Congressional Committee Acts on Child Porn

Congressional Committee Acts on Child Porn
(FRC)

A House subcommittee is responding to evidence it has gathered in a major child porn case by sending information that can be used in prosecutions by state attorneys general in 46 states. The facts of the case, which stem from testimony the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee took earlier this year from a 19-year-old male, Justin Berry, are horrific. Berry testified that he had been sexually abused as a minor and, at age 13, began using webcam technology to operate his own live child porn site. The site boomed as child porn predators swarmed to it, using credit cards numbers that Berry provided to the subcommittee in his testimony. Berry testified to having some 1,500 customers, and he also told the subcommittee that the U.S. Justice Department had dragged its feet in responding to the information and taking action. Federal prosecutors have now filed charges against three men who helped Berry operate the business, but the subcommittee's efforts to work directly with state prosecutors as well are good news for families. Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) deserves thanks for moving forward aggressively on this heart-wrenching issue. As Berry told the subcommittee last April, "My experience is not as isolated as you might hope . . . this is not the story of a few bad kids whose parents paid no attention. There are hundreds of kids in the United States alone who are right now wrapped up in this horror."

Additional Resources
Dealing With Pornography: A Practical Guide For Protecting Your Family and Your Community