Sex, Crime, and Justice: Child Pornography in the Electronic Age

This research paper investigates the impact of technology on child pornography, focusing on the sexual exploitation of children under 16. It analyzes a recent media incident from 2018, applying critical theory to understand how new technologies influence online pornography and child sexual abuse. The report discusses cases involving the production and distribution of child pornography, highlighting the role of technology in facilitating these crimes. It examines the use of digital communication technologies in increasing the accessibility and volume of sexual images and the challenges in controlling these activities. The paper also explores the impact of technology on both the commission and prevention of child pornography, emphasizing the need for awareness and protective measures. The report concludes that advancements in technology have led to a rise in child pornography, necessitating stricter laws and increased vigilance to protect children.

Sex, crime and justice in an electronic age
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Child pornography...........................................................................................................................3
A recent case in Media................................................................................................................4
Another case................................................................................................................................5
Other cases...................................................................................................................................6
Impact of technology on child pornography and online pornography............................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
In the present era, many parents worry about the children's and young people that make use of
the electronic age. The greatest concern arises to parents and community related to the
availability of children of unwanted sexual material which include the possible recruitment of
children for the sexual purpose linked to the cyberspace. In this research paper, the major focus
is done on the topic of Child pornography, depicts the sexualised and sexual physical
exploitation of the children that fall under 16 years of age (Aebi, et al 2014). This is found that
one of the most disturbing features in the growth of electronic communication and data
distribution on the Internet is that it has offered a new venue for child misuse and maltreatment.
The research paper is based on the recent media incident that took place in the year 2018 with the
critical applicability of the critical theory that has been evidence on the bases of the argument
about the influence on new forms of technology that helps in understanding the concepts related
to child pornography or online sexual harassment, online pornography. The media incident
which is discussed in the case majorly includes ‘Father, son and a friend are charged in 'worst
case' of child pornography’.

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Child pornography
Child pornography describes as sexualised or sexual physical abuse of a child who is not mature
and falls under the age of 16 years. In the present scenario, the use of digital communication
technologies is increasing in terms of the range, volume and accessibility of the sexual images
(Faust, Bickart, Renaud and Camp, 2015). The crimes related to child pornography is enhancing
faster than the laws of the government because of the advanced and upgraded technology. It is
considered as the visual depiction of sexual activities because it is an offence on the internet.
Child pornography and child sexual abuse form a relationship together due to the internet, which
leads to a rise in the exploitation of the children’s. Technology up-gradation and internet are
contributing in use of a child for the motive of profit, sexual gratifications and other factors,
which cause to the emotional, physical and social stress among people (Houtepen, Sijtsema and
Bogaerts, 2014).
The impact of technology is not limited to the child exploitation but it also leads to the threat in
the mind of the parents. Child pornography is an act which engages child for sexual activities
with the motive of producing visual depictions (Ray, Kimonis and Seto, 2014). Child
pornography includes indecent touching of children body parts or using explicit sexual language
which leads to crimes like rape, forced marriages or sexual slavery. If a child under the age of 16
or 18 is engaged in sexual activities are considered a crime (Seto, et al 2015).
The governments are taking different initiatives by forming the laws to control activities related
to child pornography, these laws differ from one state to other. It is found that illegal depiction of
children's that are engaged in sexual activities which leads to penalties for exploiting children
(Seto and Eke, 2015). The technology is extending the use of child pornography for the purpose

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of entertainment as it includes film, video, computer edited pictures or short film that consists of
sexual happenings. It is considered a crime across the world that leads to the responsibility of
higher authority to take steps for controlling this crime (Smid, Schepers, Kamphuis, van Linden
and Bartling, 2015). Child pornography is only restricted to children's who are video graphed to
take part in sexually related actions forcefully or unintentionally. It is considered one of the
emerging problems of international proportion and works as a risk for children's as it brings a
negative effect on child development.
A recent case in Media
The recent case that has been in the news that is Trio charged worst case child porn sheriff, this
articles shows the child pornography event. In the case James Tomlinson was charged with 2
counts of the continuous sexual abuse of a child; this includes approx. 3,191 counts of child porn
possession with the 7 counts of the promotion. Further, his father Patrick Tumlinson with the age
of 47 got arrested because of the four misbehaviours counts of the disappointment to the report
that was aggravated child sexual assault (Farberov, 2018). In addition to this, the one of his
friend Cody Franklin, 28, was charged because of the serious assault that was taken place with
the child. This shows that Texas identified officially seven victims and believes that probably
there 20 more.
This has been found in the media case that Patrick Tumlinson was found guilty as he was
involved with a child of the Philippines in a pornography case (Abc13, 2017). He was caught
while sharing hundreds of images and a short film that depicts sexual activities due to which he
got punished for 5 years into the jail. The investigation of the case leads to the identification of
the many more victims that are involved in the case (Carl, 2017). The investigators spoke with

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the seven underage victims that are showed in the pornographic photos and videos that were
seized for the search of the home in the area of 900 blocks of Joyce Street in Shepherd.
The case reflects that it is not legal to be involved in Child pornography as it not only harm the
children but also affect their future development. Moreover, it is witnessed that the issues have
been taken place due to the rise in the technology that has created the impact on the activities and
for the promotion of the pornography, child pornography or online sexual harassment. There are
many applications that allow changes in videos and allow hackers to make use of images from
the internet or social networks for creating false images. Thus, this reflects that technology
advancement is promoting the activities and affecting the life of a child.
Another case
The largest porn case that was identified was of Bill Henson, it was found that he molested a girl
three times in the last years for child pornography. Henson was found guilty for creating pictures
and videos by using the children are who are vulnerable. In the investigation, it was found that he
did this activity with more than 300 children’s which is evident with his computer stored files
that labelled children as underage. Henson was considered as the largest producer of child
pornography as he makes use of high school girls for the videos and films, and use to distribute
such clips. After investigation of police warranted Jamieson's as they recovered approximately
1,000 DVDs, thumb drives and many electronic storage devices that contain thousands of images
and videos of naked children (Carl, 2017). The case shows the illegal activities which are
conducted by Bill Henson with the use of effective technologies.
Technology has made various porn sites easily accessible and available that has boosted up the
practice of such activities due to which the digital phase has been proved to be a threat as there

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are no strict violence and strict laws created for such offence. Technology has increased sexual
violence and promoted the use of advanced software for false activities. It has been found that
this advanced and new technology has facilitated the hackers to commit crimes by exploiting
illegal pictures on social networks.
Other cases
In the recent era, there are some cases which remain in the limelight because of the child
pornography which are discussed below: -
 The other case that was seen in the Philippines, a mother sold porn clips of her 5-year
daughter by posting her nude images in font for her boyfriend and charged money for
giving images and clips on the basis of per session. It is illegal of exploring someone
private images without their approval (Steel, 2015). It was found that she made use of the
latest technological advancement to distribute and explore these materials.
 Peter Hellson case was presented in media; he raided the pornographic photography and
distributed images of nude girls and boys across the world. Hellson was involved in
pornographic photography and used children for such photo shoots forcefully (Henshaw,
Ogloff and Clough, 2017).
 Another case that hit the limelight was of sally man who shoots many illegal pictures that
are not legal (Clevenger, Navarro and Jasinski, 2016). The man captured a place deep in
the forest where he used to shoot many children’s, the victim his own children too for
their sexual representation. Thus, it was observed that these crimes are increasing day by
day; some are showcased on media while others are not (Mayer, et. al, 2014).

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It is suggested that teenagers should be very careful about where they are posting their pictures
as their personal information can be used for false activities. These cases led to the development
of programs for child protection and spreading awareness of this crime and their consequences.
The Australian Institute of criminology has funded a large amount of fund to control such
activities (Babchishin, Hanson and VanZuylen, 2015).
Impact of technology on child pornography and online pornography
Technology has impacted criminal activities from all the aspects as it allows offenders to commit
crimes against children without their presence. In the cases, this has been found that the porn
images are edited or modified using various technologically advanced tools. Though, this has
been found that technology has also offered various tools through which criminal activities can
be controlled by applying various security barriers (Ray, Kimonis and Seto, 2014). The use of
technology with advanced tools has offered ways through which information is integrated and
managed to be flooded over public networks (Munster, 2019).
The increasing use of technology has enhanced crimes in all sector and also offered ways
through which it can be controlled. In the cases of child pornography and online pornography,
the impact of technology can be understood by dividing it into soft and hard form. The soft forms
of technology consist of crime analysis techniques, the data sharing system that could be used for
negative purposes and mainly for child pornography and online pornography. Thus, there should
be a control system and private communication channels for sharing the information. Hard form
of technology consists of devices and equipment’s that could be used to commit, prevent and
control crime (Smid, Schepers, Kamphuis, van Linden and Bartling, 2015). Child pornography
and possession have increased due to electronic applications use in the criminal activities by the

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people. For instance; Criminals make use of computer software for creating copies so that they
can make them viral over the internet and they also use technology to track the authorities who
have been part of such activities.
Sexual offences or acts that are considered inappropriate in society are necrophilia, rape,
exhibitionism, and sex with animals, telephone scatology and many more (Jewkes and Wykes,
2019). These crimes are increasing as technology has offered easy access to information by
making it visible over large platforms. The change in the living standard of the children is also
one of the reason behind it as it has been observed that children spend a significant amount of
time online that increases bullying activities. Moreover, 40% of child and online pornography
have increased through social media channels by making then emotional blackmail at small age
which makes them too indirectly or directly involved in activities (Clevenger, Navarro and
Jasinski, 2016). In the case of child pornography technology is used in a negative way that is for
modifying the images and then publishing it over platforms to earn money which shows that
technology is also disrupting.

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Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that the rise in technology advancement leads to the rise in
criminal activities like child pornography, online pornography and sexual harassment. In recent
years, there were many cases that took place which shows the involvement of the electronic age
which majorly include the use of digital technology and advanced tools. Further, the use of
digital platforms like social media is used majorly for attracting and recruiting children to
involve them in child pornography. This has been found that child pornography includes film,
video, computer edited pictures or short film that consists of sexual happenings which shows that
technology has given the new form to crime. It is suggested that the government of the country
should take the required actions so that they can bring the improvement in the society for the
development of the child and also for their future.

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References
Abc13, (2017). Man sentenced to 100 years in prison in one of the largest cases of child porn.
Available from https://abc13.com/man-sentenced-to-100-years-in-child-porn-case/4313567/
Accessed on 03 Jan 2018
Aebi, M., Plattner, B., Ernest, M., Kaszynski, K. and Bessler, C., 2014. Criminal history and
future offending of juveniles convicted of the possession of child pornography. Sexual
Abuse, 26(4), pp.375-390.
Babchishin, K.M., Hanson, R.K. and VanZuylen, H., 2015. Online child pornography offenders
are different: A meta-analysis of the characteristics of online and offline sex offenders against
children. Archives of sexual behavior, 44(1), pp.45-66.
Carl, (2017). Man jailed for distributing child porn from his mom's home. Available from
https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/man-jailed-for-distributing-child-porn-from-his-mom-s/
article_94ceb4b4-d0c3-11e8-88a2-1fe49219a13c.html Accessed on 03 Jan 2018.
Clevenger, S.L., Navarro, J.N. and Jasinski, J.L., 2016. A matter of low self-control? Exploring
differences between child pornography possessors and child pornography producers/distributers
using self-control theory. Sexual Abuse, 28(6), pp.555-571.
Farberov, S. (2018) Father, son and a friend are charged in 'worst case' of child pornography
Texas sheriff had ever seen with up to 27 victims and 'torture' videos Available from
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5510549/Trio-charged-worst-case-child-porn-sheriff-
seen.html Accessed on 03 Jan 2018

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Faust, E., Bickart, W., Renaud, C. and Camp, S., 2015. Child pornography possessors and child
contact sex offenders: A multilevel comparison of demographic characteristics and rates of
recidivism. Sexual Abuse, 27(5), pp.460-478.
Henshaw, M., Ogloff, J.R. and Clough, J.A., 2017. Looking beyond the screen: A critical review
of the literature on the online child pornography offender. Sexual Abuse, 29(5), pp.416-445.
Houtepen, J.A., Sijtsema, J.J. and Bogaerts, S., 2014. From child pornography offending to child
sexual abuse: A review of child pornography offender characteristics and risks for cross-
over. Aggression and violent behavior, 19(5), pp.466-473.
Jewkes, Y. and Wykes, M. (2019). Reconstructing the sexual abuse of children: ‘cyber-paeds’,
panic and power. 15(8), pp.934–952.
Mayer, F., Arent, T., Geserick, G., Grundmann, C., Lockemann, U., Riepert, T. and Schmeling,
A., 2014. Age estimation based on pictures and videos presumably showing child or youth
pornography. International journal of legal medicine, 128(4), pp.649-652.
Munster, A. (2019). The Henson photographs and the ‘network condition. Journal of Media &
Cultural Studies, 23(1), pp.3-12.
Ray, J.V., Kimonis, E.R. and Seto, M.C., 2014. Correlates and moderators of child pornography
consumption in a community sample. Sexual Abuse, 26(6), pp.523-545.
Seto, M.C. and Eke, A.W., 2015. Predicting recidivism among adult male child pornography
offenders: Development of the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT). Law and
human behavior, 39(4), p.416.

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Seto, M.C., Hermann, C.A., Kjellgren, C., Priebe, G., Svedin, C.G. and Långström, N., 2015.
Viewing child pornography: Prevalence and correlates in a representative community sample of
young Swedish men. Archives of sexual behavior, 44(1), pp.67-79.
Smid, W., Schepers, K., Kamphuis, J.H., van Linden, S. and Bartling, S., 2015. Prioritizing child
pornography notifications: predicting direct victimization. Sexual Abuse, 27(4), pp.398-413.
Steel, C.M., 2015. Web-based child pornography: The global impact of deterrence efforts and its
consumption on mobile platforms. Child abuse & neglect, 44, pp.150-158.