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May 04, 2005
Kid porn problem 'severe'
U.S. EXPERT SEES IT WORSENING
Last year 705 children in the U.S. were abducted by a mouse.
That's how Andrew Oosterbaan, chief of child exploitation and obscenity for the U.S. department of justice, described the luring of children through the Internet for sexual meetings with adults.
Oosterbaan was the guest speaker at a one-day symposium hosted by Microsoft at the University of Toronto.
It brought together international lecturers, police, lawyers, social workers and psychiatrists in an effort to find better ways to protect children from internet predators.
"The problem is becoming more severe," Oosterbaan said. "The marketplace is diversifying."
The Internet and cheap digital camera technology have provided those inclined to abuse children with the technology to become international producers and distributors of child abuse images, Oosterbaan said.
KIDS AS COMMODITY
He said "children are viewed as a commodity and will be victimized as a commodity," and he saw that first hand in Miami, where he worked with the U.S. Attorney's office for 10 years before taking his recent position in Washington.
SEX IN PLAYGROUNDS
Oosterbaan said school police in Miami-Dade County monitor online chat sites and have observed adult predators asking very young children at schools "to have sex with them in the playground areas."
And Oosterbaan said the victims are getting younger.
"Now we are seeing babies whereas before, 10 to 15 years ago, at the outside, the youngest might have been 12," Oosterbaan said.
Later this spring a report will be put together from the presentations and discussions at yesterday's symposium in an effort to further evaluate options for strengthening laws in Canada to protect children.
It is estimated one in five children will view some form of child abuse image when they log on to the internet.
Police are now using the Child Exploitation Tracking System, designed by Microsoft Canada and Toronto Police, to tackle the growing problem of online child exploitation.
In 2003, Toronto police estimate they seized more than two million images and videos of child sexual abuse.
Posted by Nealus at May 4, 2005 12:05 PM
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