Whitfield Investigates Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Internet | News | Congressman Ed Whitfield

News | Congressman Ed Whitfield | United States Representative

Whitfield Investigates Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Internet April 4, 2006

Washington, Apr 4 - U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, on Tuesday held a hearing investigating the sexual exploitation of children over the Internet. Witnesses testified about the astonishing breadth of pornographic material depicting children that is available on the Internet and recounted heart wrenching stories of how the dark world of child pornography is destroying young lives across America.

With the growing use of the Internet, the number of child predators who seek to make, distribute and view images of children being sexually abused continues to skyrocket. This is primarily due to the anonymity, accessibility and ease with which child predators can operate on the Internet, said Whitfield. The scope of this growing problem is astounding. This is a despicable practice that must be stopped.

Tuesdays lead witness was Justin Berry. Beginning at age 13, he was repeatedly sexually exploited over the Internet by a number of men during the course of several years. Berry testified that within minutes of connecting a webcam to his computer, he was contacted by multiple men seeking to establish a sexual connection with him. These men showered money, gifts and attention on Justin, manipulating Justin to perform progressively more graphic sexual activities at their request.

Berrys story was first brought to light by Kurt Eichenwald, a reporter with the New York Times who testified with Berry at the hearing. Eichenwald, who wrote several articles for the Times about the online sexual exploitation of children, helped Berry escape his sordid situation and persuaded him to turn over the names of more than 1,500 online pedophiles to federal law enforcement. Eichenwald found that some of the names disclosed by Berry revealed individuals that were true pillars in their respective communities, including pediatricians, lawyers and teachers.

My experience is not quite as isolated as you might hope, warned Berry. There are hundreds of kids in the United States alone who are right now wrapped up in this horror.

Subpoenaed to appear before Whitfields Subcommittee was Ken Gourlay of Detroit, Michigan. Gourlay, who ran a web hosting business, is one of the men who allegedly contacted Berry after seeing his picture on the Internet. Gourlay allegedly maintained a relationship with Berry and sexually molested him on multiple occasions. Under questioning from the Committee, Gourlay invoked his Fifth Amendment privileges against self-incrimination.

Kentucky native Ernie Allen, co-founder and executive director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), testified that nearly 1 in 5 children report being sexually solicited over the Internet. Of those thousands of children who are inappropriately contacted online each year, only 10 percent of these cases are reported to authorities. Allen reported that the NCMEC receives nearly 1,500 tips per week through its CyberTipline about suspected online child pornography, which has produced 385,000 credible leads for law enforcement during its eight years in operation.

The sale of child pornography over the Internet is an enormous and burgeoning industry, with global commercial revenues from the online sale of explicit and abusive images of children reaching approximately $20 billion. Revenues for other legitimate online businesses are dwarfed by comparison - for instance, the total global commercial revenue from selling music online was a mere $3 billion in 2004. Because so much of the commercial side of the online child pornography trade operates in the shadows, however, it is difficult for law enforcement to track individuals who are purchasing this material and to get a true estimate of the sexually explicit content that is readily available for sale.

Child predators that are found in possession of child pornography typically have thousands of images of children being sexually molested or abused stored on their computers. Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents apprehended a man in Kentucky who reportedly possessed more than 400,000 images of child pornography on his computers. Despite successes such as these, many other cases of child pornography and online sexual abuse go unprosecuted each year due to the lack of an urgent, coordinated response by federal law enforcement.

Berrys testimony echoed those sentiments. Until recently, I never understood why these child predators always laughed about the government enforcement activity. Now I know the child predators are at least partially right. They have little to fear as law enforcement efforts to prosecute these people are, based on my case, riddled with mistakes and bureaucracy. Unless something changes, the child predators will win often enough that dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of children will be lost forever, said Berry.

The Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate in America, but unfortunately, some sick and depraved individuals seek to use this open forum to prey on the most vulnerable in our society, said Whitfield. Children and parents should know exactly what risks are each time they log online. We need to shine a light on criminals that manipulate and abuse children and show them that we will not stand for this disgusting behavior. At the same time, federal law enforcement has to understand the urgency of this problem and take these matters more seriously than they apparently have to this point. I am committed to working with law enforcement and my colleagues in Congress towards crafting solutions that can eliminate this problem once and for all.

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