Child pornography should be legal to posses.

My opponent can make whatever claims he wants, but this is a fact that cannot be disputed: CP (I will adopt this usage from here on out as well) is a criminal exploitation of a child's rights. Legalizing the viewing of such criminal behavior is to be indirectly complicit with that criminal act, and a person who is in possession of CP is very likely to be an active child abuser already or is on a path that will lead him to become one (http://www.csecworldcongress.org...). Let's look at some of my opponent's claims from the previous round: "60% of those arrested are totally innocent" This is simply untrue, the fact is that possession of CP IS a crime, and therefore they are guilty of it. As far as possession of CP being a victimless crime, that is merely semantics. A crime was committed for that image or video to be produced, and the person in possession of it is propagating that crime. Also, since that time I have come across other studies with different numbers. One, done by the Chicago PD, found that "almost all" of the persons they arrested for CP possession had photos of themselves having sex with children(http://www.csecworldcongress.org...). Another, conducted by US Customs, found that "over 80% of those who buy child pornography are active abusers" and they suspected that a significant proportion of the rest simply had not been caught (http://www.csecworldcongress.org...). "Look at other black market industries, like those of drugs and prostitution. Going after the possessors (Or johns) stops a very small amount of people." My opponent makes reference to these to industries in order to equate them with CP possession as a supposed victimless, or public order, crime. However, unlike these two industries, the perpetrator is knowingly taking advantage of the exploitation of a child. This in itself makes the act morally and criminally reprehensible. As far as the deterrence argument goes, that doesn't make it right. Laws against theft do little to deter most thieves, but that in no way justifies the decriminalization of theft. Theft may not be a "victimless" crime, but the logic still applies. "I disagree that sexual abuse has risen 1500% since 1988" Putting aside the fact that you haven't come up with any evidence to back up your theories, I will address your claim nonetheless. According to the United States Department of Justice, child pornography had been all but eradicated by the mid-1980's (http://www.usdoj.gov...), but with the advent of the internet, CP has become exponentially more popular. And guess who consumes 62.7% of the world's CP now? That's right, the United States (http://www.csecworldcongress.org...). Whether my opponent agrees or not, the US has become the world's leading consumer of this abhorrent material, and the only way we can crack down on it is by arresting those who possess and view it. Most CP comes from Eastern Europe or Asia, places outside our jurisdiction. As my opponent has said, the market for CP is very small, and the majority of the material is consumed by a very small number of people. A 2003 sting in which 1,300 people were arrested produced nearly a billion images. Each arrest takes away a significant portion of the market when compared to other industries. Your argument that these are simply fantasies holds no water. Fantasies involve one's own imagination; CP involves the graphic sexual exploitation of an innocent child.