from www.network.nationalpost.com – This week I reported on the arrest of Bishop Raymond Lahey, who was charged with possession and importation of child pornography. I have no idea whether the Bishop Lahey is guilty and nor does anyone else. The man should be afforded the same rights as any of us would expect.

The one thing I found doing interviews and just speaking to people I know is how repugnant they found the very notion of child porn, let alone the possible involvement of a bishop. Many people I spoke to made that face that we all make when we contemplate something nauseating. No surprises there and it is reassuring that I found no one who thought child porn was okay.

When the discussion turned to adult pornography, the tone changed. Most people say that adult pornography, which is legal and between consenting adults, is okay. And even if they do not approve of adult porn themselves they could see a clear distinction between adult porn and child porn.

The worldwide pornography industry is worth billions of dollars. The proof is on every magazine stand. There are at least two dozen hard-core magazines for sale at most every newsstand every month and they would not be there if there was not a big audience for them. Then there is the amount of adult pornography on the Internet and in video stores.

I bet there are readers of this piece who use pornography, but who would sooner slit their own wrists than use child porn.

Yet the legal definition of child porn in this country is the depiction of anyone involved in a sexual act who is under 18 years of age. That means that the 18-year-old “adult” actress someone slobbers over today would have been a ticket to prison a few months ago.

The pornography industry does not try to entice 50-year-old actors to take part in its films. Or those over 60. The pornography industry is a vacuum that sucks up the youngest looking models, who meet the minimum legal requirement of being 18 years old. There is also the constant demand in pornography for a new crop of young actresses. Think about what that means: The industry wants recruits who are at least 18 but can give off the impression of being a sophisticated 15-year-old or 14-year-old.

Many users of adult porn are probably really enjoying a version of child porn; but they comfort themselves with the knowledge that the models are over 18 — so they can feel reassured that that person being gang-banged is an adult, and not a kid.

The abuse of small children is probably the worst of all crimes. And I would not want to argue that an 18-year-old who gives herself to the porn industry is the same as an eight-year-old.

But perhaps it is time to think about why so many people are willing to watch a young adult burn up her youth for the sexual pleasure of others. Maybe tucked inside that adult film are more than a few 16-year-old models, children according to the law, who faked their way in with phony IDs.

Pornography is a sick continuum. It is addictive, just as much as alcohol or any drug. And it pushes its users to expand their horizons — otherwise sales would flatten pretty soon. And anyone who buys into the industry, who supports it with their dollars, is creating an environment in which moral boundaries vanish — allowing something like child porn to flourish.