Published: October 24, 2009 11:30 pm      

AG's office targets domestic violence, child pornography

By Jennifer Jacob Brown

jbrown@themeridianstar.com



As Mississippi's Attorney General, part of Jim Hood's job is to help push legislation that makes it harder for criminals to commit crimes and easier for victims to get help.

Right now, Hood said he's trying to make things harder for pedophiles and easier for victims of domestic violence.

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Hood was in Meridian Tuesday to talk about domestic violence related legislation at a conference hosted by Care Lodge Domestic Violence Shelter.

"We (Mississippi) are number two in the nation in statistics in domestic violence," he told the Star. "That is a statistic I really believe in 10 years... we can be in the middle instead of number two."

Hood said having the right legislation in place can be invaluable both for the prevention of domestic violence and for helping victims get out of domestic violence situations.

Hood said that 73 percent of boys who witness domestic violence in their homes repeat those actions when they become adults, and that 65 percent of domestic violence victims have been victims before.

"It's going to happen unless you intervene," he said. "The trick is to have a batterer rehabilitation program like they have at Care Lodge." He said only 15 percent of those who attend the rehabilitation program are arrested for domestic violence again.

Legislation was recently passed, Hood said, that makes it easier for victims of domestic violence to get a protective order because they no longer have to go to as many different courts to do so.

In addition, he said, his office now has a uniform protective order registry, making it easier for law enforcement to check whether a person has a protective order against them.

Now, he said, he hopes the state legislature will crack down harder on abusers.

"If you have a conviction of domestic violence, it is a violation of federal law to carry a firearm," he said, "but the Fed has to prosecute it, and that's hard to get them to do. So, we're trying to get the legislature to pass a state law."

Another important aspect of both the prevention of domestic violence and help for victims, he said, is education.

"There are a lot of areas we've worked on trying to educate on domestic violence," he said. "Teachers, nurses, beauticians, they all witness it. They need to know there's something they can do about it."

The crimes of domestic violence and child molestation, Hood said, are often related.

"Of those that beat their wives, 50 percent of them are also beating their children," he said. "We've found connections with those that molest their children, putting child porn on the internet. It's a vicious cycle that can be prevented."

Hood said the Cyber Crime unit at his office uses a program called Operation Fairplay that makes it easier for law enforcement to catch pedophiles who download child pornography on their computers.

Operation Fairplay gives cops the ability to look on the computers of people who are downloading large amounts of child pornography.

The criminals' use of internet file sharing sites make it possible for law enforcement to look on their computers without violating the 4th amendment.

Hood said pedophiles use file sharing programs like Limewire to download child pornography. But before anyone can download anything from a file sharing site, whether it's child pornography or something more innocent like music, they are prompted to agree to the file sharing site's terms and conditions. Those terms and conditions include permission for other people to look on your computer for files they can download.

"So when they click on 'I Agree', cops can go look at their porn, too," said Hood.

Hood said pedophiles are downloading more than just pornographic images from file sharing sites - they're also downloading movies with instructions on how to commit and cover up crimes of child molestation and incest.

"So we look at that - and there's a high correlation between whether they download a lot of material and whether they're molesting a child their home or a neighbor's child - and go after them," Hood said.

Hood said Operation Fairplay has already resulted in the rescue of child molestation victims in Mississippi.

As attorney general, Hood's job is to prevent and prosecute many different types of crime in Mississippi, and he said its what he loves to do. For more information on the attorney general's office and what they do, visit them on the Web at www.ago.state.ms.us.