SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN TUESDAY, MAY 31, 1977 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION OF THE New York City, N.Y. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:30 a.m. at Covenant House, 260 West 44th Street, New York, N.Y., Hon. Mario Biaggi presiding. Members present: Representatives Biaggi, Weiss and Kildee. Staff present: Jack G. Duncan, counsel and Joan Godley, staff assistant. Mr. BIAGGI. The subcommittee is called to order. As chairman of this morning's hearing of the House Select Education Subcommittee, I welcome my colleague, our distinguished witnesses and guests. This promises to be a sobering day, for we will be discussing a shocking and deplorable subject-the use of children in pornography. There is a highly sophisticated and organized child pornography industry operating in this Nation. It has already captured an estimated 300,000 children nationally as victims. It has produced more than 264 different publications sold nationally depicting pornographic activities involving children as young as 3 years old. The industry is both national and international in scope. Large quantities of pornographic materials are imported each year, primarily from Europe. Hundreds of children from Mexico are smuggled into this Nation each year to engage in child pornography. Who are the victims of child pornography? They vary in age and circumstance. Some come from broken homes-some are victims of child abuse and neglect, some are even foster children recruited from homes for pornography. While the particulars about each victim may vary-they do share some things in common. As victims, they endure sexual abuse and exploitation. They become helpless victims of extortion-many are induced into pornography through drugs-subsequently forming an addiction. Some eventually turn to serious crime. In reality, we are talking about children being transformed into merchandise in a massive sex for sale operation. We know that some of the victims of child pornography come from the ranks of the 1 million runaway children of this Nation. Our hearing this morning is being conducted in a facility which assists the thousands of nomadic children of New York City. We will receive testimony from Father Bruce Ritter discussing the relationship of runaway children to pornography. (217) It is obvious that the great public outcry condemning the spread of child pornography must be translated into legislation on the local, State and Federal levels. A main focus of this morning's hearing will be on a number of Federal legislative proposals, including my bill, H.R. 5522, which proposes new and stiff penalties on those persons procuring children under 16 for pornography. Penalties under my bill also apply to those persons transporting, shipping or mailing such pornographic materials using interstate commerce. Finally, we also hope to discuss the feasibility of imposing criminal sanctions against those parents and guardians who knowingly consent to their child being used for pornography. As an original sponsor of the 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. I am aware of the relationship between child pornography and child abuse. My concern was reflected in an amendment I offered, which was accepted by the full House and Education and Labor Committee, to the Child Abuse Act extension, adding sexual exploitation as a definition of child abuse. The purpose of this amendment is to allow some of the treatment funds under the act to aid victims of child pornography. We have seen movement on the part of States to deal with this problem. Legislation imposing strict new penalties against pornographers has already been passed in the Lousiana Legislature, and most recently in the New York State Assembly. Numerous other States are considering new legislation in this area. The concern of Congress can in part be reflected in our appearance here today. One thing is obvious, we must wage the war against child pornography from all fronts. Child pornographers who are nothing more than traffickers in human perversion must be punished. The victims of child pornography must be helped. The scourge of child pornography has shocked the conscience of our Nation. It must be dealt with before its poison is allowed to spread. This morning I am privileged to welcome my colleagues, the gentleman from Michigan, Congressman Kildee who, from the very first day coming to Congress has provided leadership and deep concern for the problem that we are dealing with today; and my colleague from New York, another member of the committee who is well known to the people of the city of New York, relatively new to the Congress, but has already impacted, by virtue of his experience and concern, Congressman Weiss. We welcome this morning our first witness, another Member of the House, a man who is respected by the Members of the Congress and has made a substantial contribution to the Congress and the city, Congressman Koch. STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD I. KOCH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK Mr. KоCH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. What I would like to do is read a brief statement that I prepared and then comment on the bills before you, if I may. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to be here this morning to state my concern that young children are being used and abused in the production of pornographic movies and photographs. It is a hopeful sign, that this hearing into these shocking abuses of young children is being held here at Covenant House which is an institution providing refuge for teenagers and young adults. Last winter, I was dramatically introduced to some of the worst examples of movies and magazines featuring children engaged in sexual acts. I viewed examples of this pornography at establishments located at 7th Avenue and 42nd Street here in New York City. Other cities in the country also have bookstores and theaters featuring material using children. Through the crusading of Judianne DensenGerber of Odyssey House and others concerned with the welfare of children, both this committee and the Congress have been made aware of the need to put a stop to the abuse of children in pornographic scenes. Members of this committee have introduced legislation to amend both the Federal criminal laws and the Federal Child Abuse and Treatment Act to make it a crime for any adult to produce, distribute, or sell material which employs or uses children under age 16 in a sexually explicit scene. I have also introduced H.R. 7468, which is similar to the bills introduced by Congressmen Murphy, Kildee, and Biaggi but with a few differences. Both these bills and my own outlaw the use of children in a number of explicit sexual activities, which we all agree are shocking for children to be exposed to. However, in my bill I do not outlaw absolutely "any other sexual activity" or "nudity", because I am concerned a bout the breadth of these terms. For instance, if Tom Sawyer kisses Becky in a movie based on Mark Twain that should not automatically be banned. Thus, my bill forbids certain explicit "sexual acts" and also: Any other sexual activity or nudity, if depicted in a manner which appeals to prurient interest and as part of a work which, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value and is patently offensive. Although this standard does require more proof, I believe it helps perfect the bill's important objective without penalizing innocent behavior. I would also like to make it clear that I believe the State has no business telling consenting adults what they should see, read, or do with respect to sex as long as it does not involve children or impact adversely on other adults who do not wish to be involved. When one comes to children, however, I believe the State has to protect them against use or abuse, whether in hard or soft core pornographic situations. The use of children for such purposes cannot be tolerated, yet it h as escalated with pornographic films and peep shows which lewdly display children, some in explicit sex acts with other children and in some cases with adults. On the streets of New York, one can buy today films and magazines with pictures that demean and use children, infants as well as teenagers, and their bodies. Many of the publications and films are produced out of State, but some are produced in New York State. It is the duty of the State and its law enforcement agencies to prosecute, and where convictions result to heavily punish the abuses of children. I am pleased that the New York Legislature is considering legislation to forbid the use of children in any "sexual performance." According to information provided me by the Library of Congress, 94-079 - 78 - 15 only six States now explicitly forbid the use of minors in an obscene performance. The Federal statutes are also inadequate, because they focus on the importation or distribution of "obscene" material, rather than on the protection of children. I consider the use and abuse of a child for sexual purposes to be equal in its impact on the victim and society as a crime of violence, and should have the same priority that we accord to serious crimes of violence. The sexual abuse of a child may injure that child for the rest of his or her natural life and prevent him or her from maturing into a healthy wholesome human being. The pornographers at every end of the spectrum using children, from the producer of the picture to the ultimate dispenser must know that such abuses now occurring not only in the city of New York but across the country will not be tolerated. I must say, when I visited with one of the Commissioners of the Planning Commission, the Crossroads, which is one of the major pornographic establishments, there were 50 machines in the establishment, peep-show machines in which you put a quarter, and 17 of them were devoted to children in sexual scenes with other children or animals or adults. It was really an outrageous situation, and that is why this bill is necessary. If I may, I would like to turn to the bill and point out what I hope are constructive suggestions. One, in your bill, on page 3 I think in paragraph 2 of that page, the word "knowingly" ought to be inserted. With respect to page 4 where the prohibited sexual acts are set forth, I would simply suggest that the bill be amended so as to continue from (a) to (h), but with respect to (i) and (j) to change the language so that the new language would read, "Any other sexual activity or nudity if depicted in a manner which appeals to the prurient interest and is part of a work which, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value and is patently offensive." Then I suggest there be a definition for the words "sadism" and "masochism"; in the definition normally applied to that, the terms "sadism" and "masochism" mean the affliction of pain upon a human being for the purposes, or with the effect, of appealing to the prurient interest. Then, finally, with respect to a standard that would be applied which does not appear in the bill before the committee and which I try to deal with in my bill which I just bring to your attention and hope that it is helpful. The phrase is as follows: "A determination of whether a sexual activity or nuditiy is a prohibited sexual act under paragraph 2(h) of subsection (a) of the section shall be made by the tryer of fact with reference to national community standards." I say that, Mr. Chairman, simply because I do not think we can have a situation where you have national publications being judged in each particular community because you then, in fact, will not have a national standard that people can address themselves to. I simply have used the definition on a prior situation the Supreme Court used. It is not the current definition that the Supreme Court uses, but is the one that I think we ought to apply to this situation, a national community standard, and I thank you for calling me as a witness. Mr. BIAGGI. Thank you for your contribution. We are pleased to receive the constructive comments that you have made. I could not |