Our Children, Our Future

“No child is capable, emotionally or legally, of consenting to being photographed for sexual purposes. This, every image of a sexually displayed child – be it a photograph, a tape or a DVD - records both the rape of the child and an act against humanity. We must stop the hurt.” Andrew Vachss – Parade magazine Sunday, February 19, 2006 in an article entitled Lets Fight This Terrible Crime against Our Children

The most terrible of all crimes committed are committed against those who cannot defend themselves. The perpetrators of these inhuman acts destroy the innocence of a child and ruin the potential of that child. The damage done lasts a lifetime. It creates an ominous shadow that follows the child and never goes away. Even in adulthood these scars hinder the lives they have been inflicted upon. There is no excuse for this deviant behavior, nor should there be any leniency or mercy shown to the lower life forms that engage in such immoral and inhumane treatment of our most precious resource – our children. In this hyper-connected digital age of the Internet these images can never be destroyed. Their presence lingers forever in the electronic memories of computer all around the world. Pedophiles freely download and save images for their own perverted usage at their leisure. The children so exploited have no such freedom.
Our landscape is littered with milk cartons, posters, and billboards presenting images of missing children. Most of whom will never be found. Secretly their pictures are spread across the Internet after their abductors have forced them into photographic prostitution. Then when they are used up they are discarded. A beautiful life destroyed so a pervert can pleasure himself in the privacy of his own home. Our children will never be safe until this despicable act is stopped, and just punishments are meted out for the crime. Only then will our children be able to play in safety. Only then can we allow them to enjoy being children.
What is a just punishment for ruining a life? The death penalty is not too harsh for such a criminal. Even hardened murders in penitentiaries loathe these creatures that prey on innocence. For some the very act of being jailed is a death penalty in its self, with the criminals delivering the punishment that our justice system is too weak and flaccid to administer.
Somewhere we must take a stand and put an end to this blight on our society. Somehow we mush find a way to fight the ruination of a generation of children that have been born into the awful predatory society we live in. If we must take arms against the rapist of our children then so be it. If any action can save our children and provide a brighter future then let us, those responsible for providing that future, do what is necessary to insure the survival of their innocence. The world has enough dangers and pitfalls without us allowing our children to be thrown to the jackals, and destroyed, before they have a chance to Live.