Pure evil: ' Vast international child-porn network uncovered'

This is almost too horrible to call to your attention, but parents need to know that these monsters are real and feed on babies and toddlers. From the Washington Post:

Vast international child-porn network uncovered; a stuffed toy helped crack the case open

I'll leave most of the ghastly, nausea-inducing details to the article, but maybe you can help me understand this:

Similarly, in the Arnett case, investigators discovered that a water bottle in one of the photographs carried the name of a swim and scuba center in Overland Park, Kan. With the help of teachers at an elementary school, they identified three children shown in the photographs, including the toddler posed in the roasting pan.

The mother of one of the boys said she initially did not believe the allegations against [Michael] Arnett, a family friend for about 15 years. She said her son, now 7, and several nephews often spent weekends at Arnett’s home four or five years ago.

“Well, when we first got the phone call, we thought there’s no way. You guys got the wrong guy,” she said. The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual abuse or their families.

But then investigators showed her photos Arnett had allegedly taken of her son with a shirt and no pants.

“Regret? For sending my son with a sick-minded guy, that’s the only regret I have. I had no idea,” she said. “It’s depressing.”

"Depressing"? This woman has a gift for understatement; her son and nephews may never recover from those visits with the "family friend." As a mother, I'm unable to imagine a plausible scenario in which a parent "often" sends a two or three year-old child to spend weekends with a non-relative. How does this come about?

The internet has enabled the beast to grow and it will never be satisfied:

Photos and online chats found on computers owned by Diduca and Mikelsons led to more than three dozen other suspects in seven countries, including Canada, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Mexico. The oldest victim in the Netherlands was 4, the youngest just 19 days old.

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, whose office prosecuted Diduca, said the demand for photos of sexual assaults of young children, including babies and toddlers, has increased sharply in recent years.

“This demand leads to the abuse of children, yet there is this misconception that somehow, viewing child pornography is a victimless crime,” said. “It clearly is not.”

Thank God for law enforcement's agonizing work. But the 43 arrests made over the past two years represent the tip of the iceberg:

On his [day care worker Robert Mikelsons'] computer were thousands and thousands of images of children being molested and raped, including the boy holding the stuffed bunny.   

H/t: DaleyGator

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