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economist sunjsuritribune crime saturday april 26 2003 cops want jail terms for child pom offenders public often unaware how horrific material often is officials say from page 1 absolutely a crime and we treat it as axrime ms huizer said and we know from research it is linked to offending behaviour effective sentencing would send messages of condemnation and deterrence to the community at large added jan austin director of clinical services with yrap people dont always know just i what youre talking about when you cite child pornography in a lot of i casesits quite horrific she said i think people are victimized not only by the crime but then by the reaction of bur society if we want to end this we have g to look at the whole picture and the v whole picture involves treating the offender ms austin said mr webers twoday sentencing hearing in the newmarket court house provided an unsettling glimpse into the shady world of on- line child porn chatrooms in which i fantasies were acted out on screen encoded sites that offered access to hundreds of pictures arid in mr webers case sites on which users exchanged images among them selves the material entered into evi dence was graphic arid disturbing still photos of children from infancy to prepubescence in sexual situa tions text stories of fantasies involving incest and a video clip i unseen by everyone except the judge an investigating officer and lawyers but heard by all in the basement courtroom a girl maybe three or four crying for mercy as she was held down and ejaculated upon by an adult male although he expressed his dis- gust at the material mr justice bogusky cited case law and prece dent in rejecting the crowns rec ommendation of a jail term in passing sentence the judge also made reference to thelarge amount of publicity the case had attracted crediting the media with keeping public humiliation of the accused he likened it to the plac ing of convicts in stocks in the town square alive and well in canada the sentence of house arrest is currentiy under appeal child pornography investigations arent quick months are spent gathering evidence trackingthe movement of suspects on the internet and moni toring their transactions the images these cops encounter are probably well beyond the pale of the average per sons imagination photographic images of sexual torture and degra dation of the young and very young even infants one wonders how they cope with it it has to be done said york regional police detconst rob thomson a 41yearold father of two young children the challenge in fighting child pornography is enormous the world wide web is vast beyond imagination as is the global net work of producers and consumers of child pornography- tackling the problem user by user is beyond daunting but there are breaks a couple of years ago police in texas busted a couple who were providing internet access to child pornography for users around the world seized during the raid on the operation which was estimated to be grossing f5 million a month was an extensive database of subscribers which was distributed to police in jurisdictions including toronto where some 200 suspects were ideritified and in york region where the list of suspects exceeded 40 project snowball as it became photo illustrationmike barrett known has resulted in a number of charges in toronto and york region including the arrest a week ago of a 3ltyearold vaughan man and if nothing elsei snowball revealed to police and the population in gener al the scope of this shadowy world its brought to the forefront how big this is and its widespread detconst thomson said its all across the province and its all across canada and its all across the world it is the hope of cops like del const thomson that by pursuing charging and exposing the con- tougher sentencing starts at grassroots advocate if judges are going to impose tougher sentencing for child pornography crimes the demand for change has to come from the grassroots says one advocate julie anderson of newmarket is an ohio native who formed an advocacy group and successfully lobbied that states legislature for a law preventing people from view ing pornography on public access computers in libraries she said the uphill battle foes accused her of assaulting first amendment rights to free speech was won only through dogged deter mination and tireless lobbying the same sort of resolve is nec essary if police and the crown are to get the resolution theyre seeking in court ms anderson said they are only working within the parameters of the law what needs to be changed is the law she said at the heart of the argurhent for stiffer sentencing is the fact child pornography is not a victimless crime ms anderson said some people might say that compared to child molestation pornography pales in compari son she said but its perpetuat ing the crime child pornography itself is a picture of a crime like other sources contacted for these articles ms anderson stressed the importance of ordering counseling for people found in pos session of child pornography punishment is stage one com passion is stage two she said you cant jail and imprison a mental disease once that pedophile has served his sentence hes right back to square one we need to get these people help sumers of child pom demand will be diminished obtaining convictions means hours of investigation including sifting through every nauseating image on a computer hard drive the light at the end of the tunnel is these guys appearing in court and being sentenced detconst thomsonsaid it may seem as though fighting this war by arresting one user at a time is rather like attempting to remove a mountain one pebble at a time and busting a computer user living in say richmond hill will not have the same impact as arresting the person who manufactured and sold the material in the first place but detcorist thomson argues its a start would we like to find that per son yes he said have we found that person yet no but we will we will get that person and then its up to the courts to finish the job according to detsgt kevin adam a member of the ontario provincial polices famed project p child pornography unit i he described sentencing trends in various jurisdictions as all over the map and expressed frustra tion over a reluctance among judges to use the full sentencing power of the law we would definitely like to see jail terms in all cases but were just not seeing that detsgt adam said he agrees with the argument strict arid thorough sentencing including courtimposed counsel ing would accomplish the two stat ed goals of the justice system in meting out punishment to express societal condemnation of the act and to create a deterrent wed love to see sentences that are more realistic but what can we do detsgt adam said we do our job and hand it over to the courts some groups including yrap are attempting to influence sen tencing through community agencies including counselors lawyers and probation officers they are stressing the necessity of effec tive sentencing ms huizer said were trying to do it at a higher level bringing people together from a philosophical viewpoint and say ing this is what makes sense and this is what victims need and this is what offenders need she said ms huizer realizes judges are bound by precedent but she believes precedents like rules are made to be challenged and occa sionally broken fly to ottawa or sudbury from 99 one way er the convenienc jlh discover the convenience of toronto buttonville airport located at hwy 404 and 1 6th avenue take advantage of free airport parkingconnections to sault ste marie north bay or thunder bay and collect aeroplan miles every trip the sooner you book the less you will pay let the bear take youtthere call 905 4778035 or 18004652327 or book online at wwwbearskinairlinescom your travel agent can also tell you about all our great services aeroplan