Masha's Law

[MrsSpringsteen]

I didn't see Oprah yesterday but I have read a little bit about what happened to this girl. I had no idea that was true about the penalty for downloading songs vs child pornography



Tue Jan 17, 6:42 PM ET AP

Some lawmakers and victims are outraged that the penalties for downloading songs on the Internet are three times greater than those for downloading child pornography.

On Tuesday, Masha Allen, a 13-year-old child pornography survivor, shared her story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show."

Allen was adopted from Russia by an American man who abused her for five years. The Pittsburgh man is now in jail, but Allen's pictures can still be accessed on the Internet.

"I am glad he is in jail. I think it is really wrong, what he did, and anybody else he did this to," Allen told Winfrey Tuesday.

Allen's case alerted some lawmakers to how outdated Internet child pornography laws are. Sen. John Kerry recently filed what he called "Masha's Law" to increase penalties and give adults whose pictures as children are still being downloaded, grounds for legal action.

"My pictures that are on the Internet disturb me more than what he actually did, because I know the abuse stopped, but the pictures are still on the Internet," Allen said last week.

"What does it tell you about Washington's misplaced priorities that the penalty for downloading songs off the Internet is three times what the penalty is for downloading pornography, child pornography?" Kerry asked last week.

While Kerry leads the legislative fight on Capitol Hill, Allen offered words of encouragement for other young victims of abuse.

"There are people that can help them and they should tell somebody, even if they are afraid to talk about it. The sooner they tell someone, the sooner it will get better and they should have courage and be strong about it because it is not going to last forever," Allen said.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Masha's story

http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200601/20060117/slide_20060117_284_201.jhtml

In her new home, Masha was surprised to discover that she didn't have a bedroom. Instead, Mancuso made Masha sleep with him. The first night, Masha says, she was unable to sleep as Mancuso tried to fondle her. Within days, Mancuso began molesting Masha every night in bed.

Her new father turned out to be a diabolical child pornographer who forced Masha to live as his sex slave. Mancuso took hundreds of pornographic pictures of Masha, then posted them on the Internet, where he traded them with other pedophiles. He dressed Masha as a young bride and forced her to pretend they were getting married. He chained Masha in his basement. He starved his adopted daughter to keep her young body from maturing. And, he forced Masha to take showers with him every day.

Posing as a pedophile, Chicago area police officer Mike Zaglifa discovered Mancuso in an online chat room. Sergeant Zaglifa says his instinct told him this man was an absolute danger to children. Working with other agents, he traced Mancuso's Internet address to a location near Pittsburgh, where he was later arrested.

During their investigation, police officials had no way of knowing that the little girl in the photographs was Mancuso's adopted daughter. Her rescue, says Sergeant Zaglifa, was an unexpected reward for what he calls the "physically and emotionally draining" work of capturing child predators.

Sergeant Zaglifa says that to gain proper perspective on the severity of child pornography, it's important to call them "child sex abuse images." "When those images are being made," says Sergeant Zaglifa, "that's sex abuse in progress." He offers his expert advice for how parents can protect their children: "The number one thing is: No chat rooms."

Two years ago, Matthew Mancuso was sentenced to 15 years on federal pornography charges. He also pleaded guilty to the horrible sex crimes he committed against Masha and was sentenced to serve 35 to 70 years in prison.

After all the terrible things Masha has endured, she finally has the mother she's always dreamed of having. Three years ago, Faith Allen was a busy foster mom when she heard about a desperate little girl who needed a home, and decided right away to adopt Masha.

Because of the deplorable treatment Masha suffered, Faith says that in many ways, Masha was like a baby she had to teach. "When she first came to me, I had to teach her how she had to bathe, how she had to eat," says Faith.

Today, Masha finally has a bedroom of her own. Though her wounds are far from healed, life might be looking up for this young survivor. "I feel really safe and happy for the first time," says Masha. "It's like starting over."

 

[nbcrusader]

I guess that shows the power of the Record Industry.

Child porn is contraban - the penalties for downloading should be significantly higher.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Why do I have the sudden urge to do violence.

 

[financeguy]

I read that law enforcement estimate only a small % of children abused are identified.

And perhaps most disturbingly: one of Russia's largest cities had until relatively recent NO legislation in place banning child porn.

 

[indra]

The record industry has money to give out. Most anti child abuse advocates do not. So much is dependant on how much money you can funnel to politicians.

 

[Justin24]

They need to fix this problem. Downloading music is minor compared to child porn!

 

[the rockin edge]

The record industry has money to give out. Most anti child abuse advocates do not. So much is dependant on how much money you can funnel to politicians.

yep, money talks

 

[Justin24]

Mabey the Executives are some of those pedophiles and want to hide that with their money to prosicute people who download music more harsh than child molesters/pornographers.