WHATS THE HARM?

Opposing perspective

A British Colombia judge, in Canada, ruled that possession of child pornography wasn't a crime."There is no evidence that demonstrates a significant increase in the danger to children caused by pornography," says Duncan Shaw (the British Colombian Judge). He continued by saying, “What people keep in their homes is an expression of that person's essential self”. Judge Shaw explains that by possessing and watching Child pornography, it will help to subdue the urge of the watcher from acting upon their desires.

Judge Shaw says Child pornography doesn't increase the danger to children, but this is not true. Most children who are used for child pornography are later sold into pedophile rings where the children are auctioned off. In Europe, the police have recently uncovered the largest child pornography/ pedophile ring in the world. 230 children from ages 7 – 14 were saved. 184 people were arrested. The members of the ring ranged from teachers to other police officers. The age range of the members were between the ages of 19 and 84. These members will be sentenced from anywhere between an 18 year sentence to life. Many people are arguing that this is too much time for those who are only accused of watching the porn and had no connection to the pedophile ring.

A scenario I read on the Internet supports the fact that child pornography watchers are receiving to much time for a crime they had no part in. Suppose there is a family which contains a father, mother, son, and a daughter. Both the son and the daughter are under the age of 18. The father is sexually taking advantage of the girl or even the boy. The Mother finds out. She is then faced with two options: Pretend it is not happening or Tell someone. If she tells someone then there is a high chance the father wont go to jail but instead receive immense counseling. However if the father happened to video tape the sexual acts and uploads them to the Internet and someone watches it, then the person who watches it will receive 18 years in prison while the father will only receive therapy.

I believe the father and the watcher should be both sent to prison for a long time. I can see why people are upset with this verdict but I believe instead of lowering the time that the watcher must do, the police increases the time that the father does.

Rape, Vatican Until. "'World's Largest' Online Pedophile Ring Smashed In Europe."Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/16/online-pedophile-ring-_n_836655.html>.

"Possesion of Child Porn Shoud Be Legal." Cialis for Sale Uk | Licensed Canadian Online Pharmacy 24/7. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ageofconsent.com/comments/forlegalchildporn.htm>.