Caught in the Web

by Sher, Julian

• ISBN13: 9780786718887
• ISBN10: 0786718889
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-03-08
• Publisher: Da Capo Pr

Summary

Award-winning journalist Julian Sher goes behind the headlines about child pornography to describe how police officers, prosecutors, and high-tech analysts are fighting back against a tide of abuse to save victims. Granted extraordinary access by law enforcement agencies worldwide, Sher talks with FBI investigators, Department of Homeland Security, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Interpol, New Scotland Yard, and sex crimes units in Canada and Australia. Drawing on candid jailhouse interviews in penitentiaries, court Confessions, and hidden blogs, Sher exposes the dark underbelly of the Web to reveal how predators isolate and groom their victims; how they use secret Internet chat rooms to swap images of abuse and security tips and tricks to foil the police; and how shady entrepreneurs make millions from the trade of child exploitation material. In riveting detail, we see how clue-by-clue, and image-by-image, investigators use CSI-type techniques and old-fashioned hard detective work to track down the predators. From Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond to a global child protection center in London, England, a new generation of computer technology is being developed to make the web safer for children. Included are the latest tips and resources for parents, children, and teens wanting to ensure safety online.

Author Biography

Julian Sher is the author of five books, which have been sold in seven countries and translated into four languages. He recently co-wrote Angels of Death: Inside the Biker Gangs' Crime Empire. His freelance writing has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, CNN.com, and the Toronto Globe and Mail. He has worked on investigative projects for the New York Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. His website, JournalismNet, is ranked by Google among the world's top ten journalism portals.

Table of Contents

Prologue : "hear the children cry"	p. 1
Saving Jessica	p. 9
The "spiral of abuse"	p. 26
Buried in a landslide	p. 44
Dear Mr. Gates	p. 57
A new focus	p. 68
Online undercover	p. 95
CSI : porn	p. 115
Choices and consequences	p. 138
Wanted : "John Doe"	p. 163
Follow the money	p. 177
Tourists on the prowl	p. 195
Web of laws	p. 205
Tech wars	p. 223
Taking down the Wickermen	p. 242
Virtual global cops	p. 267
Empower the children	p. 279
Epilogue : "who saves one child saves the entire world"	p. 288
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