Young ‘model’ sites feel the heat

‘CLEARLY EXPLOITIVE’

“Where we are focused is the sexual exploitation of juveniles, and this is clearly exploitive of young girls who are not old enough to sign contracts or make a variety of life’s decisions,” he said.

In the case of the Arkansas couple, the videotape seized during a search of the home and the circumstances in which the search warrant was obtained are expected to be key as prosecutors seek to prove that they violated a state law barring “engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium.”

Prosecutor Tom Tatum II told MSNBC.com that the material on the tape was “significantly more explicit” than the images of the daughter on the Web site, though “a couple of the photos (posted there) maybe crossed the line as well.”

A news group posting requesting donations to help pay the Cummingses’ legal expenses, which was sent from the same email account that James Cummings used to register his daughter’s Web site, described the videotape as being 3-years-old — shot when the daughter was 9 — and stated that it did not contain nudity.

The post, which was filed to a news group devoted to sex topics on Nov. 2, 2001, also stated that sheriff’s deputies obtained a search warrant for the Cummings home by falsely claiming that the couple was selling videotapes of their daughter on the Web site.

SEARCH WARRANT QUESTIONED

An attorney for the Cummingses, David Dunagin, declined to discuss the evidence against his clients, but indicated that the circumstances under which the search warrant was obtained could prove an avenue for appeal if they are convicted.

Even before the courts rule, the cases have added fuel to what was an already superheated debate over the preteen and teen “model” sites.

Foley, the Florida congressman, seized on the issue last year after NBC’s Miami affiliate, WTVJ/NBC 6, reported that a company in his home state, Webe Web Inc., had created at least a half dozen sites featuring teen and preteen girls, all of whom apparently had their parents’ permission. After asking the FBI to investigate the sites, the congressman announced in March that he would introduce a bill that would ban sites that “do not promote products or services beyond the child.”

But Jeffrey J. Douglas, chairman of the board of the Free Speech Coalition, an adult-industry trade association, said such an approach is “utterly unconstitutional” as well as unnecessary.

“The problem isn’t the Web sites,” he said. “If there are Web sites that are literally promoting child porn, those laws already exist. If it’s a matter of trying to address people’s poor taste in eroticizing children … I don’t think there’s a federal solution to that problem.”

Foley responded that the bill “will meet constitutional muster.”

“We don’t make laws that we think will be shot down,” he said. “Unlike these website operators, our motives are pure.”

The unwanted attention from law enforcement and legislators has prompted at least a handful of operators to shut down their sites or eliminate all photos of underage “models” until the legal landscape is more certain.

SITE OPERATORS LAY LOW

“I’ve actually had guys who were running other (model) sites ... email me and ask me to remove their links because they want to lay low,” said Mundy, the operator of the BayouGirls site.

But while others fade into the background, a handful of operators like Mundy are stepping forward to defend their sites against what they see as political grandstanding.

“I think it’s a huge overreaction,” David Leiber, who runs a teen model site, said of Foley’s proposed legislation. “The thing that makes me sad is that there are a lot of children that are being exploited - kids who are being beaten to death, sexually abused - and those issues are being ignored.”

Leiber added that he is not exploiting the 13-year-old girl featured in “hundreds of photos” and video clips available on the site for those willing to pay $14.95 a month.

“She’s trying to get noticed so she can model for J.C. Penny and things like that,” he said.

But Mariana Dunn, who has engaged in an undercover crusade over the past eight months to document the excesses of individual “model” sites, said her experience indicates that the sites are “as addictive, as haunting, as mesmerizing, and just as ... harmful to the children involved as the hard-core (child pornography sites).”

And she said that she fears the problem will grow exponentially if lawmakers don’t crack down hard.

“Owners scared of the current climate closed their sites and are waiting; some sites continue to operate, waiting also,” said Dunn, who agreed to be interviewed on the condition she not be identified by her real name, which she said would endanger her evidence-gathering efforts. “... I feel failure of Foley’s efforts will open the floodgates.”

MORE FROM INTERNET UNDERGROUND

Internet Underground Section Front

‘Toon porn’ draws surfers Is anything taboo in ‘toon porn’? Mystery shrouds arrest of accused software pirate EBay, PayPal and the Fufu fiasco Sex toys blaze tactile trail on Net Anatomy of a penis pill swindle Daughter’s ‘model’ site lands couple in prison Russian hacker gets 3 years in jail Young ‘model’ sites feel the heat ‘Legal child porn’ under fire Internet Underground Section Front   Add Internet Underground headlines to your news reader: