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Authors: Melinda Tankard Reist,Abigail Bray
Tags: #General, #Social Science, #Sociology, #Media Studies, #Pornography
Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry (35 page)
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Among some academics like Amy Adler, there is not only a disconnect with the actual character of the material that is globally trafficked. There is also a disconnect with how child pornography does its work of harm and injury. Each viewer who delights in such images
participates
in the abuse of the child in the image. Amy’s Victim Impact Statement, reprinted in the next chapter, emphasises this point: “Every day of my life I live in constant fear that someone will see my pictures and recognize me and that I will be humiliated all over again. It hurts me to know someone is looking at them – at me – when I was just a little girl being abused for the camera.” And each viewer who gets off on that abuse should pay the price of making that little girl whole again.
6
Bibliography
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, Public Law 109–248, § 707, <
www.justice.gov/criminal/ceos/Adam%20Walsh.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Adler, Amy (2001) ‘The Perverse Law of Child Pornography’
Columbia Law Review
101 (2), pp. 209–273.
Akdeniz, Yaman (2008)
Internet Child Pornography and the Law: National and International Responses
. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot.
Allen, Masha (3 May, 2006a) Testimony submitted to the [US Congress] House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, ‘Sexual Exploitation of Children over the Internet: What Parents, Kids and Congress Need to Know about Child Predators’, <
http://archives.energycommerce.house.gov/reparchives/108/Hearings/05032006hearing1852/Allen.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Allen, Masha (2006b) Victim Impact Statement, <
http://poundpuplegacy.org/files/victim_statement.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Amar, Akhil Reed and Daniel Widawsky (1992) ‘Child Abuse as Slavery: A Thirteenth Amendment Response to
DeShaney’, Harvard Law Review
105, pp. 1359–1385.
Crime Victims Rights Act [US], <
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/usc_sup_01_42_10_112.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Department of Justice [US] (9 July, 2009) Press Release ‘Man Ordered to Pay Restitution to Victim in International Child Exploitation Case’, <
http://jacksonville.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/ja070909.htm
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Edwards, Amy L. (29 June, 2010) ‘Prosecutors Pursue Restitution for Child-exploitation Victims’.
Orlando Sentinel
, <
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-06-29/news/os-child-exploit-pay-20100629_1_child-pornography-case-child-pornography-restitution
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Falso
] Letter Brief, Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed under a Pseudonym, re
An Individual Known to the Defendant as 08MIST096.jpg and 08MIST067.jpg v Falso
2009 WL 4807537 (NDNY).
Forliti, Amy (26 May, 2010) ‘Minn. Lawyer Aims to Track, Sue Child Porn Users’, <
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10749941
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Freeman
]
US v Freeman
No 3:08CR22-002/LAC (ND Fla. 9 July, 2009).
[
Hesketh
]
US v Hesketh
No 3:08-CR-00165-WWE (D.Conn. 23 February, 2009).
[ICMEC] International Center for Missing & Exploited Children (2010)
Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review
, 6th Edition, <
http://polis.osce.org/library/view?item_id=3721&attach_id=2989
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
In re Amy
2009 WL 4928376 (CA5 (Tex)), <
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1499195.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
In re Amy Unknown
, No 09-41238 (5th Cir, 22 March, 2011), <
www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/09/09-41238-CV0.wpd.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
James, Susan Donaldson (8 February, 2010) ‘ “Misty Series” Haunts Girl Long After Rape’, <
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/internet-porn-misty-series-traumatizes-child-victim-pedophiles/story?id=9773590
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Koch, Wendy (2006) ‘Kids Can Be Victims or Violators’,
USA Today
, 17 October, 2006, p. A13.
Marsh, James (2007) Statement Regarding Masha Allen and Peter Sotos:
Show Adult
, <
http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/19771
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
McDaniel
]
US v Ricky Lee McDaniel
No 09-15038 (11th Cir, 28 January, 2011), <
www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200915038.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, adopted 25 May, 2000, UN Doc A/RES/54/263 (2000), 2171 UNTS 227 (entered into force 18 January, 2002), <
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc-sale.htm
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Paroline
]
US v Paroline
2009 WL 4572786 (ED Tex), <
http://sentencing.typepad.com/files/paroline-memorandum-opinion-and-order.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Pringle, Helen (2011) ‘Cartoon Wars: The Interpretation of Drawn Images’, paper presented to International Conference of the Indian Association for the Study of Australia (Eastern Region), Kolkata.
[
Puhakka
]
Puhakka v R
[2009] NSWCCA 290, <
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2009/290.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Rothman, Jennifer (2011) ‘Getting What They Are Owed: Restitution Fees for Victims of Child Pornography’
Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender
17 (2), pp. 333–357.
Schwartz, John (2 February, 2010) ‘Child Pornography, and an Issue of Restitution’,
New York Times
<
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/us/03offender.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Staples
]
US v Staples
2009 WL 2827204 (SD Fla. 2 September, 2009).
US Congress (2006)
Sexual Exploitation of Children over the Internet: Follow-Up Issues to the Masha Allen Adoption
, Hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, 109th Congress, Serial No 109–145 <
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_house_hearings&docid=f:31471.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[USC] US Code <
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
> (accessed 4 April, 2011).
___________________________
1
For example, cartoons and digitally altered material, and manuals of child abuse, do not necessarily involve the direct abuse of children in their
production
(see Pringle, 2011).
2
I would like to thank James Marsh of the Marsh Law Firm PLLC for his generosity in providing me with materials as well as invaluable suggestions and comments for this chapter. I would also like to commend his grace and courage, and that of the children, young and old, whom he supports and defends.
3
James Marsh kindly provided me with a copy of chapters from this book.
4
The responsibility in this context of Internet service providers (ISP) for material hosted is as yet unclear. See on this question more broadly, Akdeniz (2008, Part Three).
5
I would like to thank Patrick Noaker of the firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates for his helpful comments (personal communication, March, 2011).
6
I am persuaded by the argument of Amar and Widawsky (1992) that we should treat child abuse as slavery; the implications of that argument for child abuse materials is a topic for further exploration.
participates
in the abuse of the child in the image. Amy’s Victim Impact Statement, reprinted in the next chapter, emphasises this point: “Every day of my life I live in constant fear that someone will see my pictures and recognize me and that I will be humiliated all over again. It hurts me to know someone is looking at them – at me – when I was just a little girl being abused for the camera.” And each viewer who gets off on that abuse should pay the price of making that little girl whole again.
6
Bibliography
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, Public Law 109–248, § 707, <
www.justice.gov/criminal/ceos/Adam%20Walsh.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Adler, Amy (2001) ‘The Perverse Law of Child Pornography’
Columbia Law Review
101 (2), pp. 209–273.
Akdeniz, Yaman (2008)
Internet Child Pornography and the Law: National and International Responses
. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot.
Allen, Masha (3 May, 2006a) Testimony submitted to the [US Congress] House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, ‘Sexual Exploitation of Children over the Internet: What Parents, Kids and Congress Need to Know about Child Predators’, <
http://archives.energycommerce.house.gov/reparchives/108/Hearings/05032006hearing1852/Allen.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Allen, Masha (2006b) Victim Impact Statement, <
http://poundpuplegacy.org/files/victim_statement.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Amar, Akhil Reed and Daniel Widawsky (1992) ‘Child Abuse as Slavery: A Thirteenth Amendment Response to
DeShaney’, Harvard Law Review
105, pp. 1359–1385.
Crime Victims Rights Act [US], <
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/42/usc_sup_01_42_10_112.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Department of Justice [US] (9 July, 2009) Press Release ‘Man Ordered to Pay Restitution to Victim in International Child Exploitation Case’, <
http://jacksonville.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/ja070909.htm
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Edwards, Amy L. (29 June, 2010) ‘Prosecutors Pursue Restitution for Child-exploitation Victims’.
Orlando Sentinel
, <
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-06-29/news/os-child-exploit-pay-20100629_1_child-pornography-case-child-pornography-restitution
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Falso
] Letter Brief, Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed under a Pseudonym, re
An Individual Known to the Defendant as 08MIST096.jpg and 08MIST067.jpg v Falso
2009 WL 4807537 (NDNY).
Forliti, Amy (26 May, 2010) ‘Minn. Lawyer Aims to Track, Sue Child Porn Users’, <
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=10749941
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Freeman
]
US v Freeman
No 3:08CR22-002/LAC (ND Fla. 9 July, 2009).
[
Hesketh
]
US v Hesketh
No 3:08-CR-00165-WWE (D.Conn. 23 February, 2009).
[ICMEC] International Center for Missing & Exploited Children (2010)
Child Pornography: Model Legislation & Global Review
, 6th Edition, <
http://polis.osce.org/library/view?item_id=3721&attach_id=2989
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
In re Amy
2009 WL 4928376 (CA5 (Tex)), <
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1499195.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
In re Amy Unknown
, No 09-41238 (5th Cir, 22 March, 2011), <
www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/09/09-41238-CV0.wpd.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
James, Susan Donaldson (8 February, 2010) ‘ “Misty Series” Haunts Girl Long After Rape’, <
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/internet-porn-misty-series-traumatizes-child-victim-pedophiles/story?id=9773590
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Koch, Wendy (2006) ‘Kids Can Be Victims or Violators’,
USA Today
, 17 October, 2006, p. A13.
Marsh, James (2007) Statement Regarding Masha Allen and Peter Sotos:
Show Adult
, <
http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/19771
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
McDaniel
]
US v Ricky Lee McDaniel
No 09-15038 (11th Cir, 28 January, 2011), <
www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200915038.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, adopted 25 May, 2000, UN Doc A/RES/54/263 (2000), 2171 UNTS 227 (entered into force 18 January, 2002), <
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc-sale.htm
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Paroline
]
US v Paroline
2009 WL 4572786 (ED Tex), <
http://sentencing.typepad.com/files/paroline-memorandum-opinion-and-order.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Pringle, Helen (2011) ‘Cartoon Wars: The Interpretation of Drawn Images’, paper presented to International Conference of the Indian Association for the Study of Australia (Eastern Region), Kolkata.
[
Puhakka
]
Puhakka v R
[2009] NSWCCA 290, <
http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2009/290.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
Rothman, Jennifer (2011) ‘Getting What They Are Owed: Restitution Fees for Victims of Child Pornography’
Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender
17 (2), pp. 333–357.
Schwartz, John (2 February, 2010) ‘Child Pornography, and an Issue of Restitution’,
New York Times
<
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/us/03offender.html
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[
Staples
]
US v Staples
2009 WL 2827204 (SD Fla. 2 September, 2009).
US Congress (2006)
Sexual Exploitation of Children over the Internet: Follow-Up Issues to the Masha Allen Adoption
, Hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, 109th Congress, Serial No 109–145 <
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_house_hearings&docid=f:31471.pdf
> (accessed 6 April, 2011).
[USC] US Code <
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
> (accessed 4 April, 2011).
___________________________
1
For example, cartoons and digitally altered material, and manuals of child abuse, do not necessarily involve the direct abuse of children in their
production
(see Pringle, 2011).
2
I would like to thank James Marsh of the Marsh Law Firm PLLC for his generosity in providing me with materials as well as invaluable suggestions and comments for this chapter. I would also like to commend his grace and courage, and that of the children, young and old, whom he supports and defends.
3
James Marsh kindly provided me with a copy of chapters from this book.
4
The responsibility in this context of Internet service providers (ISP) for material hosted is as yet unclear. See on this question more broadly, Akdeniz (2008, Part Three).
5
I would like to thank Patrick Noaker of the firm of Jeff Anderson & Associates for his helpful comments (personal communication, March, 2011).
6
I am persuaded by the argument of Amar and Widawsky (1992) that we should treat child abuse as slavery; the implications of that argument for child abuse materials is a topic for further exploration.
Amy
The Victimisation of Children by Pornography: Victim Impact Statement of Amy
Introductory note by Helen Pringle
In this Statement, Amy (a pseudonym) tells her story. Amy was a victim of sexual abuse by her uncle. He later uploaded images of the abuse, picturing a little child being forced to perform sexual acts with an adult man, including oral and anal penetration, and masturbation. Amy’s images became known as the ‘Misty Series’, which have been globally trafficked since the late 1990s. Amy’s uncle was convicted of sexual abuse and sentenced to a prison term. She is now seeking restitution for the further victimisation by those who trade in the images of her abuse on the Internet. This Statement was written in 2008, and has been put forward in Amy’s claims for Restitution in US courts since then. It is reprinted here with kind permission of James Marsh, Esq. of the Marsh Law Firm PLLC, Amy’s counsel.
Amy’s Victim Impact Statement
I am a 19-year-old girl and I am a victim of child sex abuse and child pornography. I am still discovering all the ways that the abuse and exploitation I suffer has hurt me, has set my life on the wrong course, and destroyed the normal childhood, teenage years, and early adulthood that everyone deserves.
My uncle started to abuse me when I was only 4 years old. He used what I now know are the common ways that abusers get their victims ready for abuse and keep them silent: he told me that I was special, that he loved me, and that we had our own ‘special secrets’. Since he lived close to our house, my mother and father didn’t suspect anything when I walked over there to spend time with him.
At first he showed me pornographic movies and then he started doing things to me. I remember that he put his finger in my vagina and that it hurt a lot. I remember that he tried to have sex with me and that it hurt even more. I remember telling him that it hurt. I remember that much of the time I was
with him I did not have clothes on and that sometimes he made me dress up in lingerie. And I remember the pictures.
After the abuse he would take me to buy my favorite snack which was beef jerky. Even now when I eat beef jerky I get feelings of panic, guilt, and humiliation. It’s like I can never get away from what happened to me.
At the time I was confused and knew it was wrong and that I didn’t like it, but I also thought it was wrong for me to tell anything bad about my uncle who said he loved me and bought me things I liked. He even let me ride on his motorcycle. Now I will never ride on a motorcycle again. The memories are too upsetting.
There is a lot I don’t remember, but now I can’t forget because the disgusting images of what he did to me are still out there on the Internet. For a long time I practiced putting the terrible memories away in my mind. Thinking about it is still really painful. Sometimes I just go into staring spells when I am caught thinking about what happened and not paying any attention to my surroundings.
Every day of my life I live in constant fear that someone will see my pictures and recognize me and that I will be humiliated all over again. It hurts me to know someone is looking at them – at me – when I was just a little girl being abused for the camera. I did not choose to be there, but now I am there forever in pictures that people are using to do sick things. I want it all erased. I want it all stopped. But I am powerless to stop it just like I was powerless to stop my uncle.
When they first discovered what my uncle did, I went to therapy and thought I was getting over this. I was very wrong. My full understanding of what happened to me has only gotten clearer as I have gotten older. My life and my feelings are worse now because the crime has never really stopped and will never really stop.
It is hard to describe what it feels like to know that at any moment, anywhere, someone is looking at pictures of me as a little girl being abused by my uncle and is getting some kind of sick enjoyment from it. It’s like I am being abused over and over and over again.
I find myself unable to do the simple things that other teenagers handle easily. I do not have a driver’s license. Every time I say I am going to do it, I don’t. I can’t plan well. My mind skips out on me when I think about moving forward with my life. I have been trying to get a job, but I just keep avoiding things. Forgetting is the thing I do best since I was forced as a little girl to live a double life and ‘forget’ what was happening to me. Before I realize it, I miss interviews or other things that will help me get a job.
Sometimes things remind me of the abuse and I don’t even realize it until it is too late. For example, I failed anatomy in high school. I simply could not think about the body because of what happened to me. The same thing happened in
college. I went to a psychology class where we watched a video about child abuse. Without even realizing why, I just stopped going to class. I failed my freshman year of college and moved back home.
It’s easy for me to block out my feelings and avoid things that make me uncomfortable. I don’t know when I will be ready to go back to college because I have huge problems with avoiding anything that makes me uncomfortable or reminds me of my abuse.
I am always scared that people can look at me and tell that I am a victim of sex abuse because my abuse is a public fact. I am worried that when my friends are on the Internet they are going to come across my pictures and it fills me with shame and embarrassment.
I am humiliated and ashamed that there are pictures of me doing horrible things with my uncle. Everywhere I go I feel judged. Am I the kind of person who does this? Is there something wrong with me? Is there something sickening and disgusting about who I am?
I am embarrassed to tell anyone what happened to me because I’m afraid they will judge me and blame me for it. I live in a small town and I think that if one person knows then everyone will know. I am just living in fear of the day someone sees those awful pictures of me and then ‘the secret’ about me will be out. It’s like my life is on hold for that day and I am frozen in time waiting. I know those disgusting pictures of me are stuck in time and are there forever for everyone to see.
I had terrible nightmares for a long long time. I would wake up sweating and crying and go to my parents for comfort. Now I still get flashbacks sometimes. There are thoughts in my head that are memories of the things that my uncle did to me. My heart will start racing and I will feel sweaty and then a stronger picture will pop up in my head and I have to leave the situation I am in. I have heard the voice of my uncle in my mind still talking to me saying, “don’t tell, don’t tell, don’t tell.” Thinking and knowing that the pictures of all this are still out there just makes it worse. It’s like I can’t escape from the abuse, now or ever.
Because I’ve had so many bad dreams, I find it hard to sleep when it’s dark. I like to keep the lights on thinking that will protect me from bad dreams. I hate scary movies and sometimes have nightmares for days.
Sometimes I have unreasonable fears that prevent me from doing the normal things that other kids do. My friend once asked me to go with her and her uncle to an amusement park. I could not get it out of my head that I would be abused. In the end I just couldn’t go. I kept wondering if my friend’s uncle had seen my
pictures. Did he know me? Did he know what I did? Is that why he invited me to the amusement park?
Trust is a very hard thing for me and often people just make me uncomfortable. I had to quit a job I had as a waitress because there was a guy who I thought was always staring at me. I couldn’t stop thinking, did he recognize me? Did he see my pictures somewhere? I was simply too uncomfortable to keep working there.
I have trouble saying ‘no’ to people since I learned at a young age that I really don’t have control over what’s happening to me. I am trying to learn to get better at this because I know that not saying ‘no’ makes it easier for someone to hurt me again.
Because of the way my uncle bribed me to perform sex acts on camera, I have trouble taking gifts from anyone. I always feel that people will expect something from me if they give me a present. This makes it difficult in my relationship with friends.
I want to have children someday, but it frightens me terribly to think about how I could keep them safe. Who could I possibly trust? Their teacher? Their coach? I don’t know if I could ever trust anyone with my children. And what if my children and their friends see my pictures on the Internet? How could I ever explain to them what happened to me?
I am very confused about what love is. My uncle said he loved me and I wanted that love. But I know now that what he did to me is not love. But how will I be able to tell in the future if it is real love or just another person trying to exploit and use me?
The truth is, I am being exploited and used every day and every night somewhere in the world by someone. How can I ever get over this when the crime that is happening to me will never end? How can I get over this when the shameful abuse I suffered is out there forever and being enjoyed by sick people?
I am horrified by the thought that other children will probably be abused because of my pictures. Will someone show my pictures to other kids, like my uncle did to me, then tell them what to do? Will they see me and think it’s okay for them to do the same thing? Will some sick person see my picture and then get the idea to do the same thing to another little girl? These thoughts make me sad and scared. I blame myself a lot for what happened. I know I was so little, but why didn’t I know better? Why didn’t I stop my uncle? Maybe if I had stopped it there wouldn’t be so many pictures out there that I can never take back or erase. I feel like now I have to live with it forever and that it’s all my fault.
I feel like I am unworthy of anything and a failure. What have I been good for except to be used by others over and over again. That’s one of the reasons
I haven’t been able to get a job or stay in school. I’m tired of disappointing myself. I’ve already had enough disappointment for a lifetime and just don’t want any more failure. To me this brings back all the terrible feelings and shame of abuse and exploitation.
Sometimes I deal with my feelings by trying to forget everything by drinking too much. I know this isn’t good, but my humiliation and angry feelings are there with me all the time and sometimes I just need a way to make them go away for awhile.
I feel like I have always had to live a double life. First I had to lie about what my uncle was doing to me. Then I had to act like it didn’t happen because it was too embarrassing. Now I always know that there is another ‘little me’ being seen on the Internet by other abusers. I don’t want to be there, but I am. I wish I could go back in time and stop my uncle from taking those pictures, but I can’t.
Even though I am scared that I will be abused or hurt again because I am making this victim impact statement, I want the court and judge to know about me and what I have suffered and what my life is like. What happened to me hasn’t gone away. It will never go away. I am a real victim of child pornography and it effects me every day and everywhere I go.
Please think about me and think about my life when you sentence this person to prison. Why should this person, who is continuing my abuse, be free when I am not free?
The Victimisation of Children by Pornography: Victim Impact Statement of Amy
Introductory note by Helen Pringle
In this Statement, Amy (a pseudonym) tells her story. Amy was a victim of sexual abuse by her uncle. He later uploaded images of the abuse, picturing a little child being forced to perform sexual acts with an adult man, including oral and anal penetration, and masturbation. Amy’s images became known as the ‘Misty Series’, which have been globally trafficked since the late 1990s. Amy’s uncle was convicted of sexual abuse and sentenced to a prison term. She is now seeking restitution for the further victimisation by those who trade in the images of her abuse on the Internet. This Statement was written in 2008, and has been put forward in Amy’s claims for Restitution in US courts since then. It is reprinted here with kind permission of James Marsh, Esq. of the Marsh Law Firm PLLC, Amy’s counsel.
Amy’s Victim Impact Statement
I am a 19-year-old girl and I am a victim of child sex abuse and child pornography. I am still discovering all the ways that the abuse and exploitation I suffer has hurt me, has set my life on the wrong course, and destroyed the normal childhood, teenage years, and early adulthood that everyone deserves.
My uncle started to abuse me when I was only 4 years old. He used what I now know are the common ways that abusers get their victims ready for abuse and keep them silent: he told me that I was special, that he loved me, and that we had our own ‘special secrets’. Since he lived close to our house, my mother and father didn’t suspect anything when I walked over there to spend time with him.
At first he showed me pornographic movies and then he started doing things to me. I remember that he put his finger in my vagina and that it hurt a lot. I remember that he tried to have sex with me and that it hurt even more. I remember telling him that it hurt. I remember that much of the time I was
with him I did not have clothes on and that sometimes he made me dress up in lingerie. And I remember the pictures.
After the abuse he would take me to buy my favorite snack which was beef jerky. Even now when I eat beef jerky I get feelings of panic, guilt, and humiliation. It’s like I can never get away from what happened to me.
At the time I was confused and knew it was wrong and that I didn’t like it, but I also thought it was wrong for me to tell anything bad about my uncle who said he loved me and bought me things I liked. He even let me ride on his motorcycle. Now I will never ride on a motorcycle again. The memories are too upsetting.
There is a lot I don’t remember, but now I can’t forget because the disgusting images of what he did to me are still out there on the Internet. For a long time I practiced putting the terrible memories away in my mind. Thinking about it is still really painful. Sometimes I just go into staring spells when I am caught thinking about what happened and not paying any attention to my surroundings.
Every day of my life I live in constant fear that someone will see my pictures and recognize me and that I will be humiliated all over again. It hurts me to know someone is looking at them – at me – when I was just a little girl being abused for the camera. I did not choose to be there, but now I am there forever in pictures that people are using to do sick things. I want it all erased. I want it all stopped. But I am powerless to stop it just like I was powerless to stop my uncle.
When they first discovered what my uncle did, I went to therapy and thought I was getting over this. I was very wrong. My full understanding of what happened to me has only gotten clearer as I have gotten older. My life and my feelings are worse now because the crime has never really stopped and will never really stop.
It is hard to describe what it feels like to know that at any moment, anywhere, someone is looking at pictures of me as a little girl being abused by my uncle and is getting some kind of sick enjoyment from it. It’s like I am being abused over and over and over again.
I find myself unable to do the simple things that other teenagers handle easily. I do not have a driver’s license. Every time I say I am going to do it, I don’t. I can’t plan well. My mind skips out on me when I think about moving forward with my life. I have been trying to get a job, but I just keep avoiding things. Forgetting is the thing I do best since I was forced as a little girl to live a double life and ‘forget’ what was happening to me. Before I realize it, I miss interviews or other things that will help me get a job.
Sometimes things remind me of the abuse and I don’t even realize it until it is too late. For example, I failed anatomy in high school. I simply could not think about the body because of what happened to me. The same thing happened in
college. I went to a psychology class where we watched a video about child abuse. Without even realizing why, I just stopped going to class. I failed my freshman year of college and moved back home.
It’s easy for me to block out my feelings and avoid things that make me uncomfortable. I don’t know when I will be ready to go back to college because I have huge problems with avoiding anything that makes me uncomfortable or reminds me of my abuse.
I am always scared that people can look at me and tell that I am a victim of sex abuse because my abuse is a public fact. I am worried that when my friends are on the Internet they are going to come across my pictures and it fills me with shame and embarrassment.
I am humiliated and ashamed that there are pictures of me doing horrible things with my uncle. Everywhere I go I feel judged. Am I the kind of person who does this? Is there something wrong with me? Is there something sickening and disgusting about who I am?
I am embarrassed to tell anyone what happened to me because I’m afraid they will judge me and blame me for it. I live in a small town and I think that if one person knows then everyone will know. I am just living in fear of the day someone sees those awful pictures of me and then ‘the secret’ about me will be out. It’s like my life is on hold for that day and I am frozen in time waiting. I know those disgusting pictures of me are stuck in time and are there forever for everyone to see.
I had terrible nightmares for a long long time. I would wake up sweating and crying and go to my parents for comfort. Now I still get flashbacks sometimes. There are thoughts in my head that are memories of the things that my uncle did to me. My heart will start racing and I will feel sweaty and then a stronger picture will pop up in my head and I have to leave the situation I am in. I have heard the voice of my uncle in my mind still talking to me saying, “don’t tell, don’t tell, don’t tell.” Thinking and knowing that the pictures of all this are still out there just makes it worse. It’s like I can’t escape from the abuse, now or ever.
Because I’ve had so many bad dreams, I find it hard to sleep when it’s dark. I like to keep the lights on thinking that will protect me from bad dreams. I hate scary movies and sometimes have nightmares for days.
Sometimes I have unreasonable fears that prevent me from doing the normal things that other kids do. My friend once asked me to go with her and her uncle to an amusement park. I could not get it out of my head that I would be abused. In the end I just couldn’t go. I kept wondering if my friend’s uncle had seen my
pictures. Did he know me? Did he know what I did? Is that why he invited me to the amusement park?
Trust is a very hard thing for me and often people just make me uncomfortable. I had to quit a job I had as a waitress because there was a guy who I thought was always staring at me. I couldn’t stop thinking, did he recognize me? Did he see my pictures somewhere? I was simply too uncomfortable to keep working there.
I have trouble saying ‘no’ to people since I learned at a young age that I really don’t have control over what’s happening to me. I am trying to learn to get better at this because I know that not saying ‘no’ makes it easier for someone to hurt me again.
Because of the way my uncle bribed me to perform sex acts on camera, I have trouble taking gifts from anyone. I always feel that people will expect something from me if they give me a present. This makes it difficult in my relationship with friends.
I want to have children someday, but it frightens me terribly to think about how I could keep them safe. Who could I possibly trust? Their teacher? Their coach? I don’t know if I could ever trust anyone with my children. And what if my children and their friends see my pictures on the Internet? How could I ever explain to them what happened to me?
I am very confused about what love is. My uncle said he loved me and I wanted that love. But I know now that what he did to me is not love. But how will I be able to tell in the future if it is real love or just another person trying to exploit and use me?
The truth is, I am being exploited and used every day and every night somewhere in the world by someone. How can I ever get over this when the crime that is happening to me will never end? How can I get over this when the shameful abuse I suffered is out there forever and being enjoyed by sick people?
I am horrified by the thought that other children will probably be abused because of my pictures. Will someone show my pictures to other kids, like my uncle did to me, then tell them what to do? Will they see me and think it’s okay for them to do the same thing? Will some sick person see my picture and then get the idea to do the same thing to another little girl? These thoughts make me sad and scared. I blame myself a lot for what happened. I know I was so little, but why didn’t I know better? Why didn’t I stop my uncle? Maybe if I had stopped it there wouldn’t be so many pictures out there that I can never take back or erase. I feel like now I have to live with it forever and that it’s all my fault.
I feel like I am unworthy of anything and a failure. What have I been good for except to be used by others over and over again. That’s one of the reasons
I haven’t been able to get a job or stay in school. I’m tired of disappointing myself. I’ve already had enough disappointment for a lifetime and just don’t want any more failure. To me this brings back all the terrible feelings and shame of abuse and exploitation.
Sometimes I deal with my feelings by trying to forget everything by drinking too much. I know this isn’t good, but my humiliation and angry feelings are there with me all the time and sometimes I just need a way to make them go away for awhile.
I feel like I have always had to live a double life. First I had to lie about what my uncle was doing to me. Then I had to act like it didn’t happen because it was too embarrassing. Now I always know that there is another ‘little me’ being seen on the Internet by other abusers. I don’t want to be there, but I am. I wish I could go back in time and stop my uncle from taking those pictures, but I can’t.
Even though I am scared that I will be abused or hurt again because I am making this victim impact statement, I want the court and judge to know about me and what I have suffered and what my life is like. What happened to me hasn’t gone away. It will never go away. I am a real victim of child pornography and it effects me every day and everywhere I go.
Please think about me and think about my life when you sentence this person to prison. Why should this person, who is continuing my abuse, be free when I am not free?
BOOK: Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry
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