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Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Maggie Gallagher :: Townhall.com Columnist
The Child Pornographer Next Door
by Maggie Gallagher
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"If you don't dress like this, nobody will even notice you," she told him.

The savvy scholars at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy uncovered the news that more than half of teen girls who send sexy photos of themselves do so in response to pressure from some guy -- usually boyfriends or potential boyfriends. It took an intrepid New York Post reporter to discover these and even sadder reasons why some suburban teen girls cave to ex-boyfriends' pressure for self-made porn.

A 15-year-old New Jersey high school sophomore explained that she fired off 40 naked pictures to her ex-boyfriend in a failed attempt to win him back. One 16-year-old from New Jersey offered a different reason: "(My ex-boyfriend) kept asking me, and it was annoying," so she finally gave in and sent him photos.

Gee, what could possibly be more pathetic than a girl who sends an ex-boyfriend naked pictures to win him back? How about a girl who sends an ex-boyfriend naked photos to make him go away?

Right now we have a decision to make: Is underage porn (these aren't really children) a crime or not? If so, how do we treat girls and boys who engage in it "for fun" and not for profit?

After all, if the thought that their fellow students, their teachers, their employers, their college admission officials, the entire football squad, their mothers and the local district attorney may well see these cell phone photos is not enough to discourage teens -- then we really have a problem on our hands.
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About The Author

Maggie Gallagher is a nationally syndicated columnist, a leading voice in the new marriage movement and co-author of The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially.

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(118 comments so Far)
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Reply # 1
Date: Mar 5, 2009 - 2:38 PM EST
Re: Back to the column
I find this to be a terribly complicated issue.

It is clear to me that laws intended to punish lecherous old men and prevent them from exploiting naive and innocent young girls should not be applied to punish teenage boys for receiving naughty pictures of their teenage girlfriends.

Prosecutors, however, face a difficult decision. Their job is to enforce the law. While some prosecutorial discretion certainly exists, I would not want to live in a world where that got out of hand to the point where prosecutors decided willy-nilly which cases to prosecute and which to ignore.

The discussion above (#87) of the Traci Lords brings up a good point. In those vids Traci Lords appeared to be an adult woman (from what I hear) but technically, legally she was a juvenile thus child porn. Paradoxically, consider any of a host of "barely legal" porn mags behind the counter at your gas station. They take youthful looking 18-19 yr olds, do their hair and makeup to make them look as young as possible (again, from what I hear).

Should both be illegal or only one, which one?

Finally, I absolutely despise the anti-guy crusade underlying this whole article. The boys who received the pics were charged with possession of child porn but not the girls who took and distributed the pics? Ah, the girl who took the pic possessed it too.

Why does our legal system still pretend that girls are naive and stupid and in need of protection from the much smarter boys which which they associate?
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Reply # 2
Date: Mar 5, 2009 - 2:17 PM EST
akagi spins
You're a spinmeister.

"funds were for other activities of these organizations and not abortions themselves,"

That's spin.

Abortion is the reason these people get up in the morning. Try to be intellectually honest.

" . . . and abortions for US military overseas who wanted to terminate. Bush ended both of these. So much for supporting the troops."

Bush, their Commander in Chief, dealt with abortion as conscience urged him, not as the troops desired. I'm sure if they'd been giving unbiased opinions on the matter, troops would have told pregnant G.I.s to beat it back to the states and have their illegitimate babies. Then give up what they didn't want for adoption. (So much for new-born American citizens.)
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