Most people agree that child trafficking is a horrendous crime that should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, but if this is the popular opinion of society, why are child trafficking and child pornography so prevalent in the U.S. and all over the world?

I've read a few blogs about the challenges faced by convicted sex offenders after they have served their time and are released from prison. One interesting point was that some offenders went to prison for a consensual sexual relationship with an underage girlfriend, or for sexting, or even for urinating in public (though I've never heard of that one before). The point is, not everyone with the title "sex offender" is the same. Some have done things worse than others and yet they all get shunned by society once they're out.

This is a difficult subject to talk about, especially for those who have been victimized or are connected to victims, which is almost everybody considering the statistics. It’s something that stirs up emotions for everyone - anger, disgust, desire for justice. There’s no question that offenders must be punished. For the sake of the victims and the sake of the community, they need to be removed from society for a time and then closely monitored to prevent recidivism.

While so many experts contend that the state of being a pedophile is impossible to heal, there is actually a glimmer of hope for recovery. The common belief is that child molesters, predators, and pedophiles do not have room to change. This means that by the time they start to sexually abuse children, the process becomes never ending. But is it really the true scenario?

Sex is the main trigger. But for pedophiles, it’s not just an ordinary type of sex drive since the ones they fantasize are innocent children and minors. The sexual addiction is driven by the belief that when they abuse a victim, they are actually showing and manifesting love, care, affection, and mutual relationship. Of course, we all know that’s not true. The reality is the moment a person becomes a pedophile, there is no turning back. Now, is this true?

Child molesters and sex offenders are all over the place. Whether it’s your church community, school, neighborhood, or even within your own home, there is the ubiquitous presence of anyone who seeks to abuse or molest a child. While much has been said about experiences and encounters with these people, no one has really come up with a perfect prevention plan to stop the crime for good. And just like any type of crime, profiling a child molester tells us the true persona of the individual and gives us insight on how to avoid and prevent them from harming our own children. So here are the facts separated from the myths...

The news is not always about finding new information around us. Though we keep up with the rest of the world by simply watching news in television, the same can cause several negative effects for children and teenagers. Parents must be specifically aware of the fact that too much exposure to the news may influence the behavior and thinking of their kids.

Child abuse is the act carried out by individuals for varying reasons. These people tend to exploit children because of their inherent innocence and ignorance. Unfortunately for parents, every kid is vulnerable to it regardless of age, social class, or gender. While much has been said about the nature of child abuse and exploitation, some are true while others are purely myths.

According to the Wall Street Journal, there has been a significant decrease in prison time for people convicted of child pornography in the last four years. Although there is an existing advisory guideline released by the US Supreme Court concerning maximum penalties to be meted out towards convicted child pornographers, more and more local courts are leaning towards the lesser punishment for them.

Online communication plays a major role in the life of any American teen. The popularity of social media and networking sites has encouraged young ones to correspond online in order to serve purposes such as making friends, doing research, or simply for entertainment.

But then again, the web is not entirely a positive medium for teens. Cyber or online bullying is very prevalent these days that nearly every teen who uses the internet becomes a potential victim. Information from the National Crime Prevention Council tells us that more than 90 percent of teenagers use the net for varying reasons and more than 40 percent of that number is subjected to online bullying.

The US Supreme Court has sentencing guidelines on sentencing child pornographers. Though advisory in nature, it says that anyone convicted of the crime of child pornography can be sentenced with the maximum prison time or penalty.

Good governance is manifested with a high degree of equal access among citizens to primary needs like shelter, health care, job opportunities, without considering racial, religious, or ethnic affiliation. The basic principle underlying good governance is the admittance of partnership between the government and its citizens.

Nonetheless, government means power and most of the time, power leads to abuse and exploitation. Although there is a set of laws and constitution for every government, the implementation of the same is not good enough to prevent abuse and exploitation especially among women and children.

In America today, most people have what's called a post modern worldview. Part of this worldview includes the idea of relativism. We like to think of right and wrong as being relative. What “works” for one person may or may not work for someone else. It’s a great way to make everyone who has different beliefs feel comfortable. Rather than actually seeking to find out what the truth is, we sit back and say “oh well, it’s all the same”.  Sometimes, this works out okay. There are general things considered to be good, like feeding the poor, sheltering the homeless, etc. This makes us all feel good, as it should. Then, there are general bad things, like rape and murder. This generally makes people feel bad and angry.

Law and justice finally extended their hands towards sex offenders and child predators. There has been a significant increase of arrests, prosecution, and convictions for those guilty of the crime. Child exploitation, without a doubt is a very serious offense. But I wonder why there is not much attention given to it up until recently.

The kind of anonymity and concealment the web provides for people who commit these crimes leads them to think they can never be caught. However, the scenario is very different today. Because of the rapid increase of American children subjected to pornography, US state and federal authorities have held a tighter grip to put culprits behind bars.