How about lighter sentences for child porn offenders?

[jackfaire]

What's your reasoning?

Child abuse affects one or a small number of people. Drug trafficking affects the lives of many people. Child abuse is generally the result of a mental illness, as I understand it, and drug trafficking is a matter of greed, a matter of choice.

How do you reason your decision above?

Rapscallion

Because I can choose to go out and buy crack from someone. I didn't get to choose what my dad did.

[Rapscallion]

What your father did to *one* person, correct? Not inducting as many people as possible into addiction, then into physical and mental degredation, and eventually into a life of crime (affecting many others who become financial victims) to fund their habits? See, everyone thinks it won't happen to them.

That they're different crimes, definitely. One worse than the other? I don't see it in black and white as others do, since I'm leery of this cult of the child that goes on everywhere. I don't mind children, but they're not the greatest thing since sliced bread for me.

Rapscallion

[XiaoTortuga]

This isn't eloquent, but the reason I think sexual abuse of children is such a bad crime is because kids should be able to grow up relatively safe and healthy and then as adults if they want to screw themselves up, so be it.

As people here have pointed out from their personal stories, everyone has a different reaction, but many people carry the burden of their childhood for the rest of their lives.

And children are general helpless victims. Because regardless of the hype, by and large, the perpetrator is a member of the family or someone who is trusted to care for the child. Kids are manipulated into not telling or they feel shame, blame, not wanting to hurt the adults...

They don't deserve a slap on the wrist or really, any chance to offend again, because the numbers are staggering in that regard.

However, the US had gone nuts! The amount of paranoia is ridiculous. Men (usually they are men) who are have done nothing wrong are harassed by the police because they are in the vicinity of a child. Dumb teenagers sending photos of themselves to people. I (I'm female) have been in situations where I won't approach a young child I know who is in a school group because I'm afraid of the reaction. When I see a child who is in danger or hurt, I am very very careful of how I approach the child and interact with them, because I don't want to be accused of anything. I know men who will not go up to a child who is lost in mall or park because they are afraid.

And now on to the porn aspect. I think it can be harmful to the children (now adults) who are aware that those images of them are still out there and being passed around. Potential harm to society, as in they are or will go out and molest children as a consequence of seeing the porn? I don't know. Nobody knows. There have been studies that come out on both sides of the issue. But there is not enough information to know just what the relationship is.

When it comes to sentencing, I think there does need to be consideration of quantity, distribution, and type of images. A whole lot of stuff falls under the statutes regarding child pornography. I don't think looking at naked 16/17 year old girls/boys is in the same category as infants being sodomized. And I think the sentences should reflect that.

And as far as the viewers creating a demand that leads to more production and more children being harmed... from what I know, these things tend to made for personal gratification and then passed along. So more viewers would not lead to more production. My information could be wrong though.

[Boozy]

Trying to determine which problem - child abuse or drug abuse - is worse is pointless and futile.

I am dead certain that the two issues are related about 90% of the time. And child abuse comes first.