easy...so easy

The Internet makes  pornographic images and videos available with the click of a mouse. Chat rooms can point you toward something you had been unaware was available. Peer-to-peer file sharing makes it a simple thing to see what other people have on their computers. The world is very different from when you had to send for dirty things in the mail.

Easy availability and anonymous, too. Not so anonymous, as our family has learned. The feds are watching...and they don't care if you downloaded only once or if the contents of the zip file you downloaded were a surprise to you. While it may seem as if it would be too much work to track you down--you, a nobody who isn't really a criminal--there are whole task forces dedicated to finding you. If it is difficult to find you, they have all the time in the world in which to do it.

What would you do if you looked at illegal images and recognized a child? Would you think of that child differently than you think of the anonymous faces in the images you look at? Would you be afraid for that child?  Would you be outraged if you knew the man or woman in the photos with the child? I think most people like the anonymity and the sight of a known child would be a shock. 

So, if you were shocked and outraged at the mistreatment of this particular child, who would you tell? Could you tell the police without being arrested? I don't think so.