BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Child pornography cases are prevalent in Western New York and while law enforcement is trying to put an end to these cases, the problem may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's extremely prevalent and very disturbing," US Attorney JP Kennedy said. "I've even sometimes reviewed our plea agreements and indictments and wondered what else we're doing. We have so many resources and we can't even take all the cases we have. It has become so ubiquitous."
In May alone, the US Attorney's Office for Western New York announced 11 separate cases related to child pornography, including the recent guilty plea by Dustin Post of Silver Creek, who is also face multiple rape charges of children between ages one and twelve. Other cases within the Western District this month come from West Seneca, Buffalo, Hamburg, Warsaw, and other towns in their 17-county area.
Restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the number of child pornography cases and the risk of human trafficking.
According to the National Institutes of Health, many children turned to social media and other online activities to fill their time while schools were closed.
Some children engaged in risky online behaviors and were at an increased risk of online sexual exploitation.
Economic distress may have led to caregivers in financial fragile positions to exploit children to pay for food and other necessities.
In the case involving Post's alleged rapes of young children, the Silver Creek man befriended the families of the victims before the incidents. Chautauqua County Assistant District Attorney Tracey Brunecz said there can sometimes be no warning signs before the abuse takes place.
"We need to educate our kids on how to deal when they are confronted with these predators, whether it's online or in person and what to do in response to it," Kennedy said. "Just last week, there was some national reporting about a girl waiting for a school bus and was tackled by an individual who wanted to abduct her. She fought back based on what she saw on television. However we educate our children, we need to listen to them. We need to pay attention to them. We need to look for the signs, whether it's the secretive use of their computers…as parents it's too dangerous to ignore what our kids are doing."
The DOJ helps fund the Western District of New York Human Trafficking Task Force, an organization tasked with conducting proactive investigations of any and all allegations of human trafficking.
"We've had great success in bringing to justice those individuals," Kennedy said. "Typically what happens in these human trafficking cases is, historically, you think of it as a pimp and a prostitute. But these pimps recruit children, children who may be at risk be it through drug use or broken home situation. They promise them the world and get them under their lore…they take advantage of these young girls, advertise them, and they basically profit off their backs. We've been very aggressive working with our non-government partners, whether it's the advocacy centers across the district or different organizations."
