Child porn growing along with Internet
Law enforcement grapples with what has become big business
BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer

Authorities said it was the Internet that brought down Clement Bilski Jr.

The investigation and subsequent indictment of the 43-year-old Ocean Township resident on 429 counts of aggravated sexual assault and possession of child pornography stemmed from an Internet trace and shared files of child pornography.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), child pornography is a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry and has grown alongside the Internet to become one of the fledgling media's fastest-growing businesses.

With the growing ease of online purchasing and advances in digital recording technology, child pornography has become easier to obtain and manufacture.

Bilski was one of those alleged offenders. And the NCMEC is working to find more like him.

Michelle Collins is the director of the Exploited Children Unit of the NCMEC, which works closely with local, state and national law enforcement to identify and apprehend sexual predators of children, especially on the Internet.

"Child pornography is not a computer crime," Collins said. "Every image depicts a child being abused. They are crime-scene photographs."

The Exploited Children Unit receives on average, 40,000 to 70,000 seized images and video of exploited children each week. They work to identify the victims and the offenders, passing along information to local law enforcement to help in individual investigations.

Through the use of the Center's Cyber Tipline, NCMEC has received nearly 400,000 reports of child pornography and positively identified over 800 victims, many from the United States.

The Center works in conjunction with Internet Crime Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces across the country to investigate and eventually charge offenders and to identify the victims. It is a job that has been made more difficult by the trappings of the Internet.

"The Internet is the greatest connector of all time," Collins said.

Offenders can now access each other and share their urges to commit acts of child exploitation under "relative anonymity," she said. In online forums, offenders are able to congregate, validate and normalize their feelings with others, often sharing tips on how to groom a potential victim and choose who to target, she said.

"The most dangerous thing is that they normalize and validate how they feel," Collins said.

One good thing, she said, is that there is no such thing as complete anonymity.

There are 46 ICAC Task Forces across the country who work with local, state and national law enforcement to specifically target offenders of children online.

One prime example is the New Jersey ICAC Task Force, which works not only reactively, with NCMEC and other agencies, but proactively. The task force creates its own investigations and pools resources in law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

According to the NCMEC, most possessors of child pornography are male, 91 percent of those are white and 86 percent are over 25 years of age. Many of them are educated with good jobs, many are married and even more are within the victim's circle of trust. Beyond that, there is no uniform profile for offenders.

"If the stereotypical monster were standing in front of us then there would be red flags," Collins said. "Most of them fly under the radar."

Assistance for victims

Hazlet-based 180 Turning Lives Around is an organization that provides victim assistance for those affected by sexual assault and domestic violence in Monmouth County. JoAnn Palumbo, the director of program services for the organization, said that they service victims 12 years old and above, offering counseling and support groups for those who have been victims of sexual assault.

The nonprofit organization helps victims to cope with what has happened to them. They offer free therapy sessions and create support groups. They look at family systems and help victims create a support system with friends or family.

Palumbo said the group helps about 100 victims each year and offer a sexual assault hot line.

Victims can contact either organization. The 180 Turning Lives Around Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at (732) 264-RAPE and the NCMEC Cyber Tipline can be accessed at www.cybertipline.com.