The mainstream online community also condemns child molestation. Thousands of Web sites and forums have been established to fight the problem. Offenders' names are even being published on Web sites such as the one run by the Bangor Police Department. However, in many other corners of the Internet, child molesters find advice and support that was not available to them prior to the growth of online computing. The Internet allows anyone to publish anything, of any length, for very little money.
Freedom of speech is protected by the U.S. Constitution, even speech advocating child sexual abuse.
More than 8,000 sites on the World Wide Web encourage adults to have sex with children. This is the opposite message from the one that child advocates say children need to hear. Other sites tell pedophiles how to locate school or playground addresses online before going away on vacation. These pages link to legitimate sites like Disney. Newsgroups allow pedophiles from around the world to anonymously exchange messages of solace, share tips on how to lure children into sexual encounters and trade information on police strategies.