Arizona Family Council

Reporting Pornography

If you or your child comes across pornography on the internet or in the mail, here are some things to do:

Child Pornography on the Internet

1. Report the site address to your Internet Service Provider and your local or state FBI or Customs office listed in your telephone directory. You could also contact local law enforcement officials or the office of Dr. Frank Kardasz, Project Director for Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children (AZICAC) 602-650-3170.
2. You can report child pornography online by forwarding the site address to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) at cybertipline.com or calling 1.800.THE.LOST (1.800.843.5678). NCMEC will forward your report to the appropriate investigative agency for follow-up. You can also report child pornography as an internet crime to www.ic3.govwww.ic3.gov.
   To collect the address (or URL) of a child-pornography we site, click on the address in your browser's address bar to highlight (select) the address. Then hold down the control key and click on the C key to copy the address. You can then paste the address to a text file or email message by holding down the control key and hitting the V key.
3. Misleading domain names - The PROTECT Act created a new federal law that makes it a crime to knowingly use a misleading domain name on the Internet with the intent to deceive a minor into viewing material that is harmful to minors on the Internet. Report these misleading domain names to www.cybertipline.com.
4. If you suspect someone is trying to sexually exploit your child online, don't delete any material and don't shut down the computer (it may be needed for evidence). Turn off the monitor and report your concerns immediately to your local law enforcement agency and NCMEC's Cyber Tipline at www.cybertipline.com.

Your early involvement and open communication can prevent your child from becoming a victim of a child sex offender. Report online activity when you have a "gut feeling" that something doesn't feel right - to you or your child. Trust your intuition.

Helpful Resources:

http://crime.about.com/od/childporn/qt/porn_report.htm

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/investigations/MailFraud/fraudschemes/ce/CE.aspx

http://www.missingkids.com

http://www.azicac.org

Adult Pornography on the Internet

1. Production, transmission, and distribution of obscenity are felonies, yet possession of obscenity in one's home is not a crime. However, use of a phone line or online service to transmit obscenity is a federal crime under current law. Therefore, it is a felony to either upload (transmit from your personal computer to the Internet) or download (copy from the Internet onto your personal computer) Internet obscenity.
2. If you receive unwanted pornography via email, pop-up ads, or other websites, it is illegal and should be reported. The easiest way to report unwanted obscenity is through http://www.obscenitycrimes.org.
3. To Make A Complaint at ObscenityCrimes.org you must know the Internet address of the website being promoted by the porn spam you received, or the Internet address of the of the pornographic website you accessed while looking for other content. If you have the Internet address, follow the instructions to fill out a complaint form. If you don't have the Internet address, please follow the instructions at obscenitycrimes.org for instructions on how to extract the internet address from porn spam email or pornographic websites.

Helpful Resources:

http://www.obscenitycrimes.org

http://www.protectkids.com

Pornography In the Mail

1. Understand that there is no free speech, First Amendment protection for child pornography. Pornographic pictures of children are not constitutionally protected speech. Such pictures are evidence of the sexual exploitation of children. There is also no protection for "hardcore" pornography or obscenity involving adults. If the pictures are sent through the U.S. Mail, it is a violation of federal law.
2. If you have information about the use of the U.S. Postal Service to send child pornography, "hardcore" pornography or obscenity, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service listed in the white pages of your local telephone directory. More information may be obtained at the U.S. Postal Inspection Agency web page.

Please email us with any questions or topics you would like addressed.