http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3339966/‘Legal child porn’ comes under fire
Lawmaker targets Web sites featuring preteen ‘models’
March 28, 2002 - The photos of 12-year-old “Amber” cavorting in a swimsuit and various skimpy outfits wouldn’t have raised so much as an eyebrow if they had been posted on a family home page. But on lilamber.com — one of a growing number of “preteen model” sites operating in the legal gray area between innocent imagery and child pornography — they have drawn the attention of the Justice Department and prompted a congressman to declare war on the “reckless endangerment” of such kids by their parents and Web site operators.
“This is an unacceptable way for a child to earn lunch money … performing like a circus animal,” Rep. Mark Foley said of the sites, which feature girls as young as 6 wearing revealing clothing and striking sexually suggestive poses but display no nudity or overt sexual material that would run afoul of child pornography laws. “
It sickens you that a parent would have such disregard for their own child.”
...
Foley, who is
co-founder of a congressional caucus devoted to issues surrounding missing and exploited children, learned of the pre-teen sites late last year when WTVJ asked about them. “I was outraged when I first saw it because it’s being passed off as some career-building opportunity or
to apply for college,” he said, referring to statements on several of the sites saying the proceeds will go toward the girls’ college educations. “To me, it borders on pornography and indentured servitude.”
...
But Rep. Foley said he intends to explore a new legal avenue — whether the parents of the child models could be prosecuted under child-endangerment laws. “This is reckless endangerment if I’ve ever seen it because you’re basically introducing your child to some really sick people,” Foley told MSNBC.com this week.
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