Originally published at: A man told police his 11-year-old daughter was being manipulated to send a man photos of her. Columbus cops threatened the victim with jail for "making porn" | Boing Boing
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I am outraged, mostly for the poor kid. She has been taught that she is all alone against an adult manipulator, and the PTB will not help her, and in fact, threaten her. Where does she turn? Expecting kids to “just stay off the internet” is not a realistic POV, given how integral it has become to pretty much every facet of life these days. She went to her dad, which was the correct thing to do, and he got slammed by the cops. I am at a loss, other than ACAB.
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ACAB but that cop is worse.
That doesn’t even begin to cover it.
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Oh holy bucket of ducks. Threatening children with arrest after reporting their exploitation is how you get people afraid to talk to the police at all. The monsters that will exploit children online now know of a community where their monstrosities are less likely to be reported. Dear Columbus, Ohio: Do you want online predators to seek out your community? Because this is how to get online predators to seek out your community. We have a useful fiction in our society: we consider people under 18 to be people to be protected first, and prosecuted as a last resort. These police officers have forgot this principle, and made their community far worse.
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There’s a fucking huge difference between “legal” and “morally wrong,” and what that cop said and did is in no way usefully “right.”
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That’s self control, right there.
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So much for (no) justice…
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Freaking useless cops. Absolutely no sense of empathy. I hope the father and daughter get help from someone.
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Doesn’t mean that they should be…
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This was literally a Law & Order plot about prosecutorial overreach. Charging victims is probably a much easier way to clear cases, I guess.
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According to my extensive legal knowledge based entirely on episodes of Law and Order SVU, the DA would only use the threat of child porn charges if the kid (victim) was uncooperative or tried to protect the predator.
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If there was some way for this not to be anything but life-scarring and horrific for the girl and her family, I would almost wish for that very “child porn” case to go to court. It would be a complete shit show that would, hopefully, end with these cops fired and the entire city scrambling to change laws, admit fault and throw money at the family by the truckload.
But then I realize we live in reality, not justice movie fantasy land.
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I can tell you exactly what this is: a bad cop who was annoyed at having to take that call.
Cops don’t know the letter of the law. They know some common offenses they can issue citations or arrest people for. And they often get it wrong, which is why you take traffic tickets to court and a lot of arrests never lead to charges. Anything more complex or nuanced, someone higher up issues a warrant for the cops to handle.
Don’t talk to the cops, especially like this where you call 911 or the non-emergency line and your average patrol officer comes out. They won’t know what to do. In a sensitive situation like this where a kid is involved and the crime has already happened, you want to be dealing with nobody lower rank than a detective in the unit that handles that.
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It IS true that she could be charged.
My beef is that the cop didn’t present this information in a helpful way, a warning that this has happened to other children and that she shouldn’t put herself at risk.
It came across as more of a threat: we COULD arrest her.
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Nah… this not just a bad apple here… And the father did the right thing in calling the cops. She’s 11, who would argue that she’s the one who is breaking the law…
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There is a legal term for this crime: online solicitation of a minor. that is the crime the asshole cop should have been focused on. Getting any information possible about the sexual predator. Arranging for the child victim to be interviewed by a trained therapist at a CASA.
Yes, it is technically true a child could be charged with creating child sex abuse imagery. It has been done, even though it shouldn’t. But that is a conversation for the CASA therapist to have with the parents and child later.
It is not a threat to be made against the parent of a child victim. But she’s a girl. So of course this is all her fault /s
Edited to add the /s.
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OK, what is your answer? You can’t go to the cops, they will arrest you. (Or, in this case, your child.) You can’t track down the offender on your own, or at least most of us can’t. And if we could, are we ready for vigilante justice? Are we really going to blame the child when an adult manipulates them into an act like this? Isolating the victim is aiding the offender. What is the option?
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PSA for any parents of minor children: if this happens to your child go straight to the FBI child explotation task force or a similar state level institution. Or call the local CASA (or child advocacy center) and see if they can provide some advice. The CASA will know if any local cops can be trusted.
Also cut off your child’s access to the account being used. Heavily monitor the child’s social media and Internet use. Keep a very close eye on them, this is a vulnerable time for the predator to come and take them or convince them to runway.
Get them a good therapist. Make sure they know you love them and they are not to blame. Give them sincere and real gratitude if you found out because they told you.
Edited to fix auto incorrect. Also, if a child shares something with you that makes them vulnerable, like their latest crush or deep emotions do not for the love of all that is holy tease them or shame them
Thank them for sharing with you. Establish that trust and then do whatever you must to yourself, including therapy for your own issues, to keep that trust.
This is what a parent can do to keep their child safe. Earn their trust and then keep earning it
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