This book examines the reality behind the often hysterical media coverage of child pornography, particularly that available via the internet.

Child pornography and sexual grooming provide case study exemplars of problems that society and law have sought to tackle to avoid both actual and potential harm to children. Yet despite the considerable legal, political and societal concern that these critical phenomena attract, they have not, thus far, been subjected to detailed socio-legal and theoretical scrutiny. How do society and law construct the harms of child pornography and grooming? What impact do constructions of the child have upon legal and societal responses to these phenomena? What has been the impetus behind the expanding criminalisation of behaviour in these areas? Suzanne Ost addresses these and other important questions, exploring the critical tensions within legal and social discourses which must be tackled to discourage moral panic reactions towards child pornography and grooming, and advocating a new, more rational approach towards combating these forms of exploitation.

Child Pornography: Law and Policy draws on interdisciplinary work in order to critically address the law relating to child pornography. Child pornography is recognized as a specific form of child abuse and there are now many national, and international, efforts to tackle it. Yet despite these efforts, the volume of child pornography, particularly on the internet, is increasing. The law has reacted to this situation by adapting its definitions, increasing sentences and providing new powers to law enforcement. It is, however, unclear how far the law should extend. What should the relationship be between criminalization and free-speech? Is there a link between the "use" of child pornography and contact offending? The issue of child pornography has been the subject of considerable literature in the areas of psychology, sociology and psychiatry. These studies provide the basis for a greater understanding of the nature of child pornography, as well as the profiles and behaviour of those who access or produce such material. Child Pornography: Law and Policy brings this wider literature to bear on the legal and policy frameworks relating to child pornography, questioning both the appropriateness and the effectiveness of the law in this context.

Child pornography is a critical legal and ethical problem that has experienced a resurgence coincident with the growth of the Internet. After international efforts to amend child protection laws in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the prevalence of child pornography cases dropped precipitously and the distribution of child pornography was largely limited to the back rooms of adult bookstores, small cells of individual traders, and a limited, known list of overseas mail order providers. With the growth of the Internet, the ease, cost, and relative anonymity of transactions greatly increased the availability of child pornography and the number of child pornography offenders. Digital Child Pornography: A Practical Guide for Investigators seeks to address the problems faced in investigating child pornography offenses in the always-on, always-connected age. The contents of this book are organized into three sections as follows: • Foundations. The background and modern history of child pornography are covered. The prevalence and types of child pornography are addressed, and a typology of child pornographers is presented, including the psychological reasons for the individuals to be engaged in child pornography. An overview of the current federal laws addressing child pornography is presented, and key cases of recent interest are detailed. How to select investigators to investigate child pornography offenses and how to keep them safe are also reviewed. • Digital Forensics. Digital forensics, as applied to child pornography, is addressed. A methodology for planning for and conducting search warrants in child pornography offenses is provided, and key elements of proof needed that can be gathered digitally are presented. A framework for conducting dead-box analysis for evidence of child pornography offenses is provided. • Interviews and Interrogations. The subjects of child pornography cases take special care and feeding and they require special considerations when interviewing. The process of interviewing and interrogating child pornography subjects, from the planning stages through to obtaining a confession, is documented. Digital Child Pornography: A Practical Guide for Investigators is written by an investigator specifically for other child pornography investigators and provides the most comprehensive guide to these investigations currently available.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the problem of Internet child pornography that spotlights the connection between technology and behavior, presenting practical suggestions for reducing this pervasive problem. The role of the Internet in fueling the problem of child pornography is enormous. Prior to the Internet, child pornography was typically locally produced, of poor quality, expensive, and difficult to obtain. United States' law enforcement officials were able to boast in the late 1970s that the traffic in child pornography had virtually been eliminated. The advent of the Internet in the 1980s made vast quantities of child pornography instantly available in the privacy of the viewer's home. Today, child pornography largely exists because of the opportunities provided by the Internet. Internet Child Pornography provides a comprehensive overview of the issue by describing the problem of child pornography, examining the impact of the Internet, and presenting a profile of users. With this foundation in place, the authors then address responses to child pornography and shed light on the complexities of dealing with criminal activities that are perpetrated largely online—for example, the fact that people behave differently in online environments than they do in other areas of their lives. The book examines prevention efforts designed to reduce access to child pornography, law enforcement responses designed to catch known offenders, and treatment responses designed to reduce reoffending.

Legal experts, sociologists, and social workers debate the definition of child pornography, the punishment of offenders, and the protection of victims

The Dept. of Justice (DoJ) reports that online child pornography crime has increased. DoJ funds the Nat. Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which maintains the CyberTipline to receive child pornography tips. A law passed in 2008 contains provisions to facilitate these investigations and create a national strategy to prevent, among other things, child pornography. This report examines: (1) the extent to which NCMEC determines the usefulness of tips; (2) mechanisms to help law enforcement coordination (i.e., deconfliction); and (3) the extent to which agencies are addressing factors that federal law enforcement reports may inhibit investigations. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

This book provides a critical assessment of the problem of internet child pornography and its governance through legal and non-legal means, including a comparative assessment of laws in England and Wales, the United States of America and Canada in recognition that governments have a compelling interest to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. The internet raises novel and complex challenges to existing regulatory regimes. Efforts towards legal harmonization at the European Union, Council of Europe, and United Nations level are examined in this context and the utility of additional and alternative methods of regulation explored. This book argues that effective implementation, enforcement and harmonization of laws could substantially help to reduce the availability and dissemination of child pornography on the internet. At the same time, panic-led policies must be avoided if the wider problems of child sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation are to be meaningfully addressed.