People are sharing a child porn video on Facebook. It needs to stop now, police warn
Law enforcement officials are warning people to immediately stop sharing a video of child pornography that has been circulating across Facebook for the last week.
"This video has been shared widely on social media. As this investigation proceeds, law enforcement issues a reminder to the public that possession, dissemination or sharing of this video is a criminal act," Central Alabama Crimestoppers wrote on Facebook.
"If you receive this video through social media, report it to the social media platform and delete it immediately. Do no share it, as criminal charges may result."
The video reportedly shows a young girl giving oral sex to an adult male, according to AL.com.
Most of the people sharing the video are doing so through Facebook's messenger service. They are ostensibly sharing it in an effort to find the victim and perpetrator and bring them to justice.
But that is absolutely not the right way to go about this, law enforcement officials say.
"It's going viral and we don't want it to go viral,'' Tony Garrett, executive director of Central Alabama Crimestoppers told AL.com. "It's already disturbing enough."
Garrett said nobody in the video has been identified yet, but police are investigating.
"We don't have a location and we don't have a time frame, though some things point to Alabama,'' he told AL.com.
The video has spread far beyond Alabama, where officials believe the scene may have been filmed. Investigators have gotten tips from Denver and even France, AL.com reported.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office in Polk County, Fla., posted a lengthy warning to residents who had been sending the video to police.
"This PSA has been prompted by the fact that we continue to receive dozens of private messages each day in reference to an absolutely horrific image & video that is being shared via social media," the department wrote.
"We don't have any information on whether or not an arrest has been made but we are hopeful. If you should come across the image, which is too disturbing to describe but depicts a small child being abused by an adult male, please rest assured that it has been reported & is actively being investigated.
Facebook itself advised users to report the video and delete it if they see it.
"We do not allow the sharing of child exploitative images on Facebook or Messenger -- even to express outrage," the company said in a statement to WBRC. "Regardless of intention, sharing such imagery is harmful and illegal. When we become aware of such images, we remove them and notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. We urge people never to share such content and to report it to local authorities immediately.”
A conviction for distributing child pornography can lead to decades in prison.
Anyone with information relevant to this investigation is asked to contact CrimeStoppers at 334-215-STOP, or the Alabama Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, 334-353-1224.
This story was originally published February 5, 2018 at 11:04 AM with the headline "People are sharing a child porn video on Facebook. It needs to stop now, police warn."