As I study pedophilia, trends of child sex abuse and exploitation, and ways to prevent abuse, it becomes excedingly clear: pedophiles brazenly abuse right before our very eyes. If you think this is an exaggeration, it is not. It is a rule that is as true as the law of gravity. Always. To make matters worse, churches are the primary target for sex offenders. There are a number of reasons, but the main reason is that access to children is abundant and unhindered, in most cases. There is a high level of naivety among churchgoers, and we want to believe the best in others. I know, I am a minister. That’s what we believe about Scripture and about God–that God can and does transform people. Here is where we have a major blind spot, though. We believe that our churches house those transformed people, and that very little sin exists within our four walls, especially if the majority of our attendees are Christian. Unfortunately, this is not completely true. In fact, the more we adhere to that belief system, the easier it is for pedophiles to fly under the radar within our churches.
Worse yet, pedophiles will find the path of least resistance. Always. They find locations, people, and media outlets where they can find safety in numbers, where people (adults included especially) are easy to groom and fool, and where the exploitation of your children can take place unabated. The more I am in ministry, the less naive I am becoming. It saddens me to see how many of my Facebook friends unknowingly place pictures of their children into the hands of pedophiles. While pictures of your prepubescent children bathing are cute to you, they have no place on Facebook. Neither do pictures of them at their dance recitals, in bathing suits, or the like. And if your settings for the pictures are pulic, they are being copied and traded among pedophiles on Facebook. You can count on that. Again, if you think I am exaggerating, I have witnessed blatant pedophilic trading on Facebook first hand. It is pulic, it happens every minute of every day, and it is a thriving business. I commend the work of activist Raymond Bechard, who created the website stopchildpornonfacebook.com.
I have posted a video below of Raymond unpacking the world of child porn on Facebook below. I must warn you that it is extremely disturbing and must be viewed with discretion. Anyone who has a child or grandchild, and especially anyone who has pictures of your children on Facebook, needs to be aware of the risks you may be putting them at. I am fully aware that this is not a popular subject, but I assure you that the more we ignore it, the more we create paths of least resistance.
*** WARNING–The following content, while censored, is still extremely disturbing to those not familiar with child abuse. Use your discretion and do not allow your children to view ***
Pedophiles Using Facebook As Their Dark Playground from Richard Lepoutre on Vimeo.