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Tuesday, 28 November 2006 14:46 |
By DAVID FORBES
The City of Asheville may hire and equip a police officer to fight child pornography ÇƒÓ as well as encourage tougher state laws, if a proposal made on Nov. 21 is approved.
Such measures are needed, Grier Weeks, executive director of the National Association to Protect Children, said in a presentation to Asheville City Council, because child pornography has evolved through the Internet into a worldwide problem tied to crime syndicates ÇƒÓ and is so widespread that local law enforcement must take a major role in tackling it.
"This
is a local issue as well," Weeks said. "You need a dedicated
investigator within the Asheville Police Department handling cases like
these. To take someone with computer expertise and pull them off to
work on cases like this just doesnët work.
"If you want to be serious about tackling this, there needs to be a
person just handling these cases that involve children. This will also
help with other crimes involving children by bringing in more physical
evidence."
Such a position, including training, equipment, salary and benefits, would cost about $125,000.
Weeksë
presentation also highlighted some cases from the past, including one
involving a young girl in Cary who was rescued after investigators in
Toronto tracked down her identity through pictures they found on the
Internet.
Following that
case, he said, investigators tracked Internet information for 200 child
pornography pictures and found them on 65,000 computers in North
Carolina alone.
Such pictures, Weeks added, frequently involve horrific scenes of torture.
"Law enforcement
across the board says that the victims are getting younger and the
abuse is getting more violent and sadistic," he said. "I think this is
a crisis. This is a business that brings in billions of dollars. There
are over a hundred thousand Web sites. Federal, state and local law
officials are completely overwhelmed."
He also said that pedophiles will try to lure children online, even trading and selling that information.
Law
enforcementës task in this state is not helped by what Weeks asserts
are extremely weak laws on child pornography, with penalties of only
four to six months probation in many cases.
"It is in the
absolute lowest felony class on our books," Weeks said. "Other felonies
in this class include things like cockfighting, beach bingo and
throwing an athletic game. This is one of the big problems."
To that end, he
said, Asheville should take the lead in pressing for far harsher
penalties, especially as State Rep. Bruce Goforth, who represents part
of Buncombe County, is one of the main legislators pushing for such a
move.
"A grand total of all cases last year in North Carolina was 45," Weeks said. "These penalties are way too low. Itës ridiculous."
Another problem
that would be helped by the addition of a dedicated police officer is
the claim by some law enforcement officials that when they find
evidence, many times they donët have the resources to pursue it fully.
"Iëve had state
agents tell me that they wait eight months to get a hard drive back. We
need more forensic and analysis capacity ÇƒÓ there are so many leads they
could be following here if they had the resources," Weeks said. "Those
65,000 IP addresses in this state are very easy arrests and
prosecutions to make. Thereës an enormous pool of very strong leads
they canët pursue. You could be arresting people on this issue almost
daily."
After Weeksë remarks, council members questioned him on what steps they could take in response.
Councilwoman Robin Cape wondered if putting more information for parents up on the cityës Web site might be a good first step.
"I have two
children and I think theyëre fairly savvy, but Iëm realizing how much I
donët know about this," Cape said. "Could we, on our Web site, have an
educational link perhaps?"
In reply, Weeks compared the situation to a sniper attack.
"You want to
tell your children how to cross the street and be safe, but meanwhile,
you have to go up there and deal with the sniper attack," Weeks said.
"The vast majority of parents arenët going to educate themselves. Never
underestimate the naivete of the average parent on this issue."
Meanwhile, Mayor
Terry Bellamy noted that she believes this is an opportunity for
Asheville to "take the lead and be a model" in tackling child
pornography.
"Iëve been on
council since 1999 ÇƒÓ and this has never been on our radar screen,"
Bellamy said. "This is a chance for Asheville to step up and become a
model community on this."
She directed City Manager Gary Jackson to investigate Weeksë suggestions.
Later,
Councilman Carl Mumpower asked if the city could partner with the
Buncombe County Sheriffës Department to fund a position such as the one
suggested by Weeks.
"Iëll be
visiting the county, too," Weeks replied. "But if you had someone on
this issue full time, it could save a lot of kids."
Vice Mayor Holly
Jones noted that she believes this could also be an opportunity for the
city to partner with federal and state governments to get resources and
coordinate efforts.
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