actually, one in five is an extraordinarily high proportion. That's scary, and sick.

My question is simple. Why would law enforcement officers at a conference be showing any type of kiddie porn period? What possible end does it serve?

Oh I know, if you are going to fight crime one needs to look at the reality of the situation. Sort of like leering at crime scene photos when taking on the case of a killer. It still strikes me as rather odd.

Anyway, I think your numbers are extremely high and smack of paranoia. Or at the very least, some law enforcement agency campaigning for funds to create yet another task force to combat yet another supposed boogeyman living down the street.

There's nothing worse than seeing crimes against children "explode," but my guess is kiddie porn/child abuse has been around long before the Internet dropped squarely on our ass. I doubt kiddie porn interest is growing, though undoubtedly the Internet can be used as a tool by such people.

I think a child becoming a victim of drugs or molestation by a school teacher/coach is far more serious than the kiddie porn boogeyman trying to reach out to them through the evil Internet....

"I doubt kiddie porn interest is growing, though undoubtedly the Internet can be used as a tool by such people."

Not "can be". Is being. Re-read this:

"1000s of children each month are agreeing to meetings with anonymous strangers they meet online."

Check out this site:
http://www.perverted-justice.com/

Having an extended childhood due to good genetics, I think this is something I know and have experienced more than most.

I think parents need to be aware of the technology their children are using and I think that children need to have honest and frank sex education--gradually throughout their public school education.

Children need to be able to identify inappropriate behavior and be given scripts on which to act/react.

Can you guess where a lot of pedophiles hang out between 3-6 on weekdays if their schedule allows? Libraries. How did I find this out? From the back, I still look quite young.

Ever have someone follow you around the stacks and rub against you? Would a child know what to do? It was scary enough as an adult, wondering if I screamed if he would choke me since he waited until I was kneeling down.

He knew the library better than I did and he also knew where the librarians would be. He got away.

Likewise, a pedophile on the Net knows the Net better than the kid and probably knows where to find kids and how to select them out from the group.

There are plenty of software programs to monitor and filter computer usage, however, if the parents do not know about them and do not use them, they are of little use.

Has pedophila increased? There has been a suggestion that because of HIV/AIDS pedophilia is increasing on the thought that one can't get AIDS from a child. But we must also remember that not so long ago, many people didn't think rape, including child rape, was such a bad thing. Attitudes have changed.

What the Internet gives a pedophile is easy access to curious minds. It's easier than knocking on doors or calling houses at random.

It is hard to know whom to trust, but if we make kids aware of their options and their sexual boundaries, they will be able to better evaluate the situation and learn when it's time to contact an adult about the problem.

I am the author of the article.

I find it interesting that there continues to be doubts about the growing problem of child pornography. About half the people I talk to just shrug at the issue. Frankly, before I got an education, I felt the problem was being blown out of proportion. So it is easy for me to understand the reaction.

What most people don't know is that child pornography had been almost completely eradicated by the US Customs and Postal Inspection services by 1989. This, obviously, changed dramatically with the explosion of the Internet. Nobody really knows but there are an estimated 8 million pornography websites on the Internet.

When it comes to child pornography the first thing that needs to be understood is that often the "kids" are 3-6 years old. And like I mentioned, I can't describe it and would not want to desribe it. This problem is very sinister. And obviously, the public is not very well informed. What do you think the ramifications are of six year old engaging in sex? The ramifications for that one child?

I'll take up the issue of child pornography, the statistics and the real magnitude of the problem in a future article. I'll leave you wtih this for now, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 200,000 "kiddie porn" pictures last year via its Cybertipline (email). Have you ever heard of the Cybertipline?

Bob