Is Child Welfare the new Church?

[Wezil]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A spokesman for the state agency that oversees the welfare of children was arrested Friday on charges that he solicited minors, at least one of whom may have been in state custody, to create pornography, authorities said.

Al Zimmerman of the state Department of Children & Families has been fired, agency officials said. The 40-year-old was charged with eight counts of using a child in a sexual performance and faces up to 120 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

"It's totally deplorable. There's absolutely no excuse for this. There were absolutely no indicators," Bob Butterworth, secretary of the department, told The Associated Press. "As all of us in the DCF, we were shocked and we were horrified."

A telephone message left on Zimmerman's cell phone was not immediately returned. The jail had no listing for an attorney.

Authorities say Zimmerman solicited at least two victims in Tampa between ages 16 and 17 to create child pornography. The agency is fairly certain that one has been or is in state custody, Butterworth said.

Zimmerman was arrested in Lakeland, where his parents live, and booked in the Hillsborough County jail on $60,000 bond.

"Every photograph, every image, every lasting impression of a child's sexual abuse perpetuates this horrible crime over and over again," Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a statement.

The agency has been under criticism since 2002, when it was discovered that a Miami investigator had lied about visiting the foster parents of a 4-year-old girl. The girl had actually been missing for a year and has never been found.

More recently, former Secretary Lucy Hadi resigned after being found in contempt of court for not moving inmates to state hospitals if they were incompetent to stand trial. Before that, Jerry Regier left the position after an investigation showed he accepted favors from contractors. Regier had replaced Kathleen Kearney, who resigned after the 4-year-old disappeared.

Last year, a child protection task force criticized agency officials because a 2-year-old foster girl was missing for four months before police began searching for her.

I've been seeing similar stories lately. Have the pedos found a new source of children?

[Omni Rex Draconis]

The children's agencies may offer to get you started on your porno career, but if you would prefer prostitution then you can always talk to the cops.

If you read the news without a sense of perspective, you can very easily get too frightened to go out your front door.

Let alone let your children go...

[OzzyKP]

The biggest source of pedos is parents. So not letting your kids go actually puts them in the most danger.

[Heresson]

horrible crime? 120 years?

I think it's too harsh. 16 and 17 are not quite children to me. In Poland what he's done would be legal, and in many other states as well. I think there's a huge difference between 17 yo and, lets say 12-13 yo, not to mention less than that. Isn't a "minor" too wide term?

[Heresson]

oh, btw, that church has to do with it?

In Poland, the borderline is 15, though I'm not sure if it's including 15 or not. Anyway, I think it is about right, though again, there's a difference between early teenagers and actual children. I think child abuse, child pornohgraphy etc should be treaten the severer the younger the child is.