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More effective media coverage of child porn prosecution and sentencing

By Douglas A. Berman

The AP has this new article, headlined "Child porn prosecutions soaring," includes these notable statistics: The number of federal child porn cases has exploded during the last 15 years as Congress passed mandatory five-year minimum sentences and federal authorities have declared such investigations a priority. The FBI has made more than 10,000 arrests since 1996 and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reports a similar number of arrests since its creation in 2003.  The U.S. Department of Justice says prosecutions are up 40 percent since 2006 resulting in roughly 9,000 cases. In 2009, 2,315 suspects were indicted. Local authorities across the country are also stepping up their child pornography investigations, which often require little more than a technically savvy agent, a high-speed Internet connection and so-called peer-to-peer software that millions of computer owners use to legally ? and illegally ? swap music, videos and other digital files...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 06, 2011 (boomark / email).