
Srlsly. In what world are we living?
And spare me the "think of the children" bull. The problem is twofold in my opinion.
1) WTF are 12-yo doing unsupervised on the web with apparently no clue whatsoever? Surely they don't have their own connection, nor can they afford computers or smartphones by their own means whithout the parents knowing?
2) WTF can lead 40-yo men to such behavior? I mean they clearly weren't pathological "paedos", one even went on to post the images on the web. Are we really leaving in such a ridiculously prude society dominated by image that the only way for a (presumably/preferably overweight and social misfit) man to get his rocks off is to trick sub-teens into sending him webcam-standard "nude" (read "bare chest", probably) pics? (this is a rhetorical question.)
Also, how come that you get 20 years behind the bars plus a big red stamp on the rest of your life for getting tittie pics from a teen, when you get away with a mere slap on the wrist and a job for the feds for stealing a few thousand identities and emptying families' bank accounts? Would this guy have even been prosecuted if he had obtained a credit card number and expiry date instead of bare chest pics?
Will the girl be considered as a victim by her parents, and pampered even more, or will she get the spanking she (and her parents) rightly desserve? In the latter case, where can I get the vid? (erm, sorry).
Lastly, amongst the crowd of horrified parents who will no doubt ask for the guy's nuts, how many will actually learn the lesson and monitor their sprog's online activities? Or at least try and educate them? I'm guessing not too many.
This is pathetic from start to finish. The offenders are pathetic, the "victim" girls are pathetic, their parents are even below pathetic, and the way it's being handled is pathetic. Don't even get me started on the right-wing nutters who will take this as a reason to ban cameras on beaches or around schools, and to jail any male who happens to lay their eyes on their precious offspring in the street.