New Ad Campaign Targets Child Pornography

Feb 22, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) While it may be hard to watch, child safety advocates say a new ad campaign targeting child pornography will help curtail this growing problem. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says the ad is meant to increase awareness for parents and victims.

"Sometimes you have to shock people, remind them just how bad this is and how widespread this is in this country," Shurtleff says. "And, it's a problem we are all concerned with and we can all help protect our kids."

Shurtleff says Utah leads the nation in prosecuting child sex offenders, but the number of child pornographers continues at a steady pace. He says child pornography has grown to a multi-billion dollar industry involving more than 100,000 Web sites. The campaign against child pornography is sponsored by the National Association to Protect Children and the Surviving Parents Coalition. Ed Smart, whose daughter's abduction and sexual abuse remains a national news story, is now an advocate for these organizations. He says the ad reaches out to victims, to show them that they are not alone, and hopefully it will encourage them to speak out against their abusers.

"And I hope those children find the courage to do that because it's hard and they are put on the spot and they are told they are bad kids or they are going to do something to their family or to them if they don't comply," Smart says. "And they've just got to know that nobody has the right to do this to them."

The release of the new ad campaign coincides with an announcement that U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch is co-sponsoring the Combating Child Exploitation Act to expand state Internet Crimes Against Children task force programs currently operating in 59 regions throughout the country, including Utah. State lawmakers have also introduced five bills this session seeking to increases penalties for child sex offenses. Click here to watch the new public service announcement.

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