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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Bruce Taylor

Aired August 10, 2002 - 07:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is a shocking case that has many of us wondering how widespread this problem really is and what can be done to protect children.
Bruce Taylor is president of the National Law Center for Children and Families. He joins us from Washington.

Good morning, Bruce.

BRUCE TAYLOR, NATIONAL LAW CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: Hi.

WHITFIELD: Well, this is incredibly disturbing for everyone. And that officials say that even more arrests are likely certainly is an indication of just how widespread this problem is, particularly with this ring. Do you believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of operations like this?

TAYLOR: Well, we're seeing more of these every day. And every one of these rings, of course, has outer rings, because the people who start it and start making the pictures and trading it then put it places where other pedophiles get their hands on it, and then they start getting into chat rooms and on their Web sites and traded in newsgroups.

And so one of the problems that the commissioner identified is the continuing life of the photographs. But we do have some technology to go find those pictures. And with the help of Internet service providers, we could take them down. So that's another -- a tougher job, but it is technically possible to do that.

WHITFIELD: Then that there are -- they may be outer rings explains why these operations go uncovered for so long, particularly in this particular ring. We're talking about parents, we're talking about teachers and nurses, people who are ordinarily very close to children and children trust.

TAYLOR: And that's something that's, I think, more disturbing to people to think, Gee, people who are parents and people who are, you know, health care and school and library people, they should be the ones most protective of children.

But we're seeing that, you know, that sickness of pedophilia and child pornography and pornography addiction reaching everybody. And I think the Internet has brought sort of this type of material, the whole pornography material, to so many people that it is affecting those people who can't control or don't want to control themselves. So we're going to have to get used to seeing this crime being one committed by, you know, Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma and, you know, priests and nuns and doctors and everybody. But that doesn't mean we have to put up with it, and that means we need more law enforcement, and we need to be scarier with laws so that people are deterred from doing whatever they -- their impulse leads them.

WHITFIELD: And is it your feeling that one of the tools that law enforcement has is child advocacy groups, since this is an example of how Save the Children helps in trying to dismantle this ring?

TAYLOR: There's no question that we can't leave, like it was mentioned, everything dealing with child safety up to just their parents, because parents, one, can't be with their kids all the time, and two, you can -- parents don't have the technical know-how to protect their own kids even when they're trying, much less when one of the parents has gone bad.

So child advocacy organizations as well as law enforcement and better laws are all going to have to work together, including Internet service providers. So we've always said we need, you know, government, and we need parents and we need industry to work together.

But some of these groups that step in on behalf of children oftentimes have to save them from their own parents. But it is an example of how police can't act until somebody tells them. And in this case they got tipped off when the international ability of the cops to react now with the Internet is heightened.

So the Internet can actually help us find people. But we need that initial tip in order to know where to look.

WHITFIELD: And in this case, we're talking about kids ages between 2 and 14. These kids are going to be scarred for life. So what kind of help might be offered to these children or aids to protect children outside of these advocacy groups in law enforcement?

TAYLOR: Almost all of the children who are involved in child pornography or child abuse suffer psychological and emotional trauma. Not in every case is it irreversible. In other words, if you have proper counseling, if -- even if you -- I mean, if you can afford it yourself, where you go to county mental health clinics, but through the court system and through the, you know, the government services.

We do need to get counseling for these children, because many of them can be made to realize that it wasn't their fault and that they can be normal and they can get over this. It is not something you can ignore, but it is not something that they have to become traumatized with, and it doesn't mean that they have to become abusers themselves.

Most or a lot of abusers and pedophiles had problems in the past being victims. But we can cut that off now because we know how to help people realize that it wasn't their fault and that there's a way to get over it, just like there has been in the past much gains with rape victims and with divorce and domestic disputes. And now we're going to have to turn that knowledge and that compassion to dealing with these child victims. But it can be done, so we don't -- we're not hopeless. But it is something you have to pay attention to.

WHITFIELD: Now, what about parents at home who are feeling pretty powerless, particularly hearing about these details, saying, Well, you know, I wouldn't be involved in anything like this, and I wouldn't involve my child in anything like this, but I'm certainly afraid of the potential of my child somehow getting roped up into something like this?

So what, if anything, beyond paying attention to what your kids do on, you know, when they're on line, et cetera, what can parents do to feel like they have some control of the situation when hearing about a story like this?

TAYLOR: Well, you know, like you mentioned, you -- parents need to be more of a baby sitter and a police officer to their own children. Because these kids can get not only access to the Internet, but the Internet brings access by people all over the world to your child.

So if your child is at a neighbor's house or at the library or at school and they're online and they're in chat rooms and they're on, you know, visiting newsgroups, they can have -- they can -- somebody can get to them.

So parents need to know more about what their kids are doing online, but they also need to be able to talk to their kids more. Kids won't volunteer information, but they will talk if you ask them. So when they're evasive and when they're, you know, they tell you things but they -- it doesn't sound right, or when they don't want to talk about something, that is a signal to parents.

And then (UNINTELLIGIBLE) time if you're getting the good answers or if the kid does report a problem, then you have to act on it. But it is one of those things where you have to periodically and regularly and compassionately talk to your kids and make them tell you not in a forceful way but give them repeated opportunities to tell you and to come to you.

Because if you don't ask, they won't tell. But if you do ask, they're usually happy to at least give you a signal that you can act on.

WHITFIELD: They just might say enough.

Thanks very much.

TAYLOR: Yes, they do.

WHITFIELD: Bruce Taylor for -- or joining us this morning of the National Law Center for Children and Families. Thanks very much.

TAYLOR: Thanks. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com