The Internet: a Pedophile's Paradise, a Parent's Nightmare

If you go to Google News and search "pornography" your return will include pages like this:

and pages thereafter of child pornography case after child pornography case. 

It then dawned on me, I hear about child pornography an awful lot. Is this something that has always gone on, but technology only now has the capabilities to communicate in full? Rather, could we be living in a spike of child pornography popularity?

It's the latter.

We are living in a spike of child porn distribution

According to former U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, "a historic rise in the distribution of child pornography," is being observed by lawmakers and persecutors throughout the U.S.

Holder also reported a decrease "is in the age of the victims," overall, as more cases with younger children arise.

Psychologists have found child pornography addicts are prone to progress to younger and younger children as their addiction continues. Additionally, studies on pedophiles with offenses related to child pornography have determined a progression towards more "sadistic or masochistic," images. 

An obsession with child pornography has also been patterned as a stepping stone to other kinds of sexual disorders, such as fixation with bestiality. 

National increase in the child pornography related crime is vastly agreed upon, with FBI reports of nearly a 2500% increase in arrests related to child pornography in the last ten years.

This is theorized to be due to the newfound availability and interconnectedness of the internet. 15-20 years ago, the depths of the internet were not as vast as today, leaving no platforms for the easy exchange of child pornography, or illegal things in general. 

Also, there was no "kiddie-porn Blockbuster," or an adjacent service, so, it's possible that, back then, there was a demand for child porn, just no one to meet it on its full scale. 

The Internet: a pedophile's paradise

The ever-widening scope of the internet allows crime to occur almost naturally. This allows any individual, pedophile and non-pedophile alike, to assume the anonymous nature of the internet and play it to their favor.

Countless forums and sites exist specifically for the sale and purchase of child pornography. Payment can be achieved completely separate of any identity via PayPal and Bitcoin, making criminal investigation, should any be conducted, pointless. 

In addition to the technical ease delivered unto the pedophile community by technological advancement, the internet is also said to motivate the production of child porn as increased contact between similarly afflicted individuals on the aforementioned platforms has a normalizing effect on this behavior, possibly giving the offender increased confidence in their pedophilia. 

This heightened comfort lended by a congregation of likeminded individuals online could be a contributing factor in the decision of said individuals to produce or continue producing child pornography.

A trend by circumstance?

Increased reports of child pornography within the U.S. need not be a characteristic of the current society with in it, however, as research progresses, perhaps there exists some societal influence which has caused such an influx.