A trail of wounded souls

This ain't no case of "I thought she was 18." Here's the story from Wendy Koch of USA Today:

Children, including a baby, were sexually molested while others in a private Internet chat room watched, U.S. and Canadian law enforcement officers said Wednesday in announcing the bust of an international child pornography ring. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales called the trading of graphic images and transmitting of live sexual molestation the "worst imaginable form of child pornography."

Twenty-seven people from nine U.S. states and Canada, Australia and Britain have been charged with possession, receipt, distribution and manufacture of child pornography. Thirteen have been indicted in the USA and 14 abroad. All have been arrested except one, who is now considered a fugitive.

Gonzales said seven children were victims. Among them, according to an indictment, is an infant allegedly molested in April by Brian Annoreno, a suburban Chicago man who went by the nickname "Acidburn" and transmitted images live via the Internet.
His alleged co-conspirator, who logged on from Alberta, Canada, with the screen name "Big_Daddy619," is charged with transmitting live his own sexual molestation of four children younger than 12.

Two others of the 27 charged also allegedly molested kids and made the images available in the chat room called "Kiddiepics & Kiddyvids" since April 2005. "Molestation 'on demand' and an ever-younger and more defenseless group of child victims are two of the most disturbing trends," investigators now find in child pornography rings, said Julie Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security. "This case had both."

When I think of those poor children whose souls have been wounded and will be forever scarred by these people who betrayed their trust, Jesus' words about Judas seem to fit such perpetrators: "It would have been better for him if he had never been born" [Matthew 26:24].

In a civilized society, protecting our children doesn't just fall on parents; it is the responsibility of us all. Sexualizing pre-teen girls is a fad that has to stop. It is a sad indictment of our culture that you can buy hip-hugging jeans, cutoff shirts, and thong underwear for 6 to 10-year-olds in many department stores. Something tells me the little kids are not the ones making the purchases.