'Tis the Season

by Bonnie Donovan

Source: WikiCommons

Again, we are asking – where is the groundswell? We remain in perpetual shock and dismay over the sex trafficking of our youth and the proliferation of child pornography, right here in the USA.

What are we doing about it?

Where is the outrage?

Where are the Me-too women# and mothers of the world?

Why are fathers not protecting their children?

Did you know that on July 14th, the State of California introduced legislation to make child trafficking a “serious felony?”

What was it before? A misdemeanor? Child abduction akin to shoplifting? Seriously? Is this world so depraved that we worry more about the overpopulation of the prison system than of the safety and welfare of our children?

This proposed legislation failed nine times from 2007 to 2021 in the state of California. Once in ‘07, twice in ‘09, once in ‘11, ‘13, and ‘17 respectively and three times in 2021. What does it take to get the decent representatives to come to the table? Finally, July 18^th, Gov Newsom jumped on the political bandwagon, proclaiming outrage that this legislation hadn’t passed before now. Where was he the other nine times, sipping wine with Aunt Nancy in Napa?

Newsom had no problem supporting Biden’s border policies which have aided and abetted this proliferation of child traffickers and the abduction of children. In one year alone, among the throngs of unaccompanied minors, who were allowed to cross the border, the follow-up revealed that officials could not account for 86,000 of these children. This was never widely reported by any national news agency.

The Sound of Freedom

What has finally drawn attention to this bill reintroduced by Senator Shannon Grove of Bakersfield (SB 14), which had been trying to swim upstream since ’07, is pressure from social media. Certainly, the groundswell of a very effective movie – “The Sound of Freedom” – has powerfully contributed to the momentum of this bill which was signed into law by Governor Newsom Sept 25, 2023. The movie reveals that child trafficking into enslavement surpasses the combined profits of the illegal drug trade, plus that of the NFL, NBA, and MLB. 

What does child abduction and trafficking look like? The targets are 12–15-year-olds and younger, male, and female. It is modern-day slavery into sexual depravity and as forced labor. Legislatures in Central California have effectively identified the link between street corner vendors and human trafficking. We see it here, in everything from flower vendors to taco and fruit stands. All identified by the same set-up and sourced by the same out-of-towners.   

 Imagine, $160 billion-plus in profits for enslaving these children. Do we wonder why Disney bought the rights to the movie, “Sound of Freedom,” and then refused to release it? That was five years ago.  That is enough money to buy every politician in the world, and a couple of small nations.  No wonder a blind eye is turned, while politicians enjoy private security for their children.

AI is Large and In Charge

We won't rein in child pornography which fuels this sick appetite for child abduction. We aren’t protecting our children from this exploitation. How could any elected official ignore this, let alone any of the citizens of this first world?  

It's now been discovered by researchers at Stanford and U of Mass at Amherst that Meta Platforms’ efforts to curtail the proliferation of pedophile websites is being thwarted by Artificial Intelligence which prompts those purchasing and trading in underage sex content to modify their hashtags with minor variations in order to avoid being shut down.

A Meta spokesperson said that the company had hidden 190,000 such groups in Facebook's search results and disabled tens of thousands of other accounts, but AI is now usurping those efforts.

As Meta shifts attention and resources to artificial intelligence, ironically it has cut costs resulting in layoffs of hundreds of safety staffers focused on high-severity content problems, including some child-safety specialists, according to current and former employees. With minor adjustments to their website suggested by AI, recommendation systems were connecting pedophiles with one another and guiding them to content sellers. Facebook algorithms recommend such groups with names like "Little Girls,", "Beautiful Boys," – it's heartbreaking, really. This is the first world – not some dark corner of a 2nd world enclave.  It's tens of millions of European and American people operating within such dark pursuits.

Review a bill introduced by California State Senator Scott Wiener in January 2019. The bill (SB-145) would modify the state penal code to allow certain individuals convicted of sex offenses involving minors to apply for discretionary relief from having to register as sex offenders. However, the bill does not decriminalize sex with minors. It applies only if the adult was within 10 years of age of the minor at the time of the offense. The age of consent remains unchanged. Under current law, it is illegal for anyone over 18 to have any type of sex with a 14, 15, 16 or 17-year-old. This remains illegal under SB-145 and is punishable by law. 

Senator Scott Weiner is the politician who has brought many of the terrible housing bills to California.  (SB330 – Builder’s Remedy). His design is to eradicate single-family neighborhoods, and he also thinks it is “fair” to eradicate the registry of sex offenders involving minors if their age difference is within 10 years. So, an 8-year-old and an 18-year-old? That is not the same as an 18-year-old and a 28-year-old. Immorality has always been around, but now we have politicians who legislate it.

Locking Everything Up!

To those California legislators who claim that punishment is no deterrent to crime, go visit the nearest CVS, and witness all the detergent and shampoo locked up, or try to buy an AA battery without asking the clerk to fetch a key. Now all the handbags are chained up at Macy’s not just the designer bags.  This is progress?   What a world.  

This is a crime that promotes the depravity that is seeping into every aspect of our lives.

"It's the Holiday Season", – we can hear that refrain of a Christmas classic from Andy Williams. Yet it's hardly the Season that we once enjoyed.  Over the past decade or so, our Holiday traditions have slowly slipped into something our parents wouldn't recognize. Recalling the brightly lit and beautifully decorated downtown corridors where people shopped and gathered night and day all through the season; the Malls, an extension of that same spirit, Christmas trees, a Santa station with children lined up, various groups gathering to sing and play music. If it wasn't exactly a Hallmark Christmas, gazebo and all, it was something that looked and felt unapologetically similar.

Now State Street at night attracts restaurant goers. During the day, it's a parade of tourists searching for something Santa Barbara, something to take back to LA, or the OC, or the inland empire. That's fine and good, but it's not Santa Barbara. We will gather with our friends and family, put together our favorite meals, order presents online, and hope for the best. Yes, we will find joy, and some of us true hope for better times through our faith practices. It will be a good Holiday.

But let's not kid ourselves that it's the same as it was. It's not just a nostalgic look back. A certain sacredness in all things sorely needs protection and nourishment – in our families, our children and schools, our communities, our places of worship.

"And Heaven and Nature sing..."