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Lawmakers taking aim at child modeling sites
Reuters (through Houston Chronicle) ^ | May 7, 2002, 10:12PM | Andy Sullivan

Posted on 05/08/2002 11:07:24 AM PDT by Houmatt

WASHINGTON -- Two congressmen launched an effort on Tuesday to outlaw "child modeling" Internet sites that depict children as young as 5 years old wearing bikinis and other suggestive outfits, saying they encourage child sex abuse.

Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican, and Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont, introduced a bill that would ban Web sites that charge money to view pictures or videos of children younger than 17 years old.

Web sites such as www.lilamber.com and www.stacystarlet.com do not contain nudity or pornography, and have not been linked to any cases of child abuse or abduction, the two said.

But the Web sites do exploit children and cater to child molesters, the congressmen said.

"These Web sites are nothing more than a way for pedophiles to get their fix," Foley said.

Customers can send in outfits for the children to wear, chat with them over the Internet and in some cases arrange to meet them in hotel rooms, he said.

"Someone's exploiting the kid where they're going to be used for someone else's sexual gratification," Lampson said.

An operator of several child-modeling Web sites said he did not traffic in child pornography, and said he did not want to speculate on why his customers visit the sites because he had never met them.

"I can say no one involved in our site would ever say we are exploiting these children, that is why they are happy to be involved," said the operator, who did not wish to be named.

The bill would ban Web sites that charge money to view pictures of children, without promoting any other products or services. Clothing stores that run advertisements using child models, for example, would not be affected.

Violators could face fines and up to 10 years in prison.

Foley said the FBI has launched a preliminary investigation of child-modeling sites.

An FBI spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.

Previous congressional efforts to curb online obscenity and pornography have been struck down by courts on free-speech grounds. Foley said his staff had met with legal experts to make sure the bill would pass constitutional muster.

A free-speech activist who has served as a legal consultant to several child-modeling sites said the bill was unnecessary because existing laws already ban pedophilia and regulate the modeling industry.

"If there are existing laws that criminalize behavior, enforce the laws," said Jeffrey J. Douglas, a California attorney who serves as president of the First Amendment Lawyers Association.

Free speech should not be compromised because of its potential impact on criminals, Douglas said.

"Otherwise the only thing appropriate for you and I to view or read is something that's appropriate for a pedophile to view or read," said Douglas, who recently helped to overturn a law on "virtual" child pornography.

Foley has sponsored a bill that would reinstate the virtual-porn ban. The two bills might be combined when a House subcommittee meets on Thursday, he said.


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: child; lawmakers; modeling; sites
Pay close attention to the latter part of the article.

What the article does not say is Douglas is the head of the legal arm of the adult entertainment industry, the Free Speech Coalition.

Now, I want someone to tell me again how the porn industry does not support child pornography.

1 posted on 05/08/2002 11:07:24 AM PDT by Houmatt
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To: Houmatt
Why would anyone pay money to look at kids in bathing suits? Sick.
2 posted on 05/08/2002 11:09:00 AM PDT by AppyPappy
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To: AppyPappy
Why would anyone pay money to look at kids in bathing suits? Sick.

Wait for the LP'ers to defend this.

3 posted on 05/08/2002 11:14:06 AM PDT by Hacksaw
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To: Houmatt
Customers can send in outfits for the children to wear, chat with them over the Internet and in some cases arrange to meet them in hotel rooms, he said.

OK, have an undercover detective send a nice outfit, arrange such a meeting, then take the kid into custody on suspicion of abuse.

4 posted on 05/08/2002 11:18:59 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Customers can send in outfits for the children to wear, chat with them over the Internet and in some cases arrange to meet them in hotel rooms, he said.

I find it hard to believe that 5 year olds are capable of engaging in internet chat.

5 posted on 05/08/2002 11:24:18 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
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To: Houmatt
The bill would ban Web sites that charge money to view pictures of children, without promoting any other products or services. Clothing stores that run advertisements using child models, for example, would not be affected.

Well then, seems all they have to do is offer some products for sale and the law doesnt apply to them.

Me thinks politicians have way to much time on their hands and way to much of our money to spend.

6 posted on 05/08/2002 11:26:11 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
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To: Hacksaw
Wait for the LP'ers to defend this.

Pardon me, but I have to ask: What is an LP'er?

7 posted on 05/08/2002 11:36:31 AM PDT by Houmatt
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To: Phantom Lord
I find it hard to believe that 5 year olds are capable of engaging in internet chat.

I'd guess that, if it's real, an older person may read the messages to the kid and types the kid's answers in.

A really bright kid could do it himself or herself. When I was 5 years old I was typing letters to my aunt, and I didn't and don't have a genius IQ.

8 posted on 05/08/2002 11:40:53 AM PDT by HiTech RedNeck
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To: HiTech RedNeck
Maybe CoCo the Gorilla is typing in their answers.
9 posted on 05/08/2002 11:50:25 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
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To: Houmatt
Pardon me, but I have to ask: What is an LP'er?

Libertarian Party.

10 posted on 05/08/2002 11:59:46 AM PDT by Dakmar
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To: Houmatt
.
11 posted on 05/08/2002 12:03:33 PM PDT by ZOOKER
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To: Houmatt
What the article does not say is Douglas is the head of the legal arm of the adult entertainment industry, the Free Speech Coalition.

Figures. He's probably a pedophile, too.

12 posted on 05/08/2002 12:05:48 PM PDT by mhking
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To: Houmatt
Modeling Site Accused Of Child Porn
13 posted on 05/08/2002 12:09:58 PM PDT by EdReform
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To: Hacksaw
Wait for the LP'ers to defend this.

Your assertion that LP'ers endorse chid abuse or child pornography in any way shows the shallowness of your thought.

In case you want to claim you were 'joking', would you like it if I tried to link you to deviant sexual behavior?

Children cannot give consent and what is done to them is wrong.

14 posted on 05/08/2002 12:12:32 PM PDT by Eagle Eye
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To: Houmatt
I am not a libertarian, but I don't understand the gist of this legislation. If someone sells a book of Lewis Carroll photographs (or of Victorian child photos in general), or a book of Anne Geddes babies (the link is safe - Anne Geddes really IS OK) does this mean they would be violating the law?

We are NOT talking about pornography here, not even anything necessarily wrong. Where does this end - with a complete ban on pictures of children entirely?

15 posted on 05/08/2002 12:30:45 PM PDT by valkyrieanne
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To: Houmatt
What a %$#&^! waste of law-enforcement resources. With all the sick crap out there now that was produced by inflicting some rather horrific abuse on kids, all they can do is go after this? I'd definitely have a thing or two to say the next time the cops ask for more money to stamp out kiddie porn. This is no different from the Drug Warriors who take granny's house because it's easier than busting the killer kid who lives with her.
16 posted on 05/08/2002 12:55:59 PM PDT by Squawk 8888
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To: Houmatt
JON BENET RAMSEY springs to mind ! ( Remember all that video of the child , and the queasy feeling it generated ? )

"Seductive" behavior by a child;ie: hip rolling,"flirting", etc. is said by some to be an indicator of possible ongoing sexual child abuse- ( although, in what passes for modern culture, it may be a mere imitation of what pop stars are doing in videos, etc. )

17 posted on 05/16/2002 12:58:04 PM PDT by genefromjersey
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