Ichthyophthirius multifiliis

“The World Wide Web is primarily used (by paedophiles) as a channel for advocacy, support and low-level fantasy materials. As an electronic environment, it is central to the generation of a sense of community among paedophiles online and to the propagation of a coherent set of arguments justifying and celebrating paedophilia. That this is contingent on the existence and possibilities of the Internet is obvious. How paedophile use of the medium affects its development is less so. It is possible to suggest that the Internet has not only provided a platform for paedophiles to congregate but has changed the nature of the social problem which paedophilia represents.”1

This C h ap ter exam ines how an d w hy paedophile lite ra tu re an d advocacy are d issem in ated th ro u g h In te rn e t technologies. The featu res of th e se technologies w hich appeal m o st p artic u la rly to paedophiles, a n d how they affect th e form ulation of paedophile ideologies, are exam ined. This inform ation a d u m b ra te s th e d iscu ssio n of paedophile ideology as co m m u n icated via th e In te rn et in C h ap ter Four.

4 .1 P r e - I n te r n e t P a e d o p h ile C o m m u n ic a tio n C h a n n e ls

For a counter-ideology to re a c h its audience, it n eed s a com m unication c h a n n e l or social forum th ro u g h w hich it c a n be d issem in ated effectively. T his is a problem for paedophilia, since it h a s no voice in th e a re n a of b ro a d c a st or p re ss m ed ia.2 For self-evident re a so n s, conventional m edia p artic ip a te in paedophile delegitim ation. A part from th e fact th a t th e fu n d a m en tal beliefs of paedophile ideology are a n a th e m a to prevailing m orality, th e m a n n e r in w hich it is artic u la te d exhibits a p a ra n o ia a n d a m ilitancy w hich ex acerb ates its lack of m ed ia-frien d lin ess.3

However, paed o p h ilia a n d its a tte n d a n t ideology h a s n o t alw ays been occluded from social com m unication an d d istrib u tio n in th is way. In th e US in th e 1970’s, w ith th e grow th of th e com m ercial p o rnography in d u stry , a n u m b e r of m agazine pub licatio n s, paedophile su p p o rt groups a n d child p o rn o g rap h y film p ro d u c e rs catered for th e ‘paedophile lifestyle’. The advent of th e se groups re su lte d in th e sh arin g of inform ation, pornography, fan tasy m a te ria ls a n d child-victim s betw een paedophiles.

Paedophile a b u se -rin g s a n d pornography-rings w ere e sta b lish ed th ro u g h ad v erts placed in child pornography publicatio n s. M ost child pornography originated from D en m ark a n d Sweden, w here th e b la n k e t décrim inalisation of p o rn o g rap h y in th e 1970’s h a d facilitated th e settin g u p of a n u m b e r of

Chapter Four - Paedophile Communication Channels

cottage child p o rn o g rap h y p u b licatio n s.4 J o s e p h H enry, a convicted child a b u se r, re c o u n ts th e influence of th ese m agazines on h is behaviour a n d how th ey b ro u g h t him in to co n tact w ith o th er ab u sers:

Around 1974, when I was beginning to hang around 42nd Street porno shops in New York City, I got my first exposure to commercial child pornography. I got to be friends with one of the porn shop owners and one day he showed me a magazine that just arrived called Nudist Moppets. There were paperback books with stories of child sex, adult/child sex. The films in the peep shows were of men with girls, boys with girls and a few that looked like families together in sexual activity.

Eventually, I put together a photographic collection of 500 pages of children in sexually explicit poses. Before long, films started coming in and I bought a film projector.

I started reading some of the pornographic tabloids called Screw, Finger and Love, which were filled with all types of sex stories, ads and listings for pen pals. At least one of the issues was devoted to a pedophilic theme. In one issue of Finger, there was an ad about organizations that were devoted to sexual intimacy between children and adults. I wrote to three of them - Better Life, the Guyon Society and the Childhood Sensuality Circle. Better Life and the Childhood Sensuality Circle responded, so I sent in the membership fee to join them.

I was disappointed with the Better Life publication because it was a homosexual pedophilia newsletter and my sexual interest was girls. However, in the third issue, there was an ad that had a street number to write instead of the usual coded numbers. I wrote to them, and a few weeks later, I received a letter from a man named Lance Carlson. His real name is John Duncan, and he was a central figure in the child prostitution ring I eventually got involved in.

In his letter to me, Duncan wanted assurance I was not a cop or any other such person trying to entrap him. He also wanted to hear about my experiences, past or present. I wrote and said I wasn’t a police officer. I also told him about Barbara, the first girl I molested and how I got interested in little girls. We began a long correspondence. This was in October of 1975.5

Paedophile inform ation sh arin g developed o u t of th e wide d istrib u tio n of th e se m agazines. C o n tact betw een geographically d isp ara te paedophiles becam e possible th ro u g h th e u s e of p e rso n al a d s a n d le tte rs pages providing c o n tact inform ation. T hese relatio n sh ip s o u tla ste d th e brief window of

Chapter Four - Paedophile Communication Channels

o p p o rtu n ity for th e developm ent of paedophile netw orks w hich lax US obscenity law s h a d facilitated. W hen US obscenity law s w ere ch anged in 1977 to control th e grow th of th e p o rn o g rap h y in d u stry , inform al paedophile n etw orks h a d already been estab lish ed . The following excerpts are p a rt of th e co rresp o n d en ce betw een two paedophiles, w hich developed o u t of an initial c o n ta c t th ro u g h th e se m agazines. They exemplify th e type an d quality of inform ation w hich paedophiles s h a re w hen allowed to com m unicate th ro u g h discrete a n d private ch an n els.

(1) The letter I got was from Anthony Latimer of 256 South Robertson, ever heard of 256? Someone gave him my name... He has 20 different books that I can buy. He wants 8 dollars a piece or 15 for two. I wish I had about 100 dollars.

(2) I told you that I got a letter from someone that has a lot of child books for sale. Well I found it, and guess what, the letter was from Mr. Latimer, the man that knows more children than any other person in California... I don't know Latimer, and didn't think he know me, and I sure wondered how he got my last name!! Now I know, it was John. Thank you. I would like to meet him.6

Inform ation d istrib u tio n th ro u g h th e se m agazines h a d m a n y of th e qualities w hich ap p eal to paedophiles. The m agazines contained p o rnographic and erotic im ages of children. They w ere discreet, in th a t th e p o in ts of d istrib u tio n were initially know n or of in te re st only to paedophiles, a n d they allowed for direct one-to-one c o n ta c t o u tside th e scope of police detection. However, d istrib u tio n of p h ysical m ateria l is easy to m onitor a n d d isru p t once legal a u th o ritie s have been em pow ered to do so. F ederal au th o ritie s in th e US d isru p te d th e se co m m unication netw orks by crim inalising p ro d u ctio n , p o sse ssio n a n d d istrib u tio n of th e m ateria l a n d by m onitoring th e p o st of know n offenders.7

The qu alities w hich paedophiles req u ire for effective co m m unication are com plicated a n d highly selective. In order to com m unicate w ith each other on a long-term b asis, p aedophiles n eed th e com m unication ch an n el to provide secu rity a n d privacy a n d to be able to carry codes of reference w hich th e y alone u n d e rs ta n d , so as to avoid detection. E soteric req u irem en ts of th is k in d p ro h ib it th e easy a n d w idespread com m unication of

Chapter Four - Paedophile Communication Channels

p ro p ag an d isin g a n d legitim ating m aterials. B ecause of th e legal lim itations w hich are p laced on w h at can be b ro a d c a st or m ade publicly available, p aedophile inform ation exchanges have generally existed in sm all formal cliques w hose m em b ersh ip rem ain s u n d isclo sed to th e p u b lic.8

This illu stra te s th e dilem m a facing p aedophiles who, for v ario u s reaso n s, w ish to com m unicate w ith o th er paedophiles a n d w ith th e b ro ad er public. Secrecy is n e c e ssa ry for u n d e te c ta b le ‘n a rro w c a st’ com m unication su c h as th e conveyance of illegal m aterial, b u t is counter-productive to th e aim s of im proving th e public perception of th e disorder w hich re q u ire s a b ro ad scope of dissem in atio n . This explains w hy In te rn e t technologies, w ith th e ir hybrid b ro a d c a st a n d n arro w ca st qualities a n d fuz2y legislative b o u n d aries, have b een so readily a d a p te d by paedophiles.

The principle com m unication req u irem en ts of paedophiles are:

1. The ability to com m unicate anonym ously w ith each o th er on m a tte rs w hich are illegal su c h a s th e sh arin g of child p o rn o g rap h y a n d of inform ation or fan tasy lite ra tu re p ertain in g to sex u al relatio n s w ith children. This is to avoid detection, identification a n d p ersecu tio n as well a s to conceal th e ‘u n e th ic a l’ side of paed o p h ilia from public view; 2. T h a t th e com m unication ch a n n e ls have a p e rm a n e n t location, secure

a n d o u tsid e th e control of non-paedophile au th o rities;

3. T h a t th e ir ideology can be co m m unicated to a n o n -paedophile public w ith o u t revealing th e ir identity, th ereb y avoiding p ersecu tio n .

The v ario u s technologies w hich com prise th e In te rn et, w ith th e ir d isp arate fu n c tio n s a n d capabilities, m eet th is b ro ad range of req u irem en ts. However, th e m o st im p o rta n t c h a ra c te ristic of th e In tern et, for paedophiles, is its u n c e n tre d reg u lato ry stru c tu re .

4 .2 T h e R e g u la tio n of I n te r n e t C o n te n t

P aedophile’s adoption of th e In te rn e t as a m ean s of dissem in atio n an d co m m u n icatio n is a ttrib u ta b le to th e u n s tru c tu re d ap p ro a c h to regulation w h ich allowed th e technology to develop rapidly in th e first in sta n c e .9 There is no overarching in te rn a tio n a l regulatory body governing w h a t can an d c a n n o t be p u b lish e d on th e In tern et. T h at is n o t so say th a t th e digital co m m u n icatio n is sui generis a s far as th e application of law is concerned.

Chapter Four - Paedophile Communication Channels

W hat it m e a n s is th a t th e p rom ulgation a n d application of law to deal w ith digital crim es, specifically w ith th e dissem in atio n of child pornography, h a s b een erratic a n d disjointed. The co n stitu tio n ality of m a n y of th e laws occasioned by th e ad v en t of w id esp read digital co m m unication is still not estab lish ed . N either h a s th e liability of service providers for th e m aterial they provide access to been satisfactorily a p p ra ise d .10

Unlike m ec h an ism s in tra d itio n al m edia s tru c tu re s w hich deny a voice to ‘ethical p a ed o p h ilia’, all cen so rsh ip of In te rn e t-p u b lish e d m ate ria ls is p o st

fa cto a n d co n tin g en t u p o n th e s c ru p u lo u s n e ss a n d efficiency of w ebspace

a n d co n te n t providers a n d law enforcem ent agencies, as well as the existence a n d enforcem ent of relev an t legislation. In te rn e t co n ten t an d access to it are to a large ex ten t controlled au to n o m o u sly by th e service an d access provider in d u stry (ISPs).11 Given th e tra n sn a tio n a l s tru c tu re of th e m edium , an y w eak n ess in th e control of web co n ten t in an y one ju risd ictio n m ay re n d e r o th e r legal efforts ineffective in d eterrin g individuals from p o stin g o bscene or h arm fu l m aterial. M aterial h o ste d on an y free-access server in th e w orld is accessible from an y com puter term in al connected to th e In te rn et. N ational a n d legal b o u n d a rie s are tra n sc e n d e d by In tern et