Child Porn Offending - Getting Help to Stop

Getting Help

If you find yourself viewing images of child pornography on the Internet, even sometimes saving those images, you may feel very uncomfortable about where this behaviour is taking you.  You may be afraid that family or co-workers will find out about this activity.  You may want to stop; yet you find yourself returning to the material online.

Some things you need to know about child pornography offending on the Net:

• Viewing, downloading, trading or making child pornography is wrong and harmful.
• It is also a serious crime.
• Wanting to look at child pornography does not mean you have an addiction – law enforcement authorities will treat it like a crime.  You will not be treated as an addict by the legal system – you will be treated like a criminal.
• There are harsh penalties for those who are caught.
• In New Zealand, law enforcement authorities (The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) Censorship Compliance, The New Zealand Police and The New Zealand Customs Service) have specialist staff trained to track down those committing child pornography offences online.  They are increasingly successful at doing this.
• It hurts children - in order for you to watch child pornography, a child has to first be sexually abused. 
• By collecting and trading child pornography you give the child abusers who created the pornography, and those who profit from the trading of this material, the encouragement they need to commit more abuse.
• Child pornography permanently records the victims’ abuse and its continued existence can cause them great distress in future years.
• Would you sexually assault or torture a child yourself?   Would you stand back and watch a child being sexually assaulted in front of you? If you answered 'no' to these questions then why would you watch this on the Net?
• Even though you may never intend to sexually abuse a child, New Zealand research shows that people who watch child pornography are much more likely to have sexually abused a child than the average person.
• What you are watching is not a picture of children and young people enjoying themselves, even though you may think they look like it.  You are watching children being sexually abused.

Have I got a problem?

Are you…

• visiting chatrooms or groups where having sex with children is discussed?
• reading text on the Net that explicitly describes sex acts with children and that is intended for arousal?
• using the Internet to get sexual images of children?
• finding it more and more difficult to resist visiting these sites in spite of promises to yourself or others not to?
• showing or emailing sexual images of children to others, especially those you know are children?
• requesting children or young people to make sexual images of themselves and send them to you?

If so, you are:

• supporting the sexual abuse of children,
• committing an offence for which you can be caught and convicted of a serious crime 
• potentially at higher risk of sexually abusing a child, and
• able to get help to stop this behaviour

It may be hard to talk to someone about this behaviour because of what they might think of you.  You may fear getting into trouble.  There is help available to help you STOP NOW.

For further assistance and confidential advice, contact one of New Zealand’s specialised treatment programmes:

SAFE Auckland                (09) 377 9898
WellSTOP (Wellington)     (04) 566 4745
STOP Christchurch          (03) 374 5010

or 

The Internet Safety Group  (09) 362 0971          0508 NETSAFE (toll-free)

Does someone close to you have a problem?

You may find something on a computer that you share with others that indicates their interest in, or active collecting of, child pornography (or perhaps other illegal material such as bestiality or ‘snuff’ material).   If you are unsure about the difference between legal and illegal material in New Zealand, you could read this section of NetSafe.

If you are certain what you have seen is illegal, but are unsure what sort of assistance is available for the person responsible, you could call one of the programmes listed above or the ISG.  If someone you care about is collecting child pornography, they have a serious problem and need help.  Denying the seriousness of what has happened is not constructive and could potentially put children at risk.  Offenders can stop their behaviour, but they must first confront the cold reality of the sort of material they are collecting.  Specialised treatment programmes are the best place to get help and support. 

Reporting an incident

You may want to report what you have found to law enforcement.

If you have seen evidence of illegal material, do not open any more files to inspect them.  Follow the instructions in the ‘Law Enforcement & Cybercrime’ section of this website regarding the preserving of evidence or call the Department of Internal Affairs Censorship Compliance (0800 257 887) for instructions.

You may want to report an incident that has occurred at your workplace (i.e. business, school, government agency, educational institution, or community group):

• This would be reported to your employer (and to law enforcement).  Not only has a co-worker apparently engaged in illegal activity but it has made the workplace environment unsafe for you and others.  This is a serious workplace safety issue and your employer needs to be informed.

If this incident occurs where you live and you suspect an adult is responsible (flatmate, partner, etc):

• This would be reported to DIA Censorship Compliance.

If you suspect a child under the age of 17 is responsible:

• This would still be reported to DIA Censorship Compliance, who will liaise with Police Youth Aid.

It is hard to report an incident involving someone you care about and/or work with, but to minimise the seriousness of what has occurred allows the behaviour to continue and could potentially lead to more children being harmed.  By reporting the incident, you are helping an offender confront their behaviour and get help.  Treatment by a specialist agency can mean successful prevention of re-offending, and successful prevention of more child sexual abuse.

Getting caught by law enforcement

If law enforcement comes to your home or business with a search warrant, you may experience a range of emotions, including: fear, anxiety, shame, and depression.  Some people even feel relieved that they have been caught and can then end the offending and get help. 

Your immediate feelings may not be what you feel in the long-term.  Be careful how you react immediately at that time.  Harming yourself is NOT a solution.  In fact, it will only make things worse for those around you (your family, friends and colleagues).   Others have been in your situation and have benefited enormously from help and treatment.  Call one of the treatment programmes for further advice and information.

SAFE Auckland             (09) 377 9898
WellSTOP (Wellington)  (04) 566 4745
STOP Christchurch       (03) 374 5010