How to Report Child Porn Distribution

While some forms of obscenity can be difficult to define legally, child porn is not. Child pornography refers to sexually explicit material that involves individuals under the age of eighteen. Technological advancements in the digital age have made it easier to produce and distribute child pornography. For this reason, it's more important than ever for vigilant citizens to report child porn distribution to proper law enforcement officials.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Get the URL of websites you suspect to be distributing child porn. "URL" refers to the website's address listed in your browser's navigation window. Use the "cut and paste" feature to highlight and copy the complete URL so that it can be forwarded to the proper authorities.

2. Contact your local police department. Some cities have set up special police task forces to deal with the growing problem of child porn and other forms of cyber crime. In most cases, you'll be able to make your tips anonymously.

3. Contact the FBI. In addition to local law enforcement departments, the federal government is actively engaged in investigating and prosecuting people involved in the child porn trade.

4. Report any suspicious child porn activity to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You can leave your tips on their Cyber Tip Line by calling 800-843-5678.

5. Report your tips electronically by submitting information to the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection. This is one of many non-profit organizations specifically dedicated to fighting child porn. You can report child porn through a form on their official website (see Resources below).

6. Make an anonymous tip to AntiChildPorn.org (see Resources below). In addition to reporting child porn distribution, they're also interested in hearing about any attempts others have made to solicit child porn. You can forward all electronic solicitations through their website.

Tips & Warnings

• If you suspect a close friend or family member is involved in the production or distribution of child porn, it can be very difficult to report them to the police. Be brave. If you refuse to report suspected child porn, you're helping others to abuse innocent children.
• Sometimes it can be difficult to determine whether the people involved in pornographic content are of legal age. To address this concern, the US Department of Justice recently revised their definition of "child porn" to include any image that "is, or appears to be, of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct." This is part of an effort to crack down on what the government refers to as "virtual child pornography."

Resources

• ASACP to report child porn
• AntiChildPorn.org to report child porn

Who Can Help Sponsored

[nunnya]

on 9/28/2009 I have recently come across some printed child porn and know this person that printed it, and is probably looked, researched, and continues to view such sites. I would like to report him anonymously and have it investigated. I personally don't think he would ever take 'action' against a child, but he is also mentally unstable and searching for such things can lead to other issues. I would like to have this investigated and stopped. I have children and this concerns me. How do I do this without causing harm or backlash to myself, friends, and/or family?

[minizam]

on 7/28/2009 On home computers, Many just end up unintentionally on sick/crap websites and scared even to go back and investigate in details (where the local/international laws start/stop) and then report. Sometimes, many windows comeup in the background and have filthy content that is again impossible to review/report. I am not sure how offshore websites are defined/regulated by US laws, but they should be filtered by the ISPs. Also, at home proper firewalls/security should be in place, but many parents may be not so tech savvy to do it.

[flagflagger]

on 6/7/2009 I accidentally clicked on a link from google while searching for "young fawn"; I was searching for info on deer fawns and their behavior; anyway, I really did the wrong thing because clicking that link not only brought up sickening crap that really bothers me, but, I could not shut down all the windows that kept popping up on my computer. It was like a virus took over or something. I finally had to turn the power off and reboot my pc and quite honestly, this really bothered me. I'm too scared to tell the police about it, so, i just cleaned my drive the best i could and anonymously reported this to a place called adult sites against cp. I know they are not that perfect either, cause, I think they are adults in the porn industry, but, their web site seemed like it was up front and definately would help ridding the internet of all of this filth. This stuff really makes me want to p...

[Johnniesgurl21]

on 1/14/2009 But one thing that still runs through my mind is that they said that they would take a look at the site, but they did not say anything about what would happen after doing so, are they going to shut the site down or try to link the pictures to the people who made them. Plz someone help me ease my mind.

Restless Mom

[Johnniesgurl21]

on 1/14/2009 Thanks for the tip! I was browsing on the net and this website came up on the search results called pus*yshack.net, anyways I clicked on it and it showed all these nasty photos. People with animals, grown adults with what looked to be underage children. So I called the number from cypertipline. And reported the website, I could not believe how easy it was, all they did was ask for the site and if it was sent to me by email or if it was by the browser, afterwards they said that they would give it to the internet tech. to go and look at the site. They didn't ask for my personal information. I have two children of my own, and I would never imagine someother parent doing something that so disgusting and unhuman to a child. But one thing that still runs through my mind is that they said that they would take a look at the site, but they did not say anything about what would happen after doing