# Best way to report kiddie porn? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398 "2000-09-24T22:52:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/1 "2000-09-24T22:52:44Z")
While browsing some newsgroups I came across some pictures that I’m sure were what you would call kiddie porn. I got sick just looking at them. My question is, is it worth it to report this? Where would I go about doing this? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2000, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/2 "2000-09-24T22:58:25Z")
See who posted them, go to his ISP’s web site and find out how to report abuse. Forward the pictures, and include all the usenet headers from the posts. In addition, you may want to forward all the info the the FBI (if he’s in the US.) His ISP may choose to do that also. ’ ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/3 "2000-09-25T00:31:48Z")
And look out, since they might check you out to see if you’re just sending part of your stash to screw over a butt you knew in grade school. They have to be careful, so they may ask ‘Why were you somewhere where you could find underage pornography?’ ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/4 "2000-09-25T00:41:57Z")
Evil flourishes when good men do nothing. Do EVERYTHING you can to give the F.B.I. all pertinent data. They have a unit that does nothing but Internet Crime. Good luck. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Bobort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bobort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobort)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/5 "2000-09-25T00:53:31Z")
I would advise you to avoid ever having the pictures on your computer. It is illegal to be in possesion of that stuff for _any_ reason, AFAIK. I believe I’ve heard stories about people in roughly your situation being busted. You’d probably be able to win in court, but you risk having your computer confiscated, etc. If the offending material is archived somewhere, send links, message headers, message IDs, etc. to the FBI. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/6 "2000-09-25T00:56:16Z")
In fact, if I’m not mistaken, there’s a group of people who actually POSE as underage children to catch these bastards. I read an article about it and they said these people make you sick. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/7 "2000-09-25T00:59:25Z")
Re: **Bobort** ’s response If you looked at 'em, flush your browser’s cache. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/8 "2000-09-25T01:22:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > **In fact, if I’m not mistaken, there’s a group of people who actually POSE as underage children to catch these bastards.** Like [link removed] [note: **xizor** , your heart’s in the right place on this but that site was a little, uh, racy for our tender sensibilities. So I removed it. -manhattan] [Edited by manhattan on 09-25-2000 at 10:29 AM] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/9 "2000-09-25T03:07:14Z")
Do not forward the pictures to the FBI or anyone else. Do not download the pictures as “evidence”. This would be like buying some heroin from a local dealer in order to turn it in to the police. Your good intentions will not eliminate the fact that what you’re doing is illegal. Contact the FBI, your state police, or your district attorney’s office. Send them the URL where you found these pictures and/or the email address of whoever posted them. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/10 "2000-09-25T03:20:45Z")
As mentioned, it is really dangerous to hold onto such files for any length of time. When Paul Bernardo was being prosecuted for the rape and murder of two underage girls, his lawyers pulled some illegal shenanigan involving the videotape he took of him and his wife assaulting the girls. In addition to obstruction of justice, the lawyers were charged with possession of child pornography. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/11 "2000-09-25T08:23:39Z")
How in the world does one go about finding child porn in the first place? I wouldn’t have the first clue. I would be scared to even type it into a search engine, thinking it would be easy enough to trace… And I would think that having a web site out there devoted to the subject wouldn’t last long. So what happens? People post to usenet groups? Talk in chat rooms? There must be a market for this sick stuff, but I’d think it would be easy to track down… not so? Slightly off topic, but I was watching a “Crime Files” episode this weekend, and this sick woman was explaining how her boyfriend wanted to sleep with her 7 year old daughter for a birthday present. And she said yes! So for the next 6 years, they both had sex with this child… this world is full of sick, twisted people. I mean, how in the world does someone look at a child and get aroused? ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Toast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Burnt\_Toast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Toast)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/12 "2000-09-25T10:06:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max \* > \*\*How in the world does one go about finding child porn in the first place? \*\* well… you probably kidnap a kid from a play ground or something using chloriform (sp?), pretend to B their friend then convince them to take off their clotes. If U mean finding kiddie porn on the net U can just type in ‘kid porn’ in a search engine, or there are certain chat servers that child pornographers hang out in, since they are a social group. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max \* > **So what happens? People post to usenet groups? Talk in chat rooms? There must be a market for this sick stuff, but I’d think it would be easy to track down… not so?** think about it. More than a million places they could chat in, they could use MSN, ICQ, Yahoo Mess., MiRC etc. and good ol’ E-mail. It would B near impossible to catch them all. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/13 "2000-09-25T13:32:36Z")
I also read in that article, about a man who was helping report these assholes, part of his job was actually seeking it out on the net. He said he was never so disgusted in his life. ---
**Author:** ![schief2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@schief2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schief2)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/14 "2000-09-25T15:07:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bobort \* > \*\*I would advise you to avoid ever having the pictures on your computer. It is illegal to be in possesion of that stuff for _any_ reason, AFAIK. I believe I’ve heard stories about people in roughly your situation being busted. \*\* 'Tis true…IIRC, there was a case a couple years ago where a local TV news crew was doing an ‘expose’ on kiddie porn, and convinced a local net guru to surf them through some sites on the web to show how easy it was to find. Nothing unwholesome aired, of course, but all three - reporter, guru, and videographer - were still busted by the authorities, one for downloading the stuff and the other two for having tape rolling while he did so (and thus making a “copy” of it). AND they were convicted too - though they were given pretty light sentences. I’d provide more specific details, but I’m at work and my archive of ‘News Photographer’ magazines is at home. The moral of the story is that apparently not even research for a legitimate news story is an acceptable defense in the eyes of the law…(though the reader is left to decide just how ‘legitimate’ local TV news is 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/15 "2000-09-25T15:10:27Z")
You can’t do anything about them if they are in the newsgroups. The fbi isn’t so dumb they wouldn’t look there every day & anyone who posts in the newsgroups wouldn’t be so stupid to post a traceable post. As for reporting, [http://www.asacp.org/](http://www.asacp.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/16 "2000-09-25T15:21:35Z")
It was in a newsgroup where pictures are attached. My thinking is along handy’s. I wasn’t out looking for it and would think if the FBI and authorities had a crack team that would be the first place they would look for it. I use outlook express for newsgroups and the pictures automatically show up in the message without downloading anything. Are they still in my cache even though I didn’t download anything? I want to rid this from my PC and memory as soon as possible. Believe me, I wasn’t looking for it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/17 "2000-09-25T15:41:48Z")
I’m with the “protect yourself first” group. The FBI has whole teams that do nothing but look for this stuff all day. And they will bust anybody who they find with this stuff, probably including you. And as mentioned above, the person who posted them is probably smart enough to post with an untracable post. Therefore, **DO NOT FORWARD THE PICS TO ANYONE FOR ANY REASON!** I say delete the pics off your hard drive and empty the recycling bin, then erase your browser history and internet cache, and that’ll be the end of it as far as you’re concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/18 "2000-09-25T15:48:38Z")
One thing many people seem to forget about the Internet is that it’s worldwide, so US jurisdiction may not (and probably does not) apply. Chances are, that since the stuff you saw came off Usenet, it was sent from an overseas news server with dummied headers, so it’s extremely unlikely that you’d ever track down the source. And just for the record, like it or not, child pornography is not illegal everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/19 "2000-09-25T15:56:00Z")
Oblong If you see a picture on your computer it is ON your computer. It may not be saved where you normally save files, but it will be in a temp file or a cache. Dump the cache, defrag the hard disk, etc. Assuming it was posted to a newsgroup that you don’t mind admitting to reading, go ahead and report it. As others have said - don’t send the picture, just send them the location of the picture. Call the police [use the non-emergency number] and report it. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398/20 "2000-09-25T16:11:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Forward the pictures, and include all the usenet headers from the posts. This bears repeating: **NO NO NO NO NO** A kazillion times NO. Doing so–even if you’re sending to the perp’s ISP or to law enforcement–makes you guilty of traffiking. Having spent a year and a half with _The Underground_, a now-defunct AOL-based group (as seen on 20/20) dedicated to eradicating this filth, I can give you some pointers. > [@](#): > > How in the world does one go about finding child porn in the first place? No offense intended, but open your eyes and you’ll see it. It’s everywhere. On IRC, do a /list…if you’re on any of the major server networks, you’ll probably find dozens of rooms. Look for the terms “Lolita”, “Pre”, and “VVY” (Very Very Young.) On AOL, go to Member Rooms \>\> Special Interests (don’t forget to use the MORE button at the bottom)…there’s usually 10 or 15 pedo rooms open at any given time–more on Friday and Saturday nights. The rooms are usually named x8x9x10xFxUxCxKx, 6x7x8x9xtoilet, or some such thing. > [@](#): > > My question is, is it worth it to report this? Depends on what “worth it” means to you. Most often, if you report it to the forum, they’ll usually just deny the offender from returning. Reporting to the offender’s ISP can cost them their ISP account. Reporting to Customs doesn’t **seem** to have any effect, but what Customs does with the information behind the scenes is unknown to me. > [@](#): > > Where would I go about doing this? As was earlier pointed out, you should send **ONLY** the text and headers (and the name of the file, if known) to both the offender’s ISP and to the moderator of the forum, be it a Network Admin, a Webmaster, or a Newsgroup Moderator. Customs no longer accepts Email reports, but they have a toll-free number for reporting child porn: 1-800-BEALERT. The phone number for the FBI’s “Crimes Against Children” Division is 202-324-3666. Call 'em both. -David [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-report-kiddie-porn/34398.md?page=2)