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Police Investigate Child Porn Video on Facebook
Fox 5 reached out to police after viewer e-mails
Updated: Friday, 02 Jul 2010, 11:34 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 02 Jul 2010, 11:34 PM EDT
By JOANN PILEGGI
MYFOXNY.COM - Surf the Internet and you'll find just about anything. And sometimes things you don't want to find: child pornography.
"It's hard to fathom unless you've seen it and it's not something you want to see," said Lt. Andrew Donofrio of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. "There's no scenario where you can get a prepubescent child to look like they are enjoying this act they're engaged in."
That is exactly what happened to some news viewers who reached out to Fox 5/My9 in anger and disgust. What they found was shocking video of child pornography somehow landing on Facebook.
The video was about as graphic as it gets. It shows a woman in bed, engaging in sexual activity with what appears to be a 3- or 4-year-old boy. The video so horrific that news management immediately reached out to New Jersey prosecutors, state police, and child welfare officials.
Fox 5/My9 immediately turned over the video to police, who say they are investigating.
"In this particular instance, what was striking was the obligation the station felt, not to get this in the form of a story right away, but to find out was the child being victimized," Lieutenant Donofrio said.
The e-mails we got from concerned viewers tell the story of this horrific video. One woman wrote: "I find this video to be very offensive and disturbing, this is child sexual abuse."
Another e-mailed: "Please help, I'm a mother of two and don't understand how this is possible."
And all of the e-mails wanted police to be notified. One e-mail read: "I believe this woman needs to be prosecuted."
We have no idea when this disturbing video was shot. Nor do we know where it was shot or if it was even shot in our country. But somehow it landed on a lot of computers around here.
Other news outlets contacted the New York Police Department about the same piece of video. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the computer crimes unit removed it from nearly 70,000 servers nationwide. He said the clip has an IP address linking it to Jamaica. The NYPD referred the investigation to federal law enforcement.
A spokesman for Facebook said that as soon as the NYPD reported the video, the company worked to stop further sharing of the vide and removed it from Facebook's servers, the AP reported.
Phillip Rosenthal, an internet safety expert, said that people might now try to look for it.
"If they are able to find it, according to the jurisdiction, if a prosecutor or D.A. or U.S. attorney finds out, if they decide to proffer charges, [the viewer has] a real problem," Rosenthal said.
Law enforcement officials have said that, sadly, they a lot of this on the Internet.
So what should you do if you see something like this?
"When you are viewing child porn, what you are witnessing is a child being sexually assaulted," Lieutenant Donofrio said. "You have a duty and moral obligation to do something with that information."
You should do the same if someone in your family stumbles across this on the Web. Remember: it's a crime. Sadly, lots of children out there are victims. Hopefully the action our viewers took will help save this little boy or those like him.
Fox 5 reached out to police after viewer e-mails
Updated: Friday, 02 Jul 2010, 11:34 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 02 Jul 2010, 11:34 PM EDT
By JOANN PILEGGI
MYFOXNY.COM - Surf the Internet and you'll find just about anything. And sometimes things you don't want to find: child pornography.
"It's hard to fathom unless you've seen it and it's not something you want to see," said Lt. Andrew Donofrio of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. "There's no scenario where you can get a prepubescent child to look like they are enjoying this act they're engaged in."
That is exactly what happened to some news viewers who reached out to Fox 5/My9 in anger and disgust. What they found was shocking video of child pornography somehow landing on Facebook.
The video was about as graphic as it gets. It shows a woman in bed, engaging in sexual activity with what appears to be a 3- or 4-year-old boy. The video so horrific that news management immediately reached out to New Jersey prosecutors, state police, and child welfare officials.
Fox 5/My9 immediately turned over the video to police, who say they are investigating.
"In this particular instance, what was striking was the obligation the station felt, not to get this in the form of a story right away, but to find out was the child being victimized," Lieutenant Donofrio said.
The e-mails we got from concerned viewers tell the story of this horrific video. One woman wrote: "I find this video to be very offensive and disturbing, this is child sexual abuse."
Another e-mailed: "Please help, I'm a mother of two and don't understand how this is possible."
And all of the e-mails wanted police to be notified. One e-mail read: "I believe this woman needs to be prosecuted."
We have no idea when this disturbing video was shot. Nor do we know where it was shot or if it was even shot in our country. But somehow it landed on a lot of computers around here.
Other news outlets contacted the New York Police Department about the same piece of video. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the computer crimes unit removed it from nearly 70,000 servers nationwide. He said the clip has an IP address linking it to Jamaica. The NYPD referred the investigation to federal law enforcement.
A spokesman for Facebook said that as soon as the NYPD reported the video, the company worked to stop further sharing of the vide and removed it from Facebook's servers, the AP reported.
Phillip Rosenthal, an internet safety expert, said that people might now try to look for it.
"If they are able to find it, according to the jurisdiction, if a prosecutor or D.A. or U.S. attorney finds out, if they decide to proffer charges, [the viewer has] a real problem," Rosenthal said.
Law enforcement officials have said that, sadly, they a lot of this on the Internet.
So what should you do if you see something like this?
"When you are viewing child porn, what you are witnessing is a child being sexually assaulted," Lieutenant Donofrio said. "You have a duty and moral obligation to do something with that information."
You should do the same if someone in your family stumbles across this on the Web. Remember: it's a crime. Sadly, lots of children out there are victims. Hopefully the action our viewers took will help save this little boy or those like him.
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