Give law enforcement more leeway to prosecute users of child pornography

A KENT man was recently arrested for accessing illegal child pornography over his neighbor's unprotected wireless network. Police found something else ominous on his computer: copies of e-mailed job inquiries to a nanny-placement agency.

This is a frightening reminder that trading in, possessing and viewing child pornography are not victimless crimes. The children depicted, victims of horrific sexual abuse, are re-victimized each time an image is viewed or disseminated. And those who consume child pornography often seek — and find — real-life victims.

We hope Washington legislators take this to heart as they again consider a bill to more effectively combat a multibillion-dollar industry that profits from the sexual abuse of kids.

Some wonder, "What's the harm in just viewing child pornography?"

That question wouldn't be asked if people knew what we see when we prosecute these cases. These aren't pictures of semi-clothed children playing on the beach or in the bathtub. In reality, they are horrifying images of small children being forced to have sex with adults.

The vast majority of the children pictured are younger than 12. Sometimes they are infants; sometimes they are tied down. Nearly every one of them is being sexually assaulted by an adult in unimaginable ways. We routinely see images of adult males having intercourse with crying children. We see the pain, the fear and the terror on these children's faces.

As technology advances, making the viewing of child pornography easier, our laws have remained stagnant. For the past three years, we've worked with the state Attorney General's Office and a bipartisan coalition of legislators to bring our state's child pornography laws into the 21st century. Unfortunately, the legislation has not been put to a full vote of the House or Senate.

We hope this year will be different.

The proposed legislation targets technology used by those who satisfy their sexual desires by watching children being sexually abused. With increasing frequency, users of child pornography neither download nor print the images. Instead, they access files housed on someone else's computer or server. The AG's bill makes this kind of viewing a felony, provided a prosecutor can prove a purposeful pattern of behavior.

And just to be clear: these files are not easy to stumble upon. They must be sought out, often purchased, in dark corners of the Internet.

The bill also fixes a problem created by a state Supreme Court decision that effectively provides a volume discount for those who access images of sexual abuse of children. Current law allows prosecutors to file only one criminal count of possession of child pornography, regardless of the number of images viewed or possessed. Cases involving thousands of images are not uncommon. But just one criminal count may be filed and too little jail time results.

This is important because those who seek sexual gratification from watching children suffer present a real danger. Scientific studies demonstrate a significant link between using child pornography and the actual molestation of children. A 2008 study by the Federal Bureau of Prisons shows that 85 percent of those convicted of possessing child pornography admit to sexually abusing minors, often without getting caught.

The laws of supply and demand show that when these illegal images are purchased (generating billions in profits), there is a strong incentive to provide more. The only way to produce this material, and to satisfy the demand, is to sexually abuse more children.

Let's attack the demand for child pornography by making repeated, intentional viewing of such material a serious crime. Please join the fight against the sexual exploitation of children by supporting HB 2424 and SB 6397.