Most radio listeners who hear a public service announcement (PSA) about child sexual exploitation would expect it to focus on fighting crime and stopping abuse. But for at least two years, the audience of an Arizona radio station instead heard tips on avoiding prosecution over possessing photos of “naked juveniles,” reported NPR news.
“In many cases, the penalty for possession of pictures is worse than the penalty for murder,” the PSA said, aired on CAVE 97.7 FM. “You should understand that your Internet provider could report you to the police if they catch you looking at a website featuring naked juveniles. The police then enter your house and seize your computer.”
The PSA that was recorded by Paul Lotsof, the self-declared CAVEMANager of the country music station.
Lotsof offered advice to anyone possessing such material, telling them how they could “save yourselves and your family a ton of grief, and save the taxpayers of Arizona a lot of money” — not by refusing to support child exploitation, but by hiding your illegal images well enough so they’re not found. “Never keep paper pictures, tapes or films of naked juveniles where anyone else can find them,” the PSA said.
In interviews with the media, Lotsof has said he’s against Arizona’s law that punishes those who possess child pornography with a minimum of 10 years in prison for each violation.
Lotsof says there’s nothing wrong with possessing images of naked, abused children for sexual gratification. “There’s no picture in the world that’s that dangerous,” Lotsof said, according to a report by local TV news station KVOA earlier this week.
KVOA | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona
“Pictures of whatever you want to call them. They’re minors, they’re pictures of minors and you go to prison for the rest of your life for possessing them,” he said, dismissing the seriousness of having child exploitation images in your possession. Ultimately, he maintains his position that state and federal laws need to be changed. He claims he’s doing the community a service by airing instructions on how to hide digital files of child pornography.
Lotsof said there’s a difference between distribution and creation of child porn and possession.
“The difference is one case, you’re molesting children and abusing them, causing children to do things that are not natural for children to do and the other case, they’re just possessing pictures. There’s no connection between those two,” he said. In an e-mail to The Arizona Republic, Lotsof said “the real victims are the people serving these incredibly long sentences” for child porn possession.
Businesses are pulling their advertisements from CAVE 97.7 FM. #News4Tucson pic.twitter.com/vVpd4k3yBS
— Zack Briggs (@ZackBriggsNews) May 10, 2017
When local news KVOA asked if he possesses any child porn himself, Lotsof said no but emphasized he wouldn’t admit to it even if he did.
The PSA has stopped airing, but now there’s a petition online at change.org with over 1,400 signatures calling for the shutdown of CAVE 97.7 FM.
Child Exploitation Is Never Okay
The fact that we even have to explain why it’s absolutely not okay to be in possession of images of exploited children is mind-blowing, and disturbing. The reality is, child pornography is one of the fastest growing businesses online, with estimated annual revenue of $3 billion and growing.
One of the problems with what Paul Lotsof is saying, is that owning an image of an abused child is not connected to the actual event of abuse of that child. But the issue is, whenever those abusive images are posted, shared, downloaded, traded, etc., those acts perpetuate that child’s abuse and serve to normalize it, validate it, and even celebrate it. How is that okay? The act of owning a pornographic image of an exploited child is absolutely connected to their abuse, because by seeking out and saving those images, the viewer is serving to fuel the demand for more to be created. And the harms to an exploited child are lifelong, and serious.
THIS is why we fight against the porn industry as a whole. This is why possessing images of child exploitation is fueling the demand for further exploitation and abuse. The fact is, sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation have become global industries that affect the lives of millions of people—men and women, boys and girls. And we can never let this become normal, accepted, or celebrated.
What YOU Can Do
We can’t accept child exploitation as normal or okay. SHARE this article and raise your voice against the acceptance of child exploitation.
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