Porn | Child Porn Often Is A Gateway

A St. Joseph man was sentenced Monday to seven years in federal prison. His crime: Possessing more than 600 images and videos of child pornography.

Every day, in small towns and big cities across the country, federal investigators are catching offenders with hundreds and sometimes thousands of images of children in sexually explicit poses or engaging in sexual behavior.

As the number of offenders grows, so does the length of the sentences they are ordered to serve.

Some may question whether the simple possession of such images warrants such long sentences. Advocates for long sentences point to the fact that the simple act of looking at child pornography perpetuates the criminal exploitation of children. After all, someone out there is making the images to meet the seemingly insatiable demand of the consumers of child porn.

Child porn purveyors often become more involved offenders -- either by producing images with victims they know or by using images to "groom" children they assault.

Two recent cases come to mind.

Last week, an ex-scoutmaster from Burnsville who had already been convicted of repeatedly abusing a former Eagle Scout pleaded guilty to sexually molesting three other scouts in his troop. Investigators found 161 images and 64 videos of child porn on a computer in a townhouse owned by Peter Stibal II -- the same townhouse where he abused some of his victims.

In April, a former DEA employee -- Scott James Whitcomb -- pleaded guilty in federal court to producing child pornography. He produced sexually explicit videos and images of three boys he had befriended.

According to state court charges against Whitcomb, he also showed the boys child pornography. Experts say such "grooming" is meant to show victims that child porn is OK.

Long sentences, even for possession of child porn, sends a clear message that it's not.

James Walsh 612-673-7428