Posted on 04/05/2006 2:50:23 AM PDT by beyond the sea
WASHINGTON -- Justin Berry, who for five years starred in his own Web cam child pornography business, told a House panel Tuesday that the Justice Department is moving too slowly to round up 1,500 pedophiles whose information he surrendered last year.
"I believed that the government would protect the children being abused. I believed they would act quickly," Berry, now 19, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "I was wrong."
Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra disputed that, citing a threefold increase in federal prosecutions of child pornography and abuse cases nationally over the past decade. The unit investigating Berry's case, which Sierra could not discuss, has seen its workload increase 450 percent in the last four years.
"One of law enforcement's highest priorities is the protection of innocent children from sexual predators who lurk on the Internet," Sierra said.
The same committee will hear from the Justice Department, among other federal agencies, on Thursday.
Berry's story of a lonely teenager who sought friends on the Internet but instead grew rich attracting pedophiles was reported in December by the New York Times after a six-month investigation. Its author, Kurt Eichenwald, told the Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday that Berry is the first such teenage witness known to turn over such a vast cache of evidence to the government.
But even Berry's catalog of his clients' names, credit card numbers and other details has resulted in only one arrest, he and Eichenwald said.
"From the time that the government was notified of Justin's information to the point where the children in direct danger were saved, more than 50 days passed," Eichenwald told the panel. "Some people identified as perpetrators literally could not get themselves arrested if they tried."
Berry embarked on his sordid journey into the world of pedophelia and drugs when at 13, living in Bakersfield, Calif., he acquired a Web camera as part of a deal with an Internet service provider. A lonely kid of a divorced family without many friends, Berry hoped to use the device to make friends his own age.
Instead, a pedophile sent him an instant message within minutes of Berry's image landing on a Web site called Spotlife.com. More followed; then men worked to earn his trust. Senate to Vote on Amnesty for Illegals!
"At 13, I believed these people were my friends," Berry told the panel. "They were kind. They complimented me. They wanted to know about my day."
A few weeks later, he said, "everything changed" when one man proposed to pay Berry $50 to take off his shirt for a few minutes in front of the Web cam. The man helped Berry set up an account with Paypal, an online money payment system.
Last June, Eichenwald approached Berry for a story he was doing on Internet pornography. Berry agreed to help with the story and tell law enforcement what he knew about other children being exploited.
But the Justice Department and other massive federal agencies were slow to respond, Berry and Eichenwald told the panel. Berry said he has feared for his life.
Yes they are AppyPappy. This troubles me. As somebody in law enforcement, once told me, those who are convicted child molestors always say the" CHILD seduced THEM" as part of their reasons for sexually abusing the child. It is part of their psychosis. THEY believe the child wanted to be abused. HOW SICK!
I think some folks here are just too easy to forget that a 13 year old is NOT legally able to consent to any sexual behavior in the State of California where the boy lived. The boy at 13 was an immature boy from what I have read about him and he was certainly, no match for those practiced perverts who inhabit our planet.
Apparently, there many types of people who probably blame all rape victims as well.... cute little outfits or NOT. And some of them post on FR.
BTTT
**********
............. Yoi ..... that's worth putting on America's tombstone! Congrats. (sarcasm off)
Just a Fairy
Did you see the punk testify yesterday, genius?
The kid loves his victimization.
Your 70 years is great, bless you.............. my 60 years is better. At least I can see.
Its probably less about police and more about political.....
Sexual predation of children is a crime that crosses all social boundaries... rich white powerful men and women are just as likely to be the ones perpetrating this as poor, powerless folks... Which is why prosecution of these crimes is so damned rare IMHO.
This kid has 1500 folks information... I guarantee huge numbers of them are upper middle class or higher....
Friend told me the other day, and she works with abused kids, that the attempt to make child sexual assault and abuse a Capitol Crime and punishable by the death penalty will never fly because frankly it would affect the rich and powerful... no one cares if a street criminal gets fried... but when a CEO of a large corporation could be, no way the elites will pass the law.
Sadly, I think she's right.
I guess you'll be called a genius by that insensitive FReeper as well, Koko.
More on this kid and his porn career.
First he was a victim, then he was a purveyor. Many pedophiles were victims at one time, as were most homosexuals. That's how the lineage goes.
I saw this kid on TV last night. My question is, where the f$ck were his parents when this kid was doing this stuff at 13 years of age? They should be in prison for properly not supervising him.
I have sympathy for the young folks of today. I lived through WWII had brothers and friends in the fight... but kids today gotta' fight hidden perverts who will take their childhood and sometimes their young lives!! Those perverts draw the life out of these kids!!
Our enemy, when I was a teen was REALLY, REALLY BAD but it was a visible enemy who everybody could see and fight against... THESE DERNED PERVERTS ARE LURKING IN THE SHADOWS, ALL OVER THE PLACE, LURING THE INNOCENT KIDS AMONG US!!
I cannot blame any child of 13 for being a victim of adult perverts!
WHY DO YOU??
So, he WHAT if he is 19 now.. he was damaged and abused for years!! He turned into a copy of the monsters who abused him.
DO You think he should just shut up and NOT tell the world what ADULTS did to him and WHAT he finally did to others???
I want him to talk and talk and talk... I want ALL those who victimized him to be identified and their pictures and their personal information spread out for all the world to see!!
I want to see this subject out in the open arena ... I WANT TO SEE THE COCKROACH-PERVERTS SQUASHED TO BITS!!
WHY DO YOU WANT HIM TO SHUT UP AND GO AWAY????
I want perverts exposed, DON'T YOU???
Heck yes!
In fact, the boy in question has admitted his guilt in the abuse of others.
I say, Turn on the lights of public exposure and let those who abused him as a young teen, get the opportunity to be as exposed to criticism for his crimes, as he is now on FR!!
He may never recover from any of these experiences but at the very least, he is trying to help stem the tide of abuse which is a growing monster in this country and the world.
Did you read about the Dateline program to catch predators? The excuses the perps for being at a house to have sex with a 12 or 13 year old kid, were astoundingly stupid or self-serving. Those folks are in serious denial about their PROBLEM!!
See, I think that only exposure to the "light of day" is going to help stop these types of crimes. The perps thrive on anonymity, or "darkness", if you will.
So, you see, when Justin goes out in the spotlight and tells what happened, some cockroach-pervert is hoping he will be discredited, shut-up and, then, just go away.
99.99% of the blame is on the freak pedophiles, not the government.
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