| Real Stats The United States Justice Department estimates that close to 300,000 American youth are currently at risk for becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Two-thirds of the sex offenders in state prisons committed offenses against children. There are more than 747,000 registered sex offenders in the United States today. As many as 100,000 are noncompliant and missing. 1 The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports, “Best data suggests at least 100,000 American children a year are victimized through child sexual exploitation,” (more children are victimized than the number of people that die from car accidents and illegal drugs combined in America). In a study by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of the people arrested for child pornography; 40% also had raped children along with possessing child pornography.Child pornography is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States right now. Nationally, there has been a 2500% increase in arrests in the past10 years, according to the FBI.From 2004 through 2008, ICAC task force officers processed 20,562 documented online enticement complaints, including 7,879 documented complaints of suspected travelers.The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reviewed 17.3 million images and videos of suspected child pornography in 2011 — four times more than 2007. What mental health experts have learned is that when someone (90% of the offenders are male) becomes addicted to child pornography, they usually progress to younger and younger children and will seek out more sadistic or masochistic images, and in extreme cases, bestiality. 2 The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers found that the average number of victims for non-incestuous pedophiles who molest girls is 20, for pedophiles who prefer boys the number jumps to 100. An average serial child molester may have as many as 400 victims in his lifetime. |
