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Parents: Can You Say, ‘My Daughter the Porn Star’? 7/17/2002 Parents: Can You Say, ‘My Daughter the Porn Star’? Hardly a day passes without news of a pedophile using the Internet for child pornography and soliciting sex with kids. A child is taken from her home in the middle of the night and we read, “Police are checking the computer for leads.” Quite often they find evidence of e-mail and/or chat room interaction between the victim and a sexual predator. Too often, we learn that the parents were clueless about their child’s Internet habits. Some parents learn about cyberspace evil the hard way. Then there are other parents—some you’d like to smack up-side-the head, as Grandpa used to say. These are permitting their young daughters, some only five years old, to “model” their seductively posed and scantily clad bodies on Web sites where perverts can pay the monthly subscription fee and lust after the little ones. Free teaser images provide the hook. A Web search on July 16 for “Legal preteen model Web sites” generated 12,400 hits. Site after site features little girls with make-up, hairdos, and clothing, what there is of it, posed in ways and with come-hither looks that are totally unnatural for little girls. One girl about age seven has enough make-up and blond hair to make Dolly Parton feel undone. They have names like, “Miss Electra,” “Stacy Starlet,” “Heavenly Faith,” and “Maddie Model — the cutest five-year-old preteen model.” Why would parents permit such a thing? One site solicits visitors with this come-on: “So what are you waiting for? You only live once! Profits go to Jessi’s college fund.” Stripping for dollars—a good prep school for the Ivy League; or is the centerfold league more likely? Whatever they might “profit” from their daughter’s exploitation ought to be set aside for her possible need for counseling for her drug or alcohol addiction and abuse at the hands of sex addicts, once she moves on to the big leagues. Such is the life of a stripper. If you think not, ask “Amy’s Friends,” a ministry helping women get out of the sex and porn industry. Ask any cop who has worked sex crimes against kids what he thinks about parents exploiting young girls in this way. Dr. Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, expressed in no uncertain terms the Center’s position on child “model” sites: “We think they’re just outrageous! Our view is that they clearly exploit children and take advantage of the fine legal distinction between illegal child pornography and child erotica. The overwhelming motive and intended purpose is to whet the appetite of child predators and pedophiles. The appetizer sites often have hyperlinks to sites with illegal child porn. We are absolutely convinced they intend to exploit children.” The encouraging news is that operators, including parents, of some of these young “model” sites are getting busted. Charges include production of child pornography and child sexual exploitation under state and federal laws. Those arrested include James and Donna Cummings of Magazine, Arkansas, free on bail on a state felony charge of “engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium.” The Cummingses featured “cheesecake” photos of their 12-year-old daughter on their Web site. Sheriff’s deputies serving a search warrant in the Cummingses’ residence found a videotape of their daughter that is described as “significantly more explicit” than the Web site photos. The trial is scheduled for July 22. If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Gary Lee Smith, 35, of Missouri, was indicted in March by a federal grand jury on federal child porn charges. Smith is charged with employing and enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction and for operating a preteen “model” Web site that transmitted the images across state and national borders. The charges allege that Smith photographed a 12-year-old girl who posed for him in a hotel room. Smith, who has a prior conviction of sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl in Arkansas, is free on bail. If convicted of all three charges, he faces up to 90 years in prison without parole and a fine up to $750,000. The third bust occurred April 5 in Arapahoe County, Colorado, when sheriff’s deputies arrested James Steven Grady, 42, who operated the now unavailable “TrueTeenBabes” and “TrueTeenCams” Web sites. Deputies seized more than 100,000 images of girls, including 220 that feature underage girls posed nude or partially nude. Grady is charged with 886 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children under a state law and could be sentenced to life in prison. He remains in jail awaiting a trial scheduled for October 3. Last year, WTVJ/NBC 6 in Miami reported that a Florida company was operating Web sites featuring teen and preteen girls who reportedly had their parents’ permission. As a result of the report, Reps. Mark Foley (R-Florida) and Nick Lampson (D-Texas) introduced the “Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act of 2002” (HR 4667). The bill would prohibit employing or displaying a minor under the age of 17 in “exploitive child modeling,” which is defined as “the display of a minor (through any medium) without a direct or indirect purpose of marketing a product or service other than the minor.” On May 7, the bill was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the Committee on the Judiciary. Some of the preteen model sites are obviously gearing up a defense in case HR 4667 becomes law. One site claims, “This is not a Child Modeling Website” and “All videos on the site are for providing a service—educating in the arena of fitness and nutrition” and “modeling merchandise.” All clothing is supposedly modeled for the purpose of sales, but there are no prices, descriptions or sizes listed. Clicking on “inquiries about sales” sends you back to the home page, where you can buy a video. For “nutrition” information, visitors are informed, “Lisa and Jasmine will cook one nutritious meal every week which will be updated in an online video. Some of the cooking will also be on our live web cam.” No doubt what you can’t learn about cooking by watching Emeril Live, you can learn from these seven-year-old Julia Childs. There’s a weekly live “cam show” and a chat room to “upload files, share e-mail, pictures and chat and more.” If a training camp for future porn stars were run by Flynt, Guccioni or Hefner — what would it look like? Been there — seen it. And with the claim of “parental permission.” Gramps — they need a smack up-side-the-head. Jan LaRue is chief counsel of Concerned Women for America and a frequent contributor to Culture & Family Report. An interview with LaRue, in which she reveals her incredible life journey — from being molested as a youth to faith in Christ, to becoming a pro-family attorney — appears in the current edition of the CWA magazine Family Voice (July-August 2002). To receive a complimentary copy, call 1-800-458-8797, ext. 130. |
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