Campaign seeks to combat child porn, online exploitation

Faced with an increasing problem of child pornography and exploitation nationwide, federal authorities are trying to educate both parents and perpetrators.

U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman unveiled a multimedia public service campaign Tuesday aimed at online exploitation of children. TV, radio, print and Internet ads seek to highlight the dangers for children online and the consequences for adults who exploit them.

"We routinely rank among the highest in the country in the number of cases indicted even among states with much larger populations," Tolman said of Utah. "I have attributed this to that interesting mix of a high population of children that we have in this state as well as a very trusting citizenry."

The public service announcements are a part of Project Safe Childhood, a multi-agency effort to investigate and prosecute Internet crimes against children. The initiative includes harsher sentencing for those prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood.

The ads include disturbing statistics, such as one in four children being exposed to pornography online, one in seven receiving sexual messages, 14 percent being solicited and 7 percent being asked to upload nude photos of themselves.

"The U.S. produces over 50 percent of the global child pornography," said Ed Smart, a children's rights advocate whose daughter Elizabeth was famously kidnapped in 2002. "It's an issue that needs to be tackled."

Smart called for more federal funding for law enforcement to combat the problem, but also urged parents to step up and talk to their children about the dangers online. He noted that a majority of child pornography cases involve family members or acquaintances.

"Parents need to sit down with their kids, get on the computer and walk them through it so they really understand who is on the other side of the screen and what can happen and what they're putting themselves at risk for," he said.

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, who has sponsored legislation aimed at cracking down on child exploitation, said parents can only do so much.

"Education has to be done, but it's hard to blame single mothers who have to work and the kids are left at home," he said, calling for community groups, churches and extended family members to do more.

Speaking to a room full of reporters and law enforcement officers, Hatch railed against pornography in general and even what's on TV today. He suggested that federal funding for Internet crimes against children became a lower priority in lieu of anti-terrorism initiatives.