“THROW YOUR WEBCAMS OUT”
…urged Oprah Winfrey from the other side of my TV, through an unfortunately old show dt Feb 15, 2006 that’s only just aired here in India. I had watched - in partial disbelief & in complete horror - how an honors student got turned into a porn star at the age of 13 - while still in the privacy of his own bedroom - without the knowledge of his mother.
“NO CHILD NEEDS A WEBCAM” - this was the strong sentiment of Justin Berry & the Kurt Eiechenwald who were guests on her show, based on their very real exposure to the child porn world on the internet.
Perhaps the most disturbing news of all is that Justin Berry’s story as told by the New York Times reporter Kurt Eiechenwald who helped him come out of the vicious circle he was in, is not an isolated one.
Thousands of children - in the “safety of their own homes” - fall prey to the paedophiles that lure them into exposing themselves on camera - and often times much worse. In cases like Berry’s (which Eiechenwald insists is not an extreme case but one of many many) the children are turned into porn stars. Their lives are taken away from them and it all happens so quickly that most children rescued aren’t even able to tell when things spiraled out situations that they though they could control.
Meanwhile, the Child Porn industry continues to grow. Introducing children to porn of any kind is one way to lure them into actually getting them involved in the child porn industry (others include “cash & kind” gifts offered by paedophiles as “rewards” to children who oblige their requests to undress etc for them on webcam) These shocking stats show that 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online, most while doing homework.
I know from personal experience how many unsolicited emails with porn links I used to get before the email companies beefed up their spammers. One such mail called “God Blessed Kids” disturbed me enough to do something about it (yes, that particular mail contained child porn too). At least I was old enough then to react properly. Imagine how many similar mail young innocent children must receive?
This was about almost two years ago. I have received countless emails since then and all I’ve been doing is tightening my spammers or deleting my junk mail without even reading the subject lines (many of which imo are enough to make one sick).
Hindustan Times, as recently as January 6th 2007, ran a report titled Internet: Home of rampant paedophilia. The report spoke of Indian paedophiles who:
Indian paedophiles, on the other hand, find that the Internet is their safest haven. Some even go online and boast of deals struck with adoption centres and child-specific NGOs. The scariest claim came from one who said, “Come to India for a week and find the child love of your life.” If a battle against paedophilia has to be waged, it is clear that the Internet should be a first frontier.
BBC, again as recent as January 8th 2007, termed Goa the new “Paedophile’s Paradise”. Though I personally have seens signs in Goan restaurants and in hotels urging people to “Come forward and report if you see someone with a child acting suspiciously”, the article quotes superintendent of Goa’s crime division, Vishram Borkar,who says that no cases of paedophiles have been investigated in 2006.
Even as the superlatively horrific Nithari case still is in the process of fully coming to light (it’s a case of child abuse at it’s worst perhaps) we in India still have a long way to go in providing citizens like you and me a way to get involved in putting an end to this evil.
Oprah Winfrey started a Child Predator Watch List on her very hit upon website & has had a lot of success educating people and even bringing others to justice.
If you aren’t already, do educate yourself about this industry. It will enable you to better protect your children at home - and maybe even some others around you.
EDIT: Controversy continues to surround Justin Berry. FoxNews reported yesterday that:
Former Times staff writer Kurt Eichenwald made the payment ($2,000) in June 2005 to then 18-year-old Justin Berry, a veteran star in a seedy network of child-porn sites
Eichenwald defends his ethics with:
At the time, he said, he didn’t intend to write about Berry at all, but had come across his distressing Web identity while researching an unrelated article. Eichenwald said he and his wife decided to try to get help for the young man. “We were gambling 2,000 on the possibility of saving a kid’s life,” he said.
Earlier controversy came through Timothy Ryan Richards (aka Casey), who was one of the first to be arrested after Justin’s story broke. His family & friends started a website called ‘The Truth about Justin’ claiming that “With the development and marketing of his MexicoFriends.com site Justin, though still 16 at the time, was deep into his transition from victim to perpetrator in this story”
However controversy or not, I hope that all this shines light on this industry & brings out the truth of the matter that there are a lot of children who are lured into becoming Child Porn stars in one way or the other & we must find a way of stopping this.
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March 7th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
I saw the show today….was sad to see that Justin’s own father was into the ‘business’ with him….But, very brave on the kids front to come up on National TV…
Towards the end of the show, Kurt tells Oprah that while preparing for this show, Justin & Kurt visited a store looking for a webcam …n Justin casually asked the sales person that what do ppl do with a WebCam…n the reply was..talk to friends…PORN…n stuff…Sickening..& Scary…
March 7th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
About the sales person’s remark - I too was sickened by it - like people all know & don’t even care.
March 7th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Don’t know about the controversy part..let me digg the whole story..ohh def this is a BIG INDUSTRY & here in India too…as you have stated; in the name of NGO’s & Adoption Centers..
March 7th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Have added an editorial note the above post highlighting some of the controversy.
March 7th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Thanks for the update & more info…& the links too.
Btw, u need to update me on one more IMP thing….does Sanjaya ring a bell ???
March 7th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
March 8th, 2007 at 10:17 am
We should have a list out here listing out European and Indian Paedophiles - with photos.
March 16th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Hopefully, because of the NOIDA incidents things will get better here!
July 28th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Is it a fair plea for victims rights if the victim committed crimes as an adult with teens under the age of 18, received immunity in order to testify, what of his victims and of the paying members, who were paying for sites that was specified for adults and containted the exact quote from the web archives “This Site Contains Adult Material. If you are under 18 years of age or if it is illegal to view adult material in your community, please leave now. We can’t be held responsible for your actions. We are not acting in any way to send you this information; you are choosing to receive it! Continuing further means that you understand and accept responsibility for your own actions, thus releasing the creators of this Web page and our service provider from all liability. THIS SITE CONTAINS NO CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OR ANY OTHER ILLEGAL CONTENT. This site contains nudity and gay erotica, all models are 18 years of age or older. 18 U.S.C. 2257 Statement” Listed on both sites that were used in the suits.
Whether he was victim is not something I am discussing, but the fact remains he was perpetrator as well, he engaged in physical acts with minors as an adult and committed the same crimes in luring other underage youth for his own profit, passed them off as adults, even forging forms in order to do so. And thusly, even under immunity he should have been placed on the sexual offenders registry. Where is the outcry for his victims, regardless of trade off for people who would garner less sympathy and make an easier case… He sounds like perp in saying that he’s not responsible for them because of his past.
“Where I start having trouble is when I read about an older Berry, 14, 15, 16, ruthlessly attacking (website) competitors, orchestrating bidding wars for private shows and even personal visits. While it all has its roots in the grooming & desensitization he experienced, my view is that his personal responsibility grows along with his age.”
And anyone hear about him offering software for suggested “children” to be able to go to ANY site that their school or netnanny blocks?
However, he did sell the rights to the website and software shortly after it hit some independent blogs and media streams.
And quite frankly, doesn’t anyone find problems with the court documents, timelines, contradictory statements by witnesses, and outside of it, just the nature of Eichenwald’s and Berry’s meeting, relationship.
Doubt this will be posted, but it’s an old post, so eh, whatever. I am sure I’ll be branded as something because of it. Though I was pretty much in the same business during my youth, wasn’t lured and I knew how to play the system. Also, happen to remember “Traci Lords” by the definition of this case, anyone who has ever watched a video of her during those infamous days is a pedophile and criminal, of course, watching an early Brook Shields and a handful of other movies could say the same of most us. Whether it’s just nudity, simulated action or actual action, we’re all at risk… so it’s just not porn to be concerned with. Though you kow there’s a fair chance we’ve already come across someone else underage in the various adult entertainment magazines, posing and passing themselves off as an adult, but the law isn’t defined by what a person looks like, if they look over 18 or even over 21 but are still a minor, it’s child porn.
And this case shouldn’t be the text book study nor the poster for examples. There’s far more problems with story than there are clear lines. And the repeat of “13 years old” is what people see when they look at Justin regardless of his age now, but they don’t see the 18 year old kid of those involved in the conspiracy and supposed ring. Nor do we see the equally deserving victims of Justin Berry. To say that all those indicted in this case are guilty, yet Mr. Berry who is equally guilty on multiple counts is free based on his testimony, doesn’t sound like justice to me. To let his crimes go unpunished, let alone become a poster child for this movement is a slap in the face to survivors of abuse. Even as a victim, you have to take responsibility for your own actions, regardless of the circumstances.