So many kids are sexually abused every day. Many of their abusers post photographs and videos online, some of which are streamed live via Webcam. Some pictures are freely traded over the Internet and email, while others are found on web sites that charge fees for the lascivious visuals that are categorized by the child's age, gender and other factors.

Luckily, many talented and dogged police officers are on a mission to curtail the horrible abuse of children and to rescue them from further abuse. Due to the awesome assistance of Microsoft staff, police have been developing databases to enable them to catch offenders. Viewing child pornography, more aptly termed "child abuse images," since most porn stars are paid and willing, is a crime. Kids can be rescued from hours of pouring over photographs and researching the most minute details, such as the barcode on a label of goods. Calling the manufacturer can reveal where that particular shipment was sent. In some photos, the adult and child faces are exposed, and sometimes something simple such as a school uniform can be traced to a certain city. Also, IP addresses from abuse streamed live can lead to the capture of predators and the rescue of the innocent.

Most viewers of child abuse images also engage in hands-on abuse of kids. Unfortunately, the network of child abusers reinforce each other by creating a community in which abuse is the norm and favored, and they encourage and teach each other. There are chat rooms devoted to child abuse, and many vacation spots that are known for lax child abuse laws, such as Bangkok, Thailand, and Jamaica, attract predators. Some abusers meet online, then meet in person in order to trade secrets and victims. 

Sexual predators, of course, strive to stay one step ahead of the law. They have become savvy enough to blur background images and obscure faces. However, their need to gloat and improve their status in the child abuse image world sometimes inevitably leads to their downfall. Some child predators commit suicide when their crimes are revealed, and some are victimized by others in prisons.  

Caught in the Web: Inside the Police Hunt to Rescue Children From Online Predators by Julian Sher, 2007

• Books about child pornography
• Books about child sex abuse
• Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
• FBI's Innocent Images
• Julian Sher's web site
• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children