Although according to Adult Sites Against Child Pornography (ASACP), most of the reports of suspect child pornography that ASACP receives are images from Russia and other eastern block countries.
In its study titled 'Child Pornography, Child Abuse and the Internet,' children's charity organization NCH tracked child porn reports since 1988 and recently compiled pedophile data into a comprehensive report, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, the NCH report shows a startling increase in child porn cases. Only a decade ago, 35 child pornography cases were reported. However, that number took a leap to 549 in 2001, and has shown a steady increase ever since.
According to NCH, the increase since 1988 marks a 1,500 percent rise in child porn cases in the UK.
The author of the NCH study put out a call of awareness to the Internet industry to work harder at implementing technology that will hinder the large-scale trade of child pornography.
The author of the study also blames the United States as the country of origin for the majority of child porn content that circulates online.
The increase in child porn cases, NCH reports, is due in part to advancements in computer usage and the Internet, which has created a more easily managed and anonymous conduit for pedophiles to exchange information and images, as well as access underground child porn sites.
The Internet also avails itself to the distribution of child porn across the Internet as a big business opportunity for organized crime, Reuters reported.
NCH warns that the problem will only worsen with the advent of third-generation Internet-enabled mobile phones with streaming capability.
According to the study, as 3G cell phones become widespread and can be used by paying cash, with no records to track the user, child pornographers will have yet another underground industry in which to dwell undetected.
"The Internet is about to go mobile, and that could make many things more difficult to prevent or detect," the author told Reuters. "The scale of the problem has changed beyond recognition in just over a decade."
