, he points out that some of their photographs of children have been portrayed as child pornography on Internet websites.

Many feminists do not agree with Jenkins and others that the work of artists should be exempt from charges of being pornographic. Some gifted artists are pedophiles who use their talents to take pornographic photographs of the victims whom they find sexually appealing or believe they can sell. In ?Jack Sturges's case, he took photographs of himself having sexual contact with children.

Child pornography that meets whatever criteria are used for determining its artistic merits, can arguably be even more damaging to viewers and their victims than material that does not meet these criteria. For example, the artistic quality of the photos may legitimize the content of the child pornography more convincingly than non-artistic material. Furthermore, there is no objective way of determining whose work deserves the label of "artistic" and whose does not. Artists' work often improves over time. Does this mean it would be reasonable to prosecute those who are still learning their art, but automatically dismiss all charges when they have improved? In addition, some artists' creations are rejected by their contemporary peers, only to win recognition after they have died.

In conclusion, exempting artistic work from charges that they are pornographic introduces far too much subjectivity into the serious issue of determining what constitutes child pornography and what does not. In addition, the Federal Law on child pornography does not provide for such an exemption.

IX. Computer-Generated Child Pornography

Virtual Child Pornography Headquarters

(virtualchildporn.takehost.com, June 15, 2002)* [Endnote: My assistant Roberta Harmes emailed this website several times in an effort to get permission to publish the pictures in Stolen Innocence. However, despite her repeated efforts, she never received a reply. Several months later this website was no longer locateable on the Internet.]

On the first page of this website the claim is made that it is "the first and only source for virtual child porn" on the Internet as of June 15, 2002 (two months after the Supreme Court legalized virtual child pornography). Since computer-generated child pornography does not usually identify itself as such, it is impossible to evaluate this claim.

The site-creator invites the readers of this material to recite the website's asinine "motto to boost your morale: Give me virtual child pornography, or give me death!" A striking and bizarre feature of the six computer-generated picture sequence shown on this website is that no effort was made to make the individuals in them look at all realistic. This is surprising because realistic pictures would probably be far more appealing to pedophiles and other child predators than these totally unnatural-looking creatures.

The six-picture sequence begins with a heterosexual couple engaged in sexual intercourse. The man, who appears to be aged from 20 to 40, is penetrating a young blond pre‑pubescent girl (as judged by the lack of pubic hair, her flat chest and her girlish pigtails) from behind. They are both smiling. Two additional portrayals of this adult-child pair show a side angle of them, and an overhead view. It appears that the man is penetrating the girl anally in at least two of the pictures.

The next three pictures are very grotesque. In addition, the positions of the individuals in the pictures are impossible to execute. The pictures show two adult men whose age is difficult to estimate, engaged in sexual activity with an infant. In all three of these pornographic pictures the men are standing across from each other with a tiny baby (whose gender is unclear) suspended in mid-air between them and held in place only by their penises. One man is anally penetrating the baby while the other man has his penis in the baby's mouth. The face of the infant is not visible in any of the three pictures shown.

The following two pages of the site contain information prompting site‑goers to submit new images to the site's growing library. Comments and suggestions by viewers are also invited and an email address provided. Viewers are requested to "Submit New Images!"

"Since virtual child pornography has only been an officially protected right for a short while, our current collection is very small. You can help us build our collection by submitting images to: virtualchildpron@hotmail.com." ... ["pron" not a typo]

Those who submit new images are told that if they would like credit for their pictures on the website, they should include "appropriate credit information in your email." The website ends with the slogan: "Building the future of American rights one picture at a time!"

Comments: This website is the only computer-generated child pornography that we were able to find on the Internet. Its title and the very unreal-looking pictures of the individuals on this website made it easy to identify the participants as fictitious. The impossibility of the baby being suspended in the air between two men is another very obvious illusory feature of the last three pictures.

If all computer-generated child pornography resembled these pictures, there would be little to fear from this relatively new genre of child pornography. It is precisely because computer-generated child pornography is difficult to distinguish from child pornography that uses children, that it is a serious problem for law enforcement officers to know when they need to make arrests.

On the other hand, one could also argue that the unrealistic character of the computer-generated child pornography sequence described above makes if possible to depict particularly horrendous acts that are physically impossible for human beings to execute.

X. Amateur Child Pornography

Amateur Child Pornography on the Internet refers to child pornography pictures sent by members of the public to a website on this topic. Those sending such pictures include parents or fathers who contribute pornographic photos of their children, or themselves engaged in sex with one or more child; boyfriends who send pornographic pictures of their adolescent girlfriends; and adult males who send pictures of unrelated children. Amateur child pornography pictures may be softcore or hardcore.

Comments: The existence of websites devoted to amateur child pornography indicates the acceptability of child pornography to those who make contributions to them. It would be interesting to know the prevalence of such websites, and the extent to which the female victims of amateur child pornography are cognizant of their photos circulating on the Internet. I know of no studies that have attempted to address these question.

XI. Child Pornography on Chat Rooms for Pedophiles

Hughes (1999) notes that because "Communications in chat rooms on the Internet leave no record, ... these sites have become the haven for predators trading child pornography" (p. 21). She cites the organization PedoWatch as reporting in 1997, "that 1,500 people each day joined the preteen erotica (sic) trading channels on Inter-Relay Chat (IRC)" (p. 21).

Hughes also refers to an investigative reporter who accessed chat rooms titled "preteen sex pics," "gayboy sex," and "preteen boy sex." The reported also mentioned finding "nine chat rooms with about 250 users dealing in child pornography. All the users had pornographic images of boys, 13 years and under, engaged in sex acts to exchange" (p. 21).

XII. Hardcore Child Pornography

Hardcore child pornography on the Internet features explicit sex acts or shows children in lewd poses (Jenkins, 2001, p. 81). According to Jenkins, hard-core child pornography "exists in abundance" on the Internet. He and others have noted that some of the child pornography published in the child pornography magazines that circulated openly in Europe and North America during the 1970s, were posted on the Internet and are still circulating today "decades after they were produced" (p. 82).

However, there is also "a striking amount [of child pornography] from very recent times, right up to the present day" (Jenkins, 2001, p. 82). Jenkins (2001) describes a "modern-day series of homemade hard-core" child pornography as "the worst of the breed, because they depict ongoing acts of rape and molestation by culprits who are still active and presumably still exploiting victims" (p. 82).

Some professional photographers have also taken pornographic pictures of "individual acts of molestation committed against young neighbors or family members" (Jenkins, 2001, p. 82). Jenkins (2001) notes that:

Jenkins (2001) also describes the contents of three very popular series of child pornography in the following passages. The first involves a seven- or eight-year old girl called Helena, who, according to Jenkins, "may be one of the best-known sex stars on the Web" (p. 2). In the late 1980s, she

"Since their first appearance they have had an astonishing afterlife; probably not a day has passed without the hel-lo images appearing anew on some electronic server somewhere in the world, and they are cherished by thousands of collectors worldwide. ... Hel-lo itself was recently described by a child porn enthusiast as 'the greatest HC [hard-core] series ever made! She was 'acting' since she was a toddler until she was twelve years old, which means there are thousands of pics of her in action out there somewhere! No other series compares!!!'" (p. 2)

Jenkins (2001) also describes a more recent series known as the 'kindergarten' photos, or KG and KX for short, "which together represent perhaps the most prized collections currently available on the Net" (p. 2). He describes KG as "a series of hundreds (maybe thousands) of nude images of several very young girls, mainly between the ages of three and six years old," whose photographs started being posted on the Internet in the mid-1990s.

According to Jenkins (2001), the KX collection is an even "more sought-after version" that "depicts the same children in hard-core sexual situations with one or more men" (pp. 2-3). Most of these photographs show "four- and five-hear-old girls performing oral sex and masturbation on adult men" (p. 3). Jenkins (2001) reports that, "The immense popularity of the KG images ensured an enthusiastic market for KX, which entered general circulation in early 2000."

Jenkins (2001) notes that, "The popularity of hel-lo and KX has been achieved despite the utterly illegal nature of such collections" (p. 3). Notwithstanding the fact that

XIII. Interactive Child Pornography on the Internet

Hughes (1999) reports that some sexual predators who "form rings to exchange child pornography sometimes transmit and view live broadcasts of the sexual abuse of children" (p. 24). Santos (in Arnaldo, 2001) describes "live video conferencing -- live audio and video transmitted over the Internet from a video camera and microphone to a computer," as "the most advanced technology on the Internet" (p. 58). According to Santos, "This development has raised child pornography to an even higher [lower] level" (pp. 58-59).

Hughes notes that now, "sex predators from around the world can witness the live sexual abuse of a child and record the broadcast for future use" (Hughes, p. 24). Furthermore, viewers can participate interactively in sexually abusing the child and giving suggestions "on how the scene should be played" (Santos, p. 59). Hughes (1999) mentions interactive video conferencing as enabling groups of men (whom she refers to as "child porn rings") to watch shows on the Internet. A predator can pay an additional fee for a private session (p. 44).

According to Hughes, these rings "usually set membership requirements that require the new member to implicate himself as a child sex abuser, pornographer or collector of child pornography.

The Orchid Club in San Jose, California, is "The first known example of pedophiles using the Internet for real-life abuse of a child (Trebilock, 1999, p. 50). Arnaldo (2001) quotes the following description of the Orchid Club by Ron O'Grady, Chairman of ECPAT, (ref: opening address at the Child Pornography on the Internet Experts Meeting in Lyon, France):

These pedophiles were all arrested, ending the existence of this pernicious Club.

Hughes (1999) describes the Orchid Club as "engaged in live Internet transmission of sexual abuse of children, ranging in age from five to ten years" (p. 24). She maintains that "In one night's activity, a 5-year-old ... was molested while at least 11 men watched and asked for specific types of abuse to be perpetrated" on her (p. 24). Presumably, Hughes' description is based on a different example of interactive child pornography than the one cited above by O'Grady.

Trebilock (1999) makes the distressing suggestion that "the Orchid Club might be a barometer of where we are headed on the Internet" (p. 50). Interactive child pornography-related child abuse like the example described above can never be transformed into a less harmful computer-generated form.

XIV. Virtual Reality

Friel defines virtual reality "as a system which provides a realistic sense of being immersed in an environment.... It is a computer-generated, visual, audible and tactile multi-media experience" (fn. 160, p. 230).

Author Samuel Gelerman's article in Wired Magazine reports a discussion by the Supreme Court Justices of their opinions on the fact that "both Massachusetts state trial and appellate courts found that the creation, distribution, and possession" of a software program called Kiddy Porn Street that was used with new virtual reality technology, violated state law (Internet version, p. 3).

Justice Stevens' described Kiddy Porn Street as follows:

"Virtual reality mixes computers, computer animation, and human interaction. By putting on an electronic mask that covers one's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth and by slipping into a specially equipped body suit with sensors that respond to touch, a person steps into a computer-generated reality. Kiddy Porn Street was specially created for a virtual reality environment in which adults interact sexually with various computer-generated fictional children." (p. 3)

Given that computer-generated child pornornography is still legal at this time, it is surprising that this particular software program was found to be illegal. No explanation is provided for this apparent inconsistency. Perhaps pedophiles who have moral qualms about sexually abusing children are able to permit themselves to enjoy Kiddy Porn Street because the children are not real.

Conclusion

The 15 types of child pornography on the Internet that have been differentiated in this chapter provide some idea of the kinds of mostly legal child pornography to be found on the Internet. Since the legal material described constitutes only the tip of the iceberg, presumably many more types of illegal child pornography could be distinguished were these sites accessible.

Child pornography websites and search engines routinely portray children and their sexual desires in an extremely inaccurate and denigrating fashion and in exceedingly crude pornographic language. The non-sadistic sites reinforce numerous outrageous myths about child sexuality, maintaining that children enjoy every sex act that pedophiles might desire. They are portrayed as seductive, as orgasmic, as unhurt by intercourse with adult males, and as delighted to engage in all kinds of sex acts with their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, grandfathers and other relatives.

The concept of victim is called into question in child pornography, since the child is typically portrayed as suffering no ill effects from having sex with adult men, even with their relatives. And as previously noted, the perpetrators also are free of any negative consequences.

Pedophiles whose desires have graduated to more sadistic sex acts cannot bluff themselves that children want to be tortured or killed; but according to my theory, pedophiles' experiences of repeatedly viewing such child pornography can undermine the internal and social inhibitions of some of them against acting out their sadism.

Child pornography is pedophilic propaganda, designed to sexually arouse pedophiles and other males who have a sexual interest in children, and to condone their acting out of their destructive desires on children.

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