KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Numbers show child pornography a growing industry
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Police say a federal study found that more than 7,000 Alaska Internet addresses have downloaded or shared child porn via the Web. (Kyle Stalder/KTUU-TV)
Anchorage Police Department Detective Mark Thomas says the demand for extreme forms of child pornography is increasing in the state. (Kyle Stalder/KTUU-TV)
One reason the U.S. Justice Department launched 'Project Safe Childhood' was to help officials prosecute crimes against children. (Kyle Stalder/KTUU-TV)
Dr. Bruce Smith, an Anchorage clinical psychologist who has spent 25 years counseling sex addicts and sex offenders, says a major problem is desensitization to milder forms of pornography. (Kyle Stalder/KTUU-TV)
With the advent of the Internet, crossing the moral line and accessing these images has never been easier. (Kyle Stalder/KTUU-TV)by Angela Unruh
Thursday, Jan. 25, 2007
Anchorage, Alaska - Over the past few years, many Alaska men from all walks of life have been charged with possessing child pornography: Anchorage police officers, soldiers, even clergy and teachers. Just yesterday, Frederick Deussing, the former vice principal of Heritage Christian School, was also charged with the crime.
Police say a federal study found that more than 7,000 Alaska Internet addresses have downloaded or shared child porn via the Web.
It's definitely a growing industry; the question is, why?
Detective Mark Thomas, who works for the Anchorage Police Department's cyber crimes investigations unit, said the images on Duessing's computer were among the worst his office had ever seen. And police say the demand for extreme forms of child pornography is increasing in the state.
"What we're seeing is a lot more demand for the younger, one- or two-year-old kids getting raped," said Thomas.
It's a haunting trend also noticed on the national level.
One reason the U.S. Justice Department launched Project Safe Childhood was to help officials prosecute crimes against children.
"We're seeing escalating levels of violence; we're seeing more egregious forms of abuse. It's almost like it takes more to get people excited than it did a year ago," said Arnold Bell, the unit chief for the FBI's Innocent Images Unit.
According to Dr. Bruce Smith, an Anchorage clinical psychologist who has spent 25 years counseling sex addicts and sex offenders, the problem is desensitization.
"What the men say is that they start out looking at standard pornography and that it no longer excited them or arouses them. So they then began looking for something that provides that excitement or arousal," Smith said.
With the advent of the Internet, crossing the moral line and accessing these images has never been easier.
"[The Internet] removes a barrier, which for many people, they then begin to have corrosion or erosion of their value systems and of what they would do if there were oversight; if someone was actually standing there saying, ‘Are you sure you want to purchase this? Are you sure you want to view this?'" said Smith.
Statistics show child pornography generates $3 billion annually. Divide that by 365 days a year, people are spending more than $8.2 million on child porn every single day.
Officials believe the trend toward younger-aged victims of child pornography has increased over the last eight years, and in the same time, the ages of the victims have grown younger and younger.
Currently, 6 percent are infants and 58 percent are prepubescent children.
