Viral Outrage
Child porn video making way across social media
It seems that for every good thing we get from advancing technology, something bad emerges too, including a new twist on something very old and very tragic.
On Tuesday, a 44-year-old man named Germaine Moore turned himself in to police in Millbrook, Ala., to face charges that include sexual assault of a child and distribution of child pornography.
He is also wanted on sexual assault charges in Detroit involving three girls.
Another man, Jerrell Washington, 42, of Montgomery, Ala., has also been charged with distributing child pornography.
The video in these cases show an adult male and a young girl, who appears to be about 6 years old, engaged in a sex act.
According to police, the video had been circulated around the world. It’s gone viral on Facebook and other social media, so that means it’s possible for someone who has no interest in such appalling content to accidentally run across it. That’s alarming. Especially considering how many children use social media without supervision.
Police right here in Texarkana have warned that anyone who downloads, saves or shares the video—even if sending it to law enforcement or the media in anger and outrage—can be charged with a felony. The same applies to screenshots.
It also hinders the ongoing investigation by adding more false leads that authorities must follow.
The FBI and police across the United States are keeping a close watch on this. They understand that most people instinctively want to do something to help the child and catch the predator. They want to help identify both. But that doesn’t change the law. Disseminating child pornography is a serious crime. Fortunately, investigators in Millbrook say the child has been located and is now safe.
Pedophiles inhabit a world that for a long time operated under the radar. Now, with the Internet they can share their sick predilections with others around the world. Unfortunately, it means this stuff sometimes surfaces in the mainstream world.
It also means that the victims of child pornography will forever have their suffering exploited. Unlike physical media, when something hits the Internet it never really goes away.
Child pornography is an especially heinous crime, compounded by advances in technology that make sharing and exploiting so easy. In an ideal world, we shouldn’t have to worry if we or our children might inadvertently be confronted with such ugly realities in our own homes, on our own computers or phones. But this is not an ideal world. We do have to worry. And that means we have to be very careful for ourselves and our children.
If you see the video on social media, contact the site and report it. Contact local law enforcement as well. You can also call the U.S. Department of Justice task force Internet Crimes Against Children at 1-800-843-567. But make sure you don’t download, share or save the video.