Task force acts: Los Angeles fertile ground for child molesters
The Internet — ubiquitous and powerful — is seemingly a global conduit for every conceivable thing. It provides news coverage to the second, sports and entertainment information and a ready catalog of virtually every song ever written and recorded. It allows users to instantly communicate across the world with others, do homework and research projects and conduct business from anywhere at any time.
And it is the preferred choice of pedophiles and child molesters globally for accessing child pornography and connecting with like-minded individuals.
That is of course tragic and chilling, and it is certainly the reason why law enforcement groups in the United States and across the globe maintain a laser-like focus on computers and the Internet as they seek to combat the sad scourge of child abuse.
Child sexual predators attempt to keep their activities secret, of course, which is why FBI agents and other law enforcers trying to infiltrate pedophile rings and identify consumers of child pornography often pose as pedophiles themselves, seeking entry to clandestine websites while they gather information that can subsequently be used in criminal investigations.
Sometimes their efforts yield material results, which are obviously lauded. A news report focusing upon the so-called Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force describes the work done by agents in 61 regional task forces across the country that recently yielded mass arrests of individuals possessing and distributing child pornography.
Tragically, though unsurprisingly, the Los Angeles area features prominently in the investigation. Reportedly, nearly 240 individuals across the metro region were arrested over the past two months by ICAC agents.
Such numbers are both heartening and flatly distressing. On the one hand, of course, they speak to strong enforcement efforts aimed at identifying and punishing individuals who inflict despicable harms upon children. Simultaneously, though, they reveal the large shadow community that continually seeks to prey upon the world’s most vulnerable demographic and that exists in high numbers despite efforts to eradicate it.
It is certainly worthwhile to acknowledge and applaud the wins in the war against child pornography, although doing so must come with the sad acknowledgement that the battle is clearly ongoing.
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