Nestande, Bruce, assemblyman, California Legislature_ Nicholson, Donald, Department of Justice.-- Osanka, Frank, Associate Professor of Social Justice and Sociology, Lewis Attachments to testimony. Rembar, Charles. Similes, Kurt, Manager of Prohibited Mailings Branch, U.S. Postal Service. 23 175 109 Wilens, Philip, Chief, Government Regulations, and Labor Section, De- 134 APPENDIX C.-REPORTS ON PORNOGRAPHY C-1 "The Rockford Papers," April, 1977---. C-2 "They Have No Voice," Marjorie Margolies-- D-5 Chicago is Center of National Child Pornography_ D-6 U.S. Orders Hearings on Child Pornography---. D-7 How Ruses Lure Victims to Child Pornographers__ SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN MONDAY, MAY 23, 1977 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m., in room 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John Conyers, Jr. [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Conyers, Holtzman, Gudger, Volkmer, Ertel, Ashbrook, and Railsback. Staff present: Hayden Gregory, counsel; Leslie E. Freed, assistant counsel; and Thomas N. Boyd, associate counsel. Mr. CONYERS. Good morning. The Subcommittee on Crime is beginning its hearings on a number of quite similar bills prohibiting the sexual exploitation of children and the transportation in interstate and foreign commerce of photographs of film depicting such exploitation. Considerable information has already come to the attention of the subcommittee regarding the rapid proliferation of these practices, which include physical sexual abuse of children of both sexes and virtually all ages. In addition to providing criminal sanctions for the sexual abuse of children, the bills before us also proscribe widespread accompanying practices of photographing and filming actual and simulated sexual acts involving children and distributing the products in interstate commerce. It is clear that a considerable number of the persons purchasing and otherwise obtaining these photographs and films are themselves using them in connection with their own acts of sexual abuse of children, further widening the vicious circle of physical and photographic abuse. The perpetrators of these acts use inducements such as money, drugs, and representations of friendship to entice their young victims. In some instances, even parents are inducing or permitting their own children in these practices; such conduct on the part of persons in place of parents is even more common. As might be expected, these photographs and films are being distributed through existing outlets that specialize in pornographic materials. However, there is growing evidence that child abusers and other persons desirous of receiving these photos and films are developing their own production and distribution network. This usually takes the form of a cottage industry operating out of the trunk of a car or a single post office box, but, increasingly, the operations are growing larger, better financed, more sophisticated, more diversified--and more difficult to identify, apprehend, and successfully prosecute. In many cases, it is not just the photos and films that are moved in interstate commerce, but the children themselves. In fact, the traffic of children has become international, as in the case of smuggling of children from Mexico for such purposes. These children, who exist virtually without identity in this country, are the most vulnerable, for they could be eliminated and their disappearance go unnoticed here, an occurrence which is not unprecedented. The subcommittee will hold several days of hearings on this subject. In these hearings, we will attempt to establish the breadth and depth of the abusive practices sought to be proscribed by the bills before us. An essential element of this aspect of our inquiry will be the quest for answers to a number of specific questions that need to be answered if we are to understand the true nature and extent of the problem and to make informed decisions on the need for additional legislation. Some questions include: Are these abusive practices in fact growing like wildfire, or is the appearance of such increases in large part due to the fact that public attention has at last been focused on practices which have long existed but have been ignored or attention to them suppressed? If the practices are rapidly proliferating, what are the casual factors contributing to this? Is the problem we are addressing really a monolithic one, or is it in fact three distinct and separable problems of sexual child abuse, prostitution, and pornography? SimiTarly, is the issue of the seduction of an 8-year-old child by a foster parent different from that involved in the willing sexual participation by teenagers? Several questions concerning the contribution of family background of both the children and the adults involved in these practices ought to be addressed. What contribution do factors such as parental unemployment, breakdown of family and marriages, and physical or emotional abandonment of children have on their vulnerability to these practices, both as a victim and, later in life, as an abuser? Likewise, it can be asked how strong a factor are financial and other material inducements in attracting children to these practices? Some persons who have concerned themselves with these matters are convinced that material attractions are quite significant in inducing children into such conduct; other students of the problem assert that children care very little about money, but are primarily looking for happiness, security, and love, and that it is the extension of these nonmaterial rewards-real or pretended-that induce them in some of their conduct. In an even broader sense, we need to examine how cyclical movements of our entire economy impact upon this problem area, through such indirect influences as the strain and stress placed upon individual family units, and through more direct influences such as reducing the employment opportunities for younger teenagers, who are in times of economic decline faced with adult competition even for the lower paying and part-time jobs they ordinarily claim. The most essential question, in my view, which this subcommittee must address-in the first instance by this subcommittee and ultimately by the Congress-is, of course, whether additional Federal criminal legislation is needed. We will examine this need as carefully, objectively, and thoroughly as we can. I do feel, however, that a general cautionary observation, one that is always applicable, but particularly so here, needs to be made. This is that establishing that objectionable conduct-even revolting conduct is taking place does not necessarily establish the need for new Federal criminal legislation. The solution may lie, as our evidence may point out, for example, in better enforcement of existing Federal criminal laws; there are, of course, several already on the books which may be applicable to the practices in question. Similarly, existing State and local laws may, with improved enforcement, prove adequate, or better use of a combination of Federal, State, and local laws. We have frequently seen that citizen indignation and mobilization have successfully demanded that governmental action be taken, and that inadequately used existing laws have then proven adequate; we will be examining whether that potentiality is present here. Certainly another possibility is that the most appropriate action is additional State and local legislative action. Indeed, provision of criminal law is for the most part the province of the States. Federal criminal law is the exception, rather than the rule, and a case must be specially made for each exception to this rule. A final possibility exists, one that appears to have been overlooked in the current array of legislative proposals. This is that additional laws may be needed, perhaps even Federal laws, but perhaps not criminal laws. If we have learned anything from the $5 billion spent by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration over the last 8 years, it is that the solution to crime in our society cannot be found in the criminal justice system. We may find, similarly, that the solution to problems of sexual abuse and exploitation of young people perhaps does not lie in increased criminal laws, but rather in approaching the problem through increased and improved attention in the areas such as child care, education, mental health, family support, juvenile delinquency facilities, and employment. This is not to suggest that we begin these hearings with a predisposition against additional congressional criminal legislation, but only to emphasize that we approach them with no prejudgment for or against. Today we will hear from Prof. Frank Osanka, of Lewis College in Illinois, who is one of the country's leading authoritics on the problem of sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Our second witness is Dr. Judianne Densen-Gerber, founder of the Odyssey Institute in New York City. Dr. Densen-Gerber, a psychiatrist by profession, can aptly be described as a crusader on this issue; she, like Professor Osanka, has been at the forefront of those attempting to call attention of the public to the magnitude of this problem. Our final witness today will be Charles Rembar, attorney from New York, with extensive experience on the subject, who has practiced and published in the area of obscenity and the law relating thereto. On Wednesday, we will have a police officer, a representative of the National District Attorneys Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Members of Congress who may be inclined to testify in support of their legislation. Professor Osanka, before us, is associate professor and director of the undergraduate program in the Institute for Studies and Social Justice at Lewis University. He has had experience in State and Fed |