MARCH 9–In an aggressive bid to entice prospective “sex tourists,” the Department of Homeland Security last year launched an undercover web site that purported to arrange trips from the U.S. to Canada, where clients could engage in sexual activity with minors, The Smoking Gun has learned.
The “Precious Treasure Holiday Company” web site was active until a few weeks ago when its Massachusetts-based web hosting firm removed the site from its servers, apparently in response to a complaint about its content. Now, visitors to precioustreasureholidaycompany.com are greeted with the message, “This site has been suspended.” After a year online, the DHS undercover site may have fallen victim to its own sleazy, overt come-on. As seen at right, the site’s front page carried three symbols that an FBI intelligence bulletin has identified as being used by pedophiles. Additionally, the site’s acronym, PTHC, is an allusion to “preteen hardcore” pornography. The site’s carefully misspelled motto–“We Help Make Your Fantasy’s Come True!”–also does little to mask its illicit intentions.
An account executive with the hosting firm, who appeared unaware that “Precious Treasure Holiday Company” was a government operation, said that following a site’s suspension an internal investigation is launched. Upon the review’s completion, a site is either reinstated or terminated. The executive, Jason Crawford, added that if a customer’s site is found to contain illicit material like child pornography, the FBI is contacted.
[Five years ago, FBI agents concocted a similar sting, launching “Wicked Adventures Travel,” a web site purporting to offer pedophiles "exotic excursions" to the Philippines and Thailand. That operation yielded at least one felony conviction.]
I don’t really have a problem with the tactic, but is this a job for DHS, or are they looking to recruit?
DHS seems to be doing just about everything rather than what it was supposed to be created to do. The reason why is obvious. They were given about a 100 times the resources they need.
Wow! The FBI did the same thing and got a whole (ie ONE) conviction out of it. I’ll bet that was an expensive arrest.
I’m all for going after the sites that are providing this sort of “service” and the consumers of the service.
I’m (generally) not for stings.
#22–Ed==how would the law “go after” these websites except by a sting operation? IE==pretend to be a customer and see what they do?
along those lines, every a-hole has an opinion, fewer can say why.
Why are you (generally) not for stings? Why do you thing the constant victimization of innocent people is a valid and moral tradeoff?
We also now see the writing skills of Homeland Insecurity. Every plural word does not use an apostrophe.
You all should take a closer look at what “Publius” said. He seems to put into words the feeling I have about all this deception and criminal behavior authorities engage in to catch criminals. BTW- are the DHS guys pedos themselves, or do they have closet pedos on-staff? They seem way too authentic for people putting up a fake pedo website. Also, shouldn’t we be trying to find the root causes of pedophilia and attacking those? Or do some in power already know why it is and what to do to stop it? Uh-huh.
# 25 Rich said, “Or do some in power already know why it is and what to do to stop it?”
Well, I understand that photos of mature women with small breasts is now classed as pedo porn in Australia. I suppose women with shaved pubes are pedo lures, too.
Wow! Just thought. Japanese men are reputed to be overly fond of women who dress in school uniforms. A nation of pedophiles.
Seems to me the FBI should be the investigating agency and they should be following leads to extant crimes not luring people – some of whom might be interested but never before inclined to participate.
You wonder what might happen to someone who accidentally comes to their site. Anybody here ever clicked on a mundane-appearing link only to get redirected to a porn site? No, me, either.
Do they collect the IP address and then make you register as a sex offender?
Personally, I don’t comprehend the interest so many men have in young girls or most of the other paraphilias, for that matter. We get a lot of sex tourists here in Thailand and a LOT of them (seems like a disproportionate number of Germans!) are here for the kids. I think it must be a dominance thing in most cases.
There have been cases reported in the press here of the FBI assisting local law enforcement in apprehending child traffickers. As much as I dislike seeing the FBI operating on foreign soil, this seems a better use of personnel than running a bogus website.
You anti-sting people keep up the call against it but none of you offer the rational. I suppose Animby comes closest–that you can get arrested if you happen by a website by accident?
We are talking about CRIME here people. Is viewing kiddieporn a crime–or just downloading it and keeping it on your porn dedicated hard drive? I don’t know. I’m not a pedophile by “my” definition–meaning I would never underfund public education, but a crime is a crime.
In this instant case, the CRIME I assume is traveling to a foreign place to have sex with underage kiddie sex slaves. While for my own hypocrisy I have some doubts about simple viewing of kiddie porn on the web, I have no doubt about engaging in the rape/torture of little kiddies over seas, or even at home, or even in your own house.
If you agree such sex is a CRIME and should be, how best—get it, how BEST to stop this activity? And the answer of course is a sting operation as close as you can get to the point of CRIME.
And the objection Animby raises is that you might sign up on the website and buy a ticket and travel to the foreign place out of curiosity with no intent to actually have sex. Well, maybe so. Or maybe just an exception to the law should be written in that it only applies to Germans?
Matters of degrees of course. In such circumstances, it is the close cases that should be argued, not the concept itself, expecially when no alternatives are offered other than: Let crime run rampant.
Like me rants against the future course of Sharia Law, its telling when intelligent people can’t see their own sloppy thinking–they are so skilled otherwise.
Silly hoomans.
Well I do have a problem with the tactic. It’s like spraying the forests with gasoline, and seeing who’ll light a match to it, and charging them with arson. This entrapment tactic, just catches a few stupid offenders, without dealing with the REAL underground illegal market. Like having police women pose as hookers, to catch some Johns. But doing nothing about the hookers and managers, that already exist. And I’ll wager these “stings” let some of the more prominent and well connected pervs get off. Whereas if they started busting clients of the REAL illegal market. They might have to explain why Mayor so-n-so, or police chief such-n-such, was caught and then released, all charges dropped.
A sting lets them filter out those who can better pay to not be persecuted. So just a bunch of poorer, clueless schmucks get jail time.
And if these “Stings” are anything like what the ATF did with allowing guns to travel to Mexico, and be used to kill people there. And then border agents in the US. Then I’d say such stings are in serious risk of putting the lives of the “bait”, in danger too. Stings are nothing more than a flypaper solution. But does nothing to patch the holes in the window screens, of society.
#28–Glenn==you say: “Well I do have a problem with the tactic. It’s like spraying the forests with gasoline, and seeing who’ll light a match to it, and charging them with arson.” /// Well, there’s your problem right there: in a “sting” operation the forest is sprayed with a safe fluid that will NOT BURN. then as you say, we wait to see who will light a match. But because this is a STING operation, there is no risk to the forest.
You see the difference here?
Silly hoomans.
Must have been a slow year in terrorism.
I’ll tell you folks, especially you dupes from BP and Homeland Security, that there is plenty of video footage and statements from top Homeland Security out there to prove to me that this was not a sting operation. Just how in the hell do you train people to NOT molest children? Start with those child molesters working for Homeland Security. Check out the movie, “Conspiracy of Silence” and read “The Franklin Cover-up.” THEN try to say this was a sting operation with a straight face.
You really have to wonder why you NEVER hear of US servicemen (or even tourists)in europe being busted for this kind of stuff by American authorities, when in fact it is KNOWN that many US servicemen regularly ABUSE and RAPE (according to US law) 14 year old girls in Germany, Spain, and Italy, as well as other countries.
I mean, why go Canada for a “vacation,” when you can (and many do) just join the US armed forces and make a “living” out of it?
well its unholy Saturday now..day before easter bunny sunday.when the failed carpenter rose from the dead.if you believe in fabrications and bullshit miracles..if they really did a true sting of the pedos..half of your congress critters would be in jail..but he little gurls understand..