Monday, September 15, 2008
To open the show and spread the word about how quickly child pornography can be shared online, Oprah began by standing in front of a large screen of the United States. One red dot was shown on Washington DC to represent one computer containing child pornography images. The display that was shown represented how quickly images can be shared from computer to computer around the world in just 24 hours - the red dots were spread to every part of the country, in every state.
The scariest part is that the technology exists to investigate and arrest the people creating and spreading this material, but because of funding and lack of staff, only 2% or less of known leads are followed.
Oprah's crew visited staff at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children where there are 48 analysts who research hundreds of reports sent over by law enforcement. While it is very difficult for the staff to have to view child pornography on a daily basis, the goal is to rescue the children and prosecute the offenders. To help the staff, a psychiatrist is kept on-hand for them to talk to.
The latest form of entertainment that law enforcement and other authorities are tracking is live on-demand molestation and rape. Also shown was an online "Before You Start" tutorial explaining how a father can begin to molest his daughter, starting from infancy up. The home audience was blocked from seeing some of the material, but the studio audience was shown the tutorial as it was seen online. The response from the studio audience showed just how disturbing the material was.
Oprah explained that the internet is the new Wild Wild West for predators - the difference is that the technology exists to track offenders right to their homes, but enforcement is underfunded and overwhelmed with cases.
Flint Waters from Wyoming developed computer software to track activity of internet sexual predators. The molestations are getting more severe as time passes and the need to be able to prosecute more cases is right now. Flint revealed that 30-40% of the men who view the online material are also molesters themselves and the number of people viewing online increases each day.
Oprah revealed that there is also information available online to teach children how to perform sexual acts on their molesters as well as desensitize them to what is happening. Material is also available to teach fathers how to molest as well as not get caught when their daughters go in for medical examinations.
3 out of 4 victims know their molester in some way and in many cases it is a parent or in their own home. Flint revealed for parents that offenders are very driven; many times after being prosecuted they will purchase a new computer to get access to the material as soon as possible.
Flint also explained that offenders will rationalize, explain and describe their actions openly when prosecuted and even suggest that society just hasn't caught up yet; that what they are doing should be happening more often.
Roy Pompa is the perfect example for how to teach parents that a predator can be anyone you know - a neighbor, uncle, friend, church-goer, coach, community leader, doctor or lawyer. Roy Pompa was one of the largest traders of internet child pornography in the United States living in suburban Ohio. He is now serving a life sentence for not only viewing internet pornography but for drugging and molesting his daughter's friends. Oprah had 3 of his victims on the show: Ally, Jasmine and Amanda as well as their parents.
The girls described how Pompa was very present and active in their lives as a neighbor and father of one of their friends. The parents shared that they were like family and never saw any signs that anything was going on.
Pompa succeeded in molesting the girls without them knowing by drugging their drinks while they were in his home for a sleepover with his daughter. During the night Pompa's daughter would tell their friends that they had to keep the door open because he father checked on her often at night; since the girls were drugged, it was then that he molested them and filmed it.
It was only because Flint Waters' software flagged Pompa that he was investigated and in that the girls were identified in videos or they would have never known. During the interview and in their lives they demonstrate great strength standing up to the man that violated them. Dealing with stress, anger, depression and confusion, the girls have been able to get through their difficult time with the help of their family and friends.
Support the Protect Our Children Act:
All parents and active supporters of change have the opportunity to make a change to the law to help protect this country's children. The Protect Our Children Act: Bill 1738 will go before congress in September of 2008, Oprah urged everyone watching to get the contact information for each state's senators on Oprah.com and pressure congress to pass the bill. Bill 1738 would give law enforcement an extra $1 billion dollars for support to investigate more leads and rescue the children that are being overlooked due to the lack of funding.
