Crimes Against Children
The World Needs to Know About Operation Koala Most of us know who Shawn Hornbeck and Elizabeth Smart are. Most of us know that there are images of missing and exploited children hanging on the entrance of Wall-Mart and in the lobby of the Post Office. But if you ask someone if they know what Operation Koala is, most likely they don’t. ` Operation Koala was a huge success story for missing and exploited children. Although its ending may not have beenas dramatic as Shawn or Elizabeth’s story, it was a headline worthy subject. Yet if you search CNN for Operation Koala there is one, 10 sentence news article on December 13, 2008. That’s it.` ` During Operation Koala, U.S. and European officials joined together and dismantled seven massive child porn rings. More than 170 people around the globe, including at least 61 in the United States, have been arrested in this major operation targeting international child pornographers. This operation rescued 11 girls in the United States, ages 3 to 13, which were sexually abused by child pornography producers. Dozens more were located in Europe, including several young female victims in Ukraine. ` Operation Koala was largely successful due to the extensive reach of multiple joint forces, collection of data, and the dedication of many men and women around the world.These pornography rings hosting the worst of the worst, have dismantled but the investigation is far from over. ` Why is this not news worthy? I can search the headlines today and find that Kate Winslet’s daughter was absolutely mortified that her mother wore a grey dress to the Oscars. Equally news worthy is the bidding war that is taking place for the Octomom. Will she take the 1 million dollars plus a year of health insurance to star in a porno, or will she take a year worth of free diapers to turn down the deal? I would imagine that if any one of Ocotmom’s 14 children were involved with Operation Koala, that there wouldn’t be a debate over what she was
Cited: `Gardner, Lisa . "Say Good Bye." Books A Million.http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780553804331?id=4358446855639.` `Gardner, Lisa. Say Goodbye. Bantam,2008. ` `Hornbeck, Shawn . "Latest News." Shawn Hornbeck. 27 Feb. 2009. http://www.shawnhornbeck.com/.` `"Rescuing Our Children." Federal Bureau of Investigation. 9 Feb. 2009. 27 Feb. 2009. http://www.fbi.gov/page2/feb09/jointhammer_020909.html. ` `"170 Arrested in global child porn investigation." CNN. 13 Dec. 2008. 27 Feb. 2009. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/12/porn.arrests/index.html. `