If anyone qualifies for a Double or Triple Platinum H-n-A Award, it would have to be Internet Predators. These are the people commonly known as old men prowling the Internet in search of young girls or boys for...uh...intimacy, shall we say?
Where are their heads? Do they not watch television? Have they not seen all those Dateline shows about Internet predators? Have they not read any newspapers in the past few years? Or listened to radio?
Bill Maher, perhaps, said it best on his HBO show, and I paraphrase, 'If you are a 50-year old, fat bald man and you think a 14-year old girl has the hots for you and you make plans to meet her for an intimate liaison, then your head is clearly up your...'
Now, if any predators are reading this, and I certainly hope they are, you need to know that Arkansas takes a dim view of such Internet antics.
You can spend time in prison for violating Arkansas Statute 5-27-603 even if you never meet a person under the age of 18 that you found on the Internet.
You can spend time in prison for violating Arkansas Statute 5-27-603 even if the young girl or boy you meet online is not a young girl or young boy. It's against the law to solicit anyone pretending to be a young girl or young boy.
The statute says, (a) A person commits computer child pornography if the person knowingly:
(1) Compiles, enters into, or transmits by means of computer, makes, prints, publishes, or reproduces by other computerized means, knowingly causes or allows to be entered into or transmitted by means of computer or buys, sells, receives, exchanges, or disseminates any notice, statement, or advertisement or any child's name, telephone number, place of residence, physical characteristics, or other descriptive or identifying information for purposes of facilitating, encouraging, offering, or soliciting sexually explicit conduct of or with any child or another individual believed by the person to be a child, or the visual depiction of the conduct; or
(2) Utilizes a computer online service, internet service, or local bulletin board service to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice or attempt to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child or another individual believed by the person to be a child, to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
(b) Computer child pornography is a Class B felony.
The crime is committed at the computer and nowhere else. You may be wondering about the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and freedom of expression, etc. Forget it. You will have a very difficult time finding a jury of your peers to agree that attempting to solicit minors is okay.
I strongly recommend you read an article in the Consumer Help Desk Section about What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Children Online.
