Nightmares: Shine Light Wherever You Can

 

When first reading the headlines, I couldn’t help notice what was missing. Apparently, so did other people who left comments. Although the article is no longer available at the site, one person did cut-and-paste the following from the source:

The ongoing probe has led to the arrest of 52 people in the U.S. and 13 other countries—Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hungary, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Qatar, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Members were then required continually to upload images of child sexual abuse in order to keep up their membership in the board, which included rules of conduct printed in English, Russian, Japanese and Spanish.

 

Is there some sort of ‘polite’ etiquette in the small print where reporters have to be extra careful of sensitivities when writing about this kind of stuff? (Perhaps a trained journalist may be able to share some insight)

A few comments down within the JT article, the moderator also states: 

“No arrests were made in Japan.”

Well, only a day later, more local news appears.

The article is a little confusing. Look, I know what confusion is - I got that down.

But not only confusing…the timing is uncanny.  Vomiting forth numbers, almost a last-minute Hail Marry, maybe an attempt to save face by trying to show that work really is getting done here too.

 

  August 5, 2011

Kyodo

Police cracked a record 649 child pornography cases involving 310 underage victims in the first half of this year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

The number of victims rose by 14.4 percent, while the number of busts increased 9.1 percent.

The police arrested or handed prosecutors cases on 455 suspects, up 9.4 percent, the NPA said.

Officials said all of the figures were the highest since 2000, when the agency began compiling comparable data, confirming an alarming increase in child pornography in recent years.

Cases of financial fraud also rose rapidly, with 193 cases coming to police attention between January and June, with damages totaling ¥1.87 billion, the NPA said.

The figures compare with the 33 cases that had come to their attention between February and June 2010, after the agency started tracking this statistic, and ¥94.13 million in damages. Financial products used in the frauds included corporate bonds, unlisted stocks and foreign currencies.

Of the 649 child pornography cases, 353 involved use of the Internet and 141 involved peer-to-peer file-sharing software, more than doubling the figure from the same period last year.

Major Internet service providers began blocking access to child porn websites in April.

File-sharing software is likely to be used to bypass the barriers erected by the providers by enabling users to send or receive image data without routing through computer servers, agency officials said.

"We see a serious situation in which images unbearable to watch are copied and distributed over the Internet, making the damage to children almost indefinite," a senior NPA said.

"Japan is a loophole for pedophiles from other countries with strict restrictions," an official with the Japan Committee for UNICEF said. "We must have a law to prohibit the possession of child pornographic data."

The NPA also said there were 153 other child abuse cases in the first half, with 162 victims and 163 suspects — and 14 kids died.

 

At least a point was made at the end.

“…and fourteen kids died”

Not to mention the horror, of course, for those who are living through hell. 

The world is starting to see what is going on. 

Yeah, more members of the global inhabitants are taking note. Some kind of Megan’s Law for this Land of Harmony would be a good start here, though nothing may ever be totally adequate. Even though no system is perfect, to simply sit in silence and do nothing helps no one. 

 

This kind of news tends to make a person cynical. A cynical mind may recognize a characteristic lack of cooperation that is annoyingly persistent...despite the positive appearances that are put on.

At least do what you can, where you can. 

Afterthought: 

Someday, someone's going to come up with a good name for that elephant in the room, a name that catches and sticks. There are just too many unanswered questions. Is it just catch and release for people like this? More cooperation with Interpol would be a start. And extradition too.