Pedophiles' alternate reality

On the Net, they don't just swap pictures, they participate in "support groups," promote their interests, seek jobs near kids, and chat about their experiences, the New York Times reports on its front page today following a four-month investigation. Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald wasn't investigating specific cases so much as the group itself, and how it uses the Net to extend its reach. "What started online almost two decades ago as a means of swapping child pornography has transformed in recent years into a more complex and diversified community that uses the virtual world to advance its interests in the real one." Some of what happens online is pure fantasy, some is acted upon, but cyberspace definitely provides a base for alternate-reality experimentation, whether people are exploring anorexia, sexuality, drugs, etc. While providing a base for such experimentation, the Net also throws much-needed light into dark corners of human behavior and "places" online where insular groups reinforce their members' illegal and abusive behavior by rationalizing and justifying it. Pedophile groups, the Times points out, "deem potentially injurious acts and beliefs harmless. That is accomplished in part by denying that a victim is injured, condemning critics and appealing to higher loyalties — in this case, an ostensible struggle for the sexual freedom of children." As for law enforcement in this area, see the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for an in-depth look at how "FBI experts trawl Web for pedophiles."