In the fight against child pornography, the victims are often left in the dust. Often, it is impossible to identify individual children in the images found when child pornographers are caught. But sometimes, they are identified. And they want restitution.

A federal appeals court ruled that “child pornography victims can recover money from people convicted of viewing their abuse without having to show a link between the crime and their injuries.” This means that anyone found in possession of child pornography could be sued by every single child who was unwillingly involved in that porn, whether they were aware of that person viewing it or not. This is different than former rulings, where it had to be proved that the victim was personally injured by the person possessing the pornography in order to seek restitution.

Some may feel that the one-size-fits-all approach is too harsh, but Judge Emilio Garza said that “[f]ears over excessive punishment are misplaced... Ultimately, while the imposition of full restitution may appear harsh, it is not grossly disproportionate to the crime of receiving and possessing child pornography.” The defendant plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

However this case ends, it is clear that the victims of child pornography are victims of abuse, and deserve some kind of restitution. This is a disgusting crime that should be fought against.

Children need to be informed about the dangers of encountering sexual predators online. Parents should talk to them openly and honestly and let them know that they are always welcome to talk to them about anything disturbing they see online. In addition, parents should be vigilant, and make use of the numerous Internet filters out there to monitor their children and help protect them from the filth that can be found online.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.