morality vs. legality

Looking at child pornography, enjoying it, is a great moral wrong. People who get off on child porn need help, undoubtedly. I don't know of anyone who would disagree with these statements, not even--and perhaps especially not even--those who use child porn.

I would like to draw a distinction between morality and legality, though. Every immoral act is not illegal--even some of the most immoral. Cheating on a spouse, gambling away the family savings, ignoring aging parents are all surely immoral. One has moral obligations to family and abandoning those obligations is wrong. Not illegal, though.

Making it illegal to look at child pornography means much less chance of someone coming forward to identify the children in the images. It makes it much less likely that a person would try to find help to move away from an interest in child porn because the fear of being turned in is too great. Keeping it all secret works to the advantage of the people who create and share this vile material.