ASACP: Personal Reflections After 8 Years

Every once in a while, I ask myself why I am doing this job.

We have to focus on the worst of the worst: people who sexually abuse children, the criminals who profit from it, and the sick people who view and buy these images, which fuels this repetitive cycle. Viewing images of babies being penetrated and physically abused is very difficult.

Thankfully most people won’t ever have to do this or even imagine it. It is more than disturbing than most realize especially when according to the recent data from the ASACP CP reporting hotline 59 percent of images are children 11 and under. As Tim Henning (VP Technology and Forensic Research and who has been performing this task since 1996) told me when I started with ASACP eight years ago: “YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.” I didn’t understand the depth of his warning.

I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about the world of child pornography. The criminals who abuse children do not stop at taking images. They keep abusing these children, be it selling them, forcing them into prostitution and then when these children are ‘not good’ for anything else, they sell their body for parts. Yes, this is the reality we deal with everyday.

The ‘lucky’ children are those who are only abused by their relatives, family friends, teachers, and clergy and have to live the rest of their lives with these horrific memories. However those memories negatively affect their lives forever.

Now I look at children and the adults around them in a different way. Are these adults abusing these children? When I see children in a crowd I look for their caretakers to be certain they are being watched. Hyper-vigilance is one of the side effects of this job.

ASACP and I are attacked by people in the industry who have never financially supported us. They complain that we are doing too much, not doing enough, that we are getting paid to work, etc. But these same people are doing nothing to help protect children.

I need to constantly prove to the government and other mainstream child protection associations that ASACP is serious about its child protection efforts and not just a ‘front’ for the pornography industry. I joke about it, but it’s true that whenever I go to mainstream conferences or meetings, I feel like I have a big red “A” on my chest.

I am always shocked by the number of people in the industry who give ‘lip-service’ but won’t financially support ASACP’s effort. They can spend thousands of dollars on a dinner or bar bill at tradeshows, but can’t ‘afford’ $300 for an ASACP membership or even a donation to the ASACP Foundation. Yet, they are very happy to use the FREE Restricted to Adult label and benefit from ASACP’s work when they are accused of having questionable business practices.

Not surprisingly, at times I feel frustrated, disillusioned and attacked on all sides for simply doing the best job within the ASACP mission and budget to protect children and the industry.

But then I have an experience that renews my purpose and remind me of why it is I continue to do what I do.

Recently, when meeting with ASACP’s sponsors in North Carolina, I went to see Johnny V and had an opportunity to meet his family. Johnny V has volunteered his time for years and truly believes in the ASACP mission and now I know why. Johnny has a beautiful wife and two children ages four and seven. When I arrived at their home in the middle of the woods, his children ran to greet me with welcoming hugs for “Miss Joanie.” They were just great kids and you could see how loved and protected they are by Johnny and his wife.

His son sang karaoke-style for me. His daughter performed her small part from a play she was recently in at camp. They showed me their rooms, their pictures, and their prized possessions. They had small decorated ‘club houses” in storage areas in their rooms which reminded me of my childhood.

As I was leaving his son handed me his most prized possession: a book that he had read and his Dad had read as a child, too: “Where The Red Fern Grows.” He warned me that it had a sad ending because the dogs die at the end, but it was a good book about a boy and his dogs. I felt so honored. Tears came to my eyes because of this very sweet and honest gesture of friendship from a seven year old. As I looked over, Johnny had tears in his eyes too. This was a big deal!

Being at Johnny V’s house and meeting his family reminded me that some children have happy, normal lives with parents who love them.

So if you have children or are around children, the next time you look at them with love remind yourself to do everything you can to protect them, teach them, and help them grow. Then remember that this is why I am doing my job and that ASACP works to protect children who will never experience this kind of love and protection.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

opinion

How to Thwart Holiday Fraudsters With Finesse

The holiday season is a prime time for shopping. Unfortunately, it’s also peak season for credit card fraud. With increased transactions both online and in-store, fraudsters have more opportunities to exploit vulnerabilities — and they are getting better at it every day.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

How to Halt Hackers as Fraud Attacks Rise

For hackers, it’s often a game of trial and error. Bad actors will perform enumeration and account testing, repeating the same test on a system to look for vulnerabilities — and if you are not equipped with the proper tools, your merchant account could be the next target.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

VerifyMy Seeks to Provide Frictionless Online Safety, Compliance Solutions

Before founding VerifyMy, Ryan Shaw was simply looking for an age verification solution for his previous business. The ones he found, however, were too expensive, too difficult to integrate with, or failed to take into account the needs of either the businesses implementing them or the end users who would be required to interact with them.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

How Adult Website Operators Can Cash in on the 'Interchange' Class Action

The Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement resulted from a landmark antitrust lawsuit involving Visa, Mastercard and several major banks. The case centered around the interchange fees charged to merchants for processing credit and debit card transactions. These fees are set by card networks and are paid by merchants to the banks that issue the cards.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

It's Time to Rock the Vote and Make Your Voice Heard

When I worked to defeat California’s Proposition 60 in 2016, our opposition campaign was outspent nearly 10 to 1. Nevertheless, our community came together and garnered enough support and awareness to defeat that harmful, misguided piece of proposed legislation — by more than a million votes.

Siouxsie Q ·
opinion

Staying Compliant to Avoid the Takedown Shakedown

Dealing with complaints is an everyday part of doing business — and a crucial one, since not dealing with them properly can haunt your business in multiple ways. Card brand regulations require every merchant doing business online to have in place a complaint process for reporting content that may be illegal or that violates the card brand rules.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

Girlsway Celebrates a Decade of Acclaimed Sapphic Erotica

When Girlsway launched back in 2014, Bree Mills had a plan. As head of production for Gamma Entertainment, she set out to up the stakes of all-girl content with the new imprint — and to continually, proactively reinvent the brand and its offerings along the way.

Alejandro Freixes ·
profile

WIA Profile: Patricia Ucros

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Ucros graduated from college with a degree in education. She spent three years teaching third grade, which she enjoyed a lot, before heeding her father’s advice and moving to South Florida.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Creating Payment Redundancies to Maximize Payout Uptime

During the global CrowdStrike outage that took place toward the end of July, a flawed software update brought air travel and electronic commerce to a grinding halt worldwide. This dramatically underscores the importance of having a backup plan in place for critical infrastructure.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Need for Minimal Friction in Age Verification Technology

In the adult sector, robust age assurance, comprised of age verification and age estimation methods, is critical to ensuring legal compliance with ever-evolving regulations, safeguarding minors from inappropriate content and protecting the privacy of adults wishing to view adult content.

Gavin Worrall ·
Show More