ABSTRACT
Although many people have heard about child pornography, a majority do not fully understand the true meaning of what this crime entails. Child pornography is not just a picture of a naked child; this criminal act also entails the following:
• Lewd exposure of the child’s genitals • Sexual exploitation including rape of a child • Explicit sexual activities including stimulation • Replicated or genuine sexual activities • Masturbation of a child with the intention of sexual arousal and
gratication
Child pornography also reveals images of minors engaged in sexual acts. In child pornography, the o€ender’s face is never shown. e di€erence between child pornography and pornography is that the former reveals sexually explicit photographs or video that depicts a person under the age of 18 involved in sexually graphic conduct such as sexual intercourse, masturbation, or sexual cruelty. Anyone who collects, distributes, sells, or possesses child pornography is o¦en seen as deviant and abnormal, not only in
this country, but internationally as well. Child pornography has grown to epic proportions across the nation because of the Internet, and it has become a social and legal problem for our society. Statistics show that the number of cases of child exploitation, child abuse, and child traœcking has steadily increased due in part to child pornography.
