Category Archives: Child Molestation

August 3, 2025 · 1:00 am

Nudify Apps and the Road to Destruction

Actress/Director Scarlett Johansson, Source https://www.flickr.com/photos/15512543@N04/2185543324/, Author John Harrison at https://www.flickr.com/photos/15512543@N04/, Permission Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

A new word has entered our vocabulary.  To “nudify” is to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create deepfake images which appear to show the individuals depicted as naked [1]. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson have been among those famously victimized.

Thousands of nudify apps exist to accomplish this, and have rapidly gained popularity [2][3].  Many work only on images of women.  And, as might be expected, many use social media for marketing purposes.

Thus far, victims have typically been school girls who posted innocent photos of themselves online [4].  However, anyone of any age can use these apps to convert harmless online images into what appear to be embarrassing photos and videos of children, teens, teachers, parents, police officers, pastors, or others in the nude. 

Once the nude images have been created, they can circulate on all the digital platforms commonly used for messaging today. 

Impact

Such images are often used as revenge porn with a deliberate intent of humiliating and degrading the individual pictured.  Whatever the intent, the impact on victims is overwhelmingly negative.  Not only embarrassment, but anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation can result. Continue reading →

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July 27, 2025 · 1:00 am

Invisible Wounds – Emotional Abuse

Mimi & Eunice Cartoon:  “Posture”, Source https://mimiandeunice.com/2011/10/20/posture/, Author Nina Paley, (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

“Ugh.  I hate the sight of your ugly face.”

“I wish I’d never had you.  I should have gotten an abortion.”

“You’re useless.  You’ll never amount to anything.”

“How can you be so stupid?  No wonder you have no friends.”

“Now, look what you made me do.  It’s all your fault.”

“No one could love you.  No one ever will.”

Emotional abuse leaves no visible scars.  But the wounds go deep.  We may as well have scalding water dumped over us.

Emotional abuse is often mischaracterized as a less damaging form of child abuse.  To the contrary, the American Academy of Pediatrics calls it, “the most challenging and prevalent form of child abuse and neglect” [1A]. 

Such abuse can carry over into adult relationships [2].  We settle for what we think we deserve.  There is, therefore, a clear link to domestic abuse [3].

Emotional abuse of children may be accompanied by physical neglect, physical abuse, or sexual abuse. 

However, there is credible evidence that the victims of emotional abuse and emotional neglect exhibit equal or worse immediate and long-term effects than the survivors of other forms of maltreatment and violence [1B].

Types of Emotional Abuse

A. Cruelty

Emotional abuse can involve name calling; constant criticism; negative remarks about a child’s (or later an adult partner’s) appearance, intellect, abilities, hopes, and dreams; cruel jokes at a child’s (or later an adult partner’s) expense; deliberate humiliation; and threats of violence or abandonment [4A]. 

A parent may permanently damage a child’s self-esteem simply by withholding all kind and encouraging remarks [4B].

B. Manipulation

There are other varieties of emotional abuse, no less harmful to a child.  These can range from manipulating or scapegoating a child; failing to promote a child’s social development by forbidding friends, and forcing isolation on a child; to making a child the parent’s emotional partner (covert incest); or exposing a child to traumatic events like domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse [4C].

C. Excessive Control

Children can be damaged if they are pushed too hard, in order to fulfill a parent’s own ambitions, or controlled so closely that they have no lives of their own [4D].

D. Emotional Neglect

At the other extreme, children can be emotionally harmed, if they are regularly ignored [4E]. 

Failure by a parent to interact at all with a child is known as emotional neglect.  This can occur if, for instance, a parent suffers from serious mental illness.  It can be devastating for the child, even if he or she is otherwise fed and clothed.

E. Domestic Abuse

In the context of domestic violence, emotional abuse is often accompanied by extreme jealousy; isolation; enforced dependence; and coercive control by the abusive partner over money, travel, and communication with family and friends [5A]. Continue reading →

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July 20, 2025 · 1:00 am

Poor Pitiful Me – The Victim Mentality

“Screaming and Watercolors” by Teresa Wong, Source The Walrus https://thewalrus.ca/good-mom-on-paper/

Whether we have been the victims of trauma or not, some of us adopt a victim mentality. 

We view the whole world as against us, and our “luck” as consistently bad [1][2].  We see ourselves as constantly wronged or treated unfairly.  We avoid taking personal responsibility, instead blaming our life choices (and their consequences) on others.  We have difficulty with change.  We can reject helpful suggestions outright.

Like toddlers, we may throw a tantrum, if our victimhood is challenged.

This is learned helplessness.  It results in frustration, resentment, and loneliness.

Maladaptive Coping

Self-pity as expressed in a negative view towards life is a maladaptive coping mechanism.  Meant to protect us against further disappointment, it is, in the long run, emotionally crippling. 

While adopting a “poor, pitiful me” attitude can generate sympathy, it does little or nothing to build character or promote personal growth.  The attitude is closely linked to self-sabotage, and not uncommonly associated with a narcissistic personality focused on entitlement. 

We may think we are avoiding risk.  But we are actually avoiding life, and all it has to offer.  Indeed, the chances are that we will attract only those with the same propensity for self-pity and complaint. Continue reading →

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July 13, 2025 · 1:00 am

Sexual Violence in Sudan

WARNING:  Graphic Images

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

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July 6, 2025 · 1:00 am

Gnosticism and Pedophilia

Ancient Greek pederast kissing a young boy (4th Century BC), Louvre Museum (Accession No. G 278), Author Marie-Lan Nguyen (PD)

Many today are adherents of a pernicious philosophy, a false religion, whose name they do not know [1].  It masquerades as ancient wisdom, secret knowledge, a path to self-fulfillment.  But it incorporates Satan’s oldest and most effective lies.

Gnosticism is a heresy that seeks to undermine Christian doctrine.  It promises that men can become godlike, and exalts inner “perception” over outer reality.  Its beliefs are at the root of the Transgender Movement, and are paving the way for the normalization of pedophilia [2][3][4].

This is not to say that Gnostics are pedophiles or even aware of the connection to pedophilia.  Most Gnostics would undoubtedly dispute the connection.  Not that pedophiles need much help in normalizing their perversion.

Legitimizing Pedophilia

B4U-ACT is part of a growing movement to legitimize sexual attraction to children [5].  Founded by social worker Russell Dick and convicted child sex offender Michael Melsheimer, this Maryland group maintains that sexual attraction to children is not a psychiatric disorder, but an identity to be affirmed. 

A list of pedophilia advocacy groups can be found on Wikipedia [6].  Like B4U-ACT, they hold that attempts to reduce or control pedophiles’ attraction to children through cognitive behavior therapy or drugs are not only pointless, but unethical.

Never mind the lasting harm pedophiles do to children. Continue reading →

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June 29, 2025 · 1:00 am

The Bunny Ranch – Prostitution Exposed

“The Damned” by Luca Signorelli (1499-1502), Chapel of San Brizio, Orvieto, Source Web Gallery of Art (PD)

The A&E Network has been running a series titled “Secrets of the Bunny Ranch”, an expose of legalized prostitution at the infamous Bunny Ranch in Nevada.  Episodes can be viewed online at https://www.aetv.com/shows/secrets-of-the-bunny-ranch.

Marketing v. Reality

Some years ago HBO aired a puff piece on the Bunny Ranch titled “Cathouse:  The Series” [1].  Presented as a documentary, this was essentially a marketing and recruitment device which portrayed brothel life as fun, lucrative, and safe.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.

By contrast, the A&E series examines the sordid underbelly of prostitution:  the grooming, the trafficking, the rape, the drugs, the violence, the financial irregularity, and the law enforcement corruption. 

Virgins are auctioned off to the highest bidder.  Pregnant women are offered for sale by the hour to those with a fetish for them.  Sex workers are regularly abused, and kept in permanent debt bondage.

Many prostitutes already have a history of childhood abuse and/or domestic violence.  They are already wounded, their choices severely limited. Continue reading →

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June 22, 2025 · 1:00 am

Feeling Dirty

Showerhead, Author DO’Neill (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported, GNU Free Documentation License)

  • You are scrupulous about personal hygiene.
  • You change clothes frequently.  You cannot bear to wear the same shirt or blouse a second time before washing it. This has nothing to do with vanity. 
  • Your clothes fade quickly from overwashing.
  • You change the sheets whether they need changing or not.
  • The hamper fills up constantly. You do laundry several times a week, though you live alone. 
  • In the shower, a feeling of relief washes over you, along with the water. A sense that you are clean again, restored.  But the relief does not last long.

If any of this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing a little known symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  

The sensation of “feeling dirty” – a sense of self-disgust – is now recognized as a result of sexual abuse or sexual assault [1].   The feeling of uncleanliness produces an urge to wash in the absence of physical contaminants.  Rape victims have been known to scrub their skin raw, in an effort to remove any last taint of their assailant [2].

But that taint has been internalized.  We, ourselves, are the source of contamination.  We, ourselves, have become impure. 

This is a measure of our violation.

It is not, of course, true that we are any less pure or any less worthy than before we were violated.  But we do feel that way, and desperately want to rid ourselves of the literal and figurative filth to which we were subjected.  Desperately want to restore our own integrity. Continue reading →

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June 15, 2025 · 1:00 am

CSAM Apps – Monetizing the Sexual Exploitation of Children Online, Part 2

The sale of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) has spawned a highly lucrative industry. Social media platforms have overlooked this in the interest of profit.  An internal survey conducted at Meta indicated 13% of users between the ages of 13 and 15 receive at least one sexual solicitation per week [1A]. 

In 2023 NHK News partnered with Tansa to investigate Album Collection (a photos sharing app available in Japan that once topped Apple’s App Store in sales) [1B].  Album Collection was self-described as a tool for sharing family memories and graduation trip photos.  In fact, it offered over a thousand items of child pornography for sale. 

Identifying the true owner/operator of Album Collection proved extremely difficult [2].  But the money trail leading to social media platforms like Apple and Google was clear [1C]. 

An item of CSAM was posted to the app, and assigned a password which could be obtained for a price.  Viewers of the app were then provided a key for $1.10.  The original poster received $0.10 of this amount.  The app owner/operator received the remaining $1.  However, fully $0.30 of that $1 was routed to the social media platform. 

Other CSAM apps operate in similar fashion. Assuming the financial arrangement is comparable, some 30% of the billions in profits from child pornography go directly to social media platforms like Meta.  Meanwhile, when one CSAM app is taken down, others rapidly take its place. Continue reading →

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June 8, 2025 · 1:00 am

CSAM Apps – Monetizing the Sexual Exploitation of Children Online, Part 1

Image “facebook testify zuckerberg”, Author <a href=”http://www.thoughtcatalog.com” rel=”noreferrer nofollow”>www.thoughtcatalog.com</a> (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)

“Underlying every sexually explicit image or video of a child is abuse, rape, molestation, and/or exploitation. The production of CSAM creates a permanent record of the child’s victimization.”

-US Dept. of Justice [1A]

The US Dept. of Justice defines Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor under the age of 18, in other words, child pornography [1B].  Visual depictions would include photos, videos, live streaming, and digital or computer generated images (including AI-generated content) indistinguishable from an actual minor [2].

Scope 

Due to rapid technological changes, online child sexual exploitation is daily increasing in scale and complexity [1C].  The violence and sadistic content depicted in CSAM have increased as well [1D].

Child pornography is readily available through virtually every internet technology, including social networking platforms, file-sharing sites, gaming devices, and mobile apps [1E]. 

On the Dark Web, where anonymity and encryption make it more difficult to trace perpetrators, a single active website dedicated to the sexual abuse of children had over 2.5 million registered users as of 2021 [1F].  The same year the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received nearly 30 million reports of suspected online child exploitation [1G]. 

Smartphones

Modern smartphones are the ideal child exploitation tool for offenders [1H].  Smartphones can be used to photograph, record, or watch live child sexual abuse.  They can both store child pornography, and access such stored pornography remotely.  They can connect to other offenders worldwide to receive or distribute child pornography, through an ever expanding variety of apps. Continue reading →

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June 1, 2025 · 1:00 am

False Guilt

Courtroom gavel, Author onaeg news agency, (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

“There are two kinds of guilt.  One is true guilt, that is, it stems from sin against God; we are responsible for it and we have to deal with it.  The second is false guilt, which Satan places on us; this occurs when the devil accuses us of not living up to God’s standards.

Many people live countless years under such deceptive guilt.  They never feel as if they can quite get God’s acceptance; they think they never quite measure up and never quite please God; they believe they will never be all that God wants them to be.”

–Charles Stanley in How to Listen to God

Abuse victims are all too familiar with guilt. 

Told from childhood that we did not measure up, that everything wrong in the family was our fault, we grew up virtually enveloped in guilt.  This is compounded by the fact we are likely to believe we brought the abuse on ourselves (an outright lie, but one of which Satan is particularly fond).

All this is false guilt.

If confronted, we would have difficulty reciting our supposed “sins”.  This is because they do not exist.  Which is not to say that we do not commit real sins.  We are as fallible as the rest of mankind, in that regard.

But the guilt that is unrelenting – the guilt punishing, even crippling us – is false guilt.  We were not responsible for the abuse inflicted on us – whether it was emotional, physical, sexual or took the form of neglect.  We did not engender it.  We did not deserve it.

What we needed and deserved, but were deprived of, were love and care.

Unfortunately, what false guilt does is convince us we are still undeserving.  We labor under the weight of this lie, sometimes turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Continue reading →

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