by Julie Posey
Child pornography related crimes are very serious and yet the truth about 
these crimes is frequently misunderstood. Recent research reveals some facts about child pornography that will dispel many of the false perceptions that people have about child pornography.[1]
Myth: Most people caught with child pornography are just young kids playing around.
Fact: 86% of those arrested for child pornography are over 25 years old.
Myth: Most of the time men are caught with images of girls 18-19 in swim suits so it really is difficult to tell if they are really teens or if they are adults.
Fact: 83% of those arrested on child pornography charges had collections of images of prepubescent children and 80% of the photos depicted penetration. 21% had images depicting sexual violence to children such as bondage, rape, and torture. 19% had images of children less than 3 years old engaged in sexually explicit activity.
Myth: The purpose of child pornography is really just to fuel fantasies and doesn’t really harm children.
Fact: Child pornography would not exist if there was not first a perpetrator victimizing a child so it really comes as no big surprise that 55% of those who were arrested for the possession of child pornography were also arrested for sexually victimizing a child or attempting to sexually assault a child.
Myth: The justice system doesn’t really have a good understanding of what is really going on in chat rooms so many of the people arrested for possession of child pornography walk away free.
Fact: The truth is that 96% of the people caught with child pornography are convicted or plead guilty, and 59% are incarcerated.
Myth: Most child pornographers are mentally ill or have been diagnosed with a sexual disorder.
Fact: The truth is 89% have never been diagnosed with a mental illness and 87% have no diagnosis of any sexual disorders.
Myth: Most of the child pornography collected by child pornographers is morphed.
Fact: In 785 of the cases involving child pornography, there were no morphed images found.
Myth: Child pornographers are highly skilled Internet users who consistently hide their child pornography collections.
Fact: 85% of those arrested and charged with child pornography did not used any “evidence eliminator” software, only 6% used an encryption method, and only 12% used password protection to hide their collection of child pornography.
[1] Wolak Janis, Finkelhor David and Mitchell Kimberly J. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. (2005) Child-Pornography Possessors Arrested in Internet-Related Crimes: Findings From the National Juvenile Online Victimization Study.
Tags: Child exploitation, child porn
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