I just had a strange and interesting and awful and bizarre thing happen in my family today. This morning around 7:30 am, four federal agents and a slew of state troopers appeared at the door of the house of one of my relatives. They had a search warrant. The grounds? Child pornography. Which is disgusting and terrible.

But here's the catch.

The perpetrator? He's 13 years old.

Can a 13 year old be busted for looking at pornographic pictures of girls his own age? Is that illegal? I'm sure it is... but it seems like it shouldn't be as illegal as an adult looking at pictures like that, which is just disgusting. No matter what, pornographizing a minor is a morally wrong, contemptible thing to do and anybody who supports that industry should be dragged through the streets. But a 13 year old? Can he even understand why that is wrong?

I wonder if he knew it was illegal. I wonder how he found access to the materials on the Internet. Through friends? Girlfriends? (he's had them) Older friends?

The whole thing is scary for this kid, who will undoubtedly have to serve some sort of sentence. (For breaking a federal law, no less...) His parents are beside themselves with grief. He's been having enough problems as it is in school, with friends, with his parents, etc. And now to have this happen... I hope he can pull through this rough patch.

I think there is a moral to this story. Parents, if you have children and you have Internet access, put your computer in a public place. Don't put it in the basement, or in your kid's room. We always had a family "computer room" when I was growing up, so my mom could always walk by and casually check out what I was up to. I suppose times are changing and more kids have their own computers now, but if you have a family computer it is a lousy idea to hide it away somewhere.

Hmm, still not sure how I feel about the whole thing. More than anything I feel awful for his parents... They live in a small town, and I'm sure this will somehow become public knowledge. The kid will probably have to switch schools, and they are already talking about moving because they "can't hold their heads up high anymore" in the community. That must be an awful feeling.