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I have a friend who stumbled into one of those famous pron sites that started popping up windows of child pron. He is now extremely distraught that he might be arrested or even worse. He now wants to pull his hard drive and destroy any possible evidence on his computer. What are the opinions of the experts and law enforcement people here on AO.
Depends. Is he keeping them? They'd have to have a reason to search his hard drive and unless he frequents under age chat rooms trying to pick up "Buffy" and crew, he's probably safe. Taking care of his cache and getting rid of any spyware would be more of concern, IMHO.
Also, was this a work machine?
No he was not saving them, and he does not frequent these sites, he was actually doing some research concerning a child support case and that he suspects his ex's boyfriend is abusing his daughter.
Uh.. contact social services? I'd be speaking to the teacher's or another "authority" to see if they would do it if the social services won't take complaints from parents.Quote:
..he was actually doing some research concerning a child support case and that he suspects his ex's boyfriend is abusing his daughter.
So long as he didn't purposely seek out this site, he shouldn't get busted for anything. Of course, having a secure browser and some type of pop-up control/proxy helps prevent these "attacks" in the first place. After running Spy-Bot/Ad-Aware/anti-virus/anti-trojan software, he can use a secure file-shredder program on anything that looks suspicious, and then to clear away the free space on the hard drive.
P.S. I am by no means an 'expert' or authority on law enforcement, etc...but this is what I would do in this type of situation.
OMG.. format C: then write zeros and ones on the drive 30 times and tell him to write on the blackboard 100 times.. "I will be careful in the future":D
hehe.. naahhh.. if he deletes all his temp internet files the pictures will be gone..
I'd be way more concerned about all the crap he might of infested his HDD with.
you know the routine... adaware, spybotS&D, trojan scan, av scan.. hijackthis
I started this thread to re-assure my friend that he has absolutely nothing to worry about. Beleive me when I say he has been the butt of all of my "turnip" jokes the last 2 days. :D
I'm not sure about over in the US but in the UK the cops do recognise that it is possible to 'stumble' onto kiddie sites - it depends on how far you go into them and if they can show you intended to go there. If for example your friend stopped at the index page and went no further then they should be fine - if they actually delved further onto the site... well his activity may be monitored for a while. I understand that most kiddie porn sites require you to 'verify' you're over 18 by giving them your credit card details (the really hard core sites are actually more difficult to get into as they are often stored on more private servers and you normally have to be 'in the circle' so to speak before you get given details of how to access this ****) - going this far into the site and giving your CC details is a definite indication of intent and intent is what nails you. The law (over here anyway) has to proove that you intended to go to the site so things like repeated visits and giving away personal details are given as indications of intent.
If your friend just saw some pop ups and tried to get away fairly quickly, as long as they don't go there again and don't give away personal details they should be ok. Only thing is... are they generally secure i.e. at least with a software firewall and the usual stuff etc? I only ask because some of these kind of site will try and slave a pc and turn it into a zombie server for distributing pictures - which can obviously cause major problems especially if you don't know your pc has been enslaved. Keep an eye on what ports are being opened and general net activity for a while... don't need to add what you should do if anything looks remotely suspicious
Another thing - is he sure they were underage girls (difficult question I know cos it implies that he took notice of the pictures) - many of the 'lolita' type sites frequently use 'models' over the age of consent (around the 17-18 yr old mark) made up to look about 15. Not that this justifies visiting these kind of sites but what I'm getting at is the type of sites that the cops are interested in aren't that easy to get onto - you usually have to know someone who can get you onto these things, paedophiles are damn careful who they tell these days. The media has hyped up the number of these sites that are actually on the web and they aren't that easy to find (I'm not talking about your more 'regular' porn site that uses 17-18yr old 'models' here, I'm talking about the kind of site that uses children anywhere from 1-14 yrs old). Having said that even one of these kind of sites is too many if you ask me.
I'd just like to say that I'm not a legal expert neither do I work in law enforcement - I just know people who do and some of the things I've been told... well it'd make your toes curl and your blood boil - and I don't even have kids of my own to feel protective over.
Finally your friend really needs to be careful when looking into this kind of stuff.... one recent rock star (Pete Townsend from the Who if you didn't hear about it over in the US) was accused of being a paedophile not so long ago. He said he was doing research into paedophilia and only visited a kiddie site (a real one) to get some idea of what was distributed... eventually he got accquitted but it was a close call for him. Really, please tell your friend to be very very careful - if he suspects his ex's boyfriend is abusing his daughter he should get some legal advice.
Hope all goes well
Z
Hes prety safe as long as he dosn't have a history of browseing kiddey porn/paid for it. tell him to makesure he clears his caash...you may also want to install a popup blocker on his system
If I were your buddy I'd consider copying the URL into an email to the FBI, as that site needs to be taken down. That way he has the added defense of being the person who REPORTED it to law enforcement in the first place, which would hinder any allegations of malicious intent AND create "reasonable doubt" in the eyes of a jury (if needed).
i do work in a law enforcement
and what we look for is possession more than anything
we wouldnt be raiding someone's house just because they are surfing child porn sites...
if someone out there is willing to meet young children that's what we look for.
and that's the people who we want to arrest.
usually we raid their house after arrest and they usually have a load of child porn in their HD
word of advice for those who talk about this BUBBA ....
if we were to bust every hacker who likes to be in places where he/she shouldnt be...we would be goin after a large population.
to be honest..just cuz you bust into a few sites doesnt mean you'll get arrested.
always remember that law enforcement needs to build a case against you
the prosecution wouldnt waste their time. also loook up the FBI.gov site
they require 5,000 in damage to make a report or for them to take it seriously.
also most white collar crimes end up in low security prison...they will meet Mr Rogers not Bubba...bubba hangs out with murderers and rapists..........
be smart! play Safe!
what was the url for that site?
... just kidding :D
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Originally posted here by allenb1963
If I were your buddy I'd consider copying the URL into an email to the FBI, as that site needs to be taken down.
I agree,sites and crimes like this (against children) should be reported imediatelly to autorithies.
Concerning your friend´s worry,let him know that is nothing to worry about,unless he got interested and went on ,provide any private information or cc card and others referred above.This is the law here (Portugal) and should'nt be much different in any real democratic country,since autorithies recognize the possibilities to bump on this sites while surfing.For more information check out your country legislation about this matter.
Thanks for all of your suggestions... you all saved a poor innocent hard drive's life. ;)
He was too disgusted to make any reference to any URL. He just wanted to leave as new windows kept popping up on him. He did have a popup blocker installed but had it disabled at the time for some stupid reason. My friend is to computers as I am to brain surgery... lol, don't let me work on your brains :p I told him about AO and he took your suggestions to heart. He has re-enabled his popup blocker and is now using his computer again.
While on the subject its possible to search Kazaa and get a lot of this crap byaccident. they hide the files with other topic file names. I was looking for cartoons for a friends kid and ended up finding kid porn hits. What is WRONG with ppl?
and why arent they nailed so easily for distributing it....
if the music industry can get IP addresses from ISPs....
I usually don't get pron popups myself, I do not venture into those areas. Be assured if I ever do get something like this forced onto my screen I will report the offending site/s. I can understand my friends fears to a point. He has been in a long and debilitating custody battle for years, he has also been imprisoned twice over these battles. Once for stalking his ex, and once for not paying child support in sufficient amounts to satisfy the court. His ex unfortunately has remarried to a Lawyer, and is hell bent on my friends destruction. He never stalked anyone at anytime but just happened to be in the wrong places at the wrong times. They both lived in the same neighborhood, kinda hard to stay away from someone when you only lve a block away. The child support thing was due to his reputation being ruined by his ex. He could not get a job. He has not seen his kids in over eight years and is supposed to have visitation that he never gets, I personally don't think he should pay child support if he can't interact with his kids. Oh well enough of my ranting, to get back on topic he was searching for legal sights on google looking for possible information he could use reguarding some allegations he had heard that his daughter had been molested. The court is absolutely no help, he can't afford a Lawer, and he has no way, legal or otherwise to contact anyone to confirm this. Then these kiddie pron sghts popped up in his face and he about had a heart attack! Poor guy, I really wish that people would not abuse the internet for profit of sick fetishes.
you know it's posts like this that make me thankful my life is relatively uncomplicated with only normal stresses and concerns of work, health, enjoyment and money etc etc. Sheesh this friend of yours really needs a break.Quote:
Then these kiddie pron sghts popped up in his face and he about had a heart attack! Poor guy, I really wish that people would not abuse the internet for profit of sick fetishes
Thanks for the update
Z
If Zonewalker saids its o.k then I would be most assured.
He is the Expert on l33t pron on the internet.
Rather than sending the police they should send round the French rugby team to rape these people and distribute the avi's mpegs and jpgs on every known media. they should even be on the free AOL CD's
I'm sure theres a compliment somewhere there Mark..... or are you just implying I'm a wanker hmmm??? :rolleyes:Quote:
If Zonewalker saids its o.k then I would be most assured.
He is the Expert on l33t pron on the internet.
LOL
Z
take my words
he is safe untill he is engaged in all
ok neohunk - just a question for you... why should we take your word for it??
Do you work in law enforcement or do you know people who do? Are you a legal expert? I'm not trying to have ago at you (well not yet), but on something as serious as this I think you should at least provide some kind of indication of what your credentials are to enable you to say the above. W00kies post for example states that he does work for law enforcement, as he also make some sensible comments I would be more likely to trust his word than yours. Or were you just saying this to agree with other folks??
Z
To wookies,
I want to thank you publicly for your input to this topic. Thanks :D
I have tried to give you some greenies but I have given them to you in another thread and the AP system will not allow me to assign you anymore at this time. Good post, yours was the one that pulled the most weight to my friends decision to continue to use his computer.
Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:
I just read through this thread and saw the reference "poor guy" a few times. I am somewhat curious though, if his pop-up blocker was off, and he "stumbled" onto a kiddie porn sight, what was he looking for to begin with? I am not pointing fingers or making accusations, but usually you are safe on the internet as long as you stick to trusted sights. You are not going to get linked to a porn sight off of AntiOnline.Com or SecurityFocus.Com. Maybe another possibility of what to tell your friend is to be careful where he is going in the first place. If he sticks to legitmate sights, he should not have to worry about being linked to kiddie porn, and he would have been able to avoid this whole mess.
Nick: I could say rubbish..... But I won't. There are plenty of places that will appear to be kosher when you look at the link but when you click it you can be deluged in popup sites that won't go away or lead you deeper into "trouble". I see it quite regularly with quite respectable and believable users on my network when they are researching stuff.
It's much easier than you think to stumble onto porn out there.