A Mother’s Story: Daughter’s Photo Stolen & Likeness Turned into a Child Sex Doll
“If I took her dreams away because some evil person stole my daughter’s image to make a child sex doll, then they win.”
These are the words of Terri, her daughter Kat just eight years old, is a child model and pageant contestant who suffers from CVID, Common Variable Immune Deficiency. While life is difficult for Kat, who receives life sustaining plasma transfusions and is frequently hospitalized, she had no idea things could get worse.
On August 12th, 2020 at 5:24 A.M., Terri received a Facebook message from a friend sharing images of a child sex doll being sold on Amazon. But when Terri opened the images to look at them more clearly, what she saw shocked her. The child sex doll resembled her 8-year-old daughter. One photo in particular looked like it had been created from a picture of her daughter that she had shared in their Facebook Group – a place where Terri shared her daughter’s journey of illness, Kat’s community service projects and her modeling and pageant success.
“I read the message from my friend and saw the image, and I instantly started to cry uncontrollably. I was completely overwhelmed with a mix of emotions that I’ve never felt before. The image of the doll looked very similar to a photo I’ve taken of my daughter. This image had the same socks as my daughter and the same pose as my daughter on our sofa at home. She had that same sweatshirt and facial features as that image, even the same stuffed animal! I couldn’t image that some sicko would use my daughter’s photo to create something so ugly and evil to be used for abuse by pedophiles. And I was in shock that Amazon would sell an inappropriate child sex doll on their website, I mean, we use this website to help with Kat’s community service projects. I asked myself how can this be legal in the United States?”
Once Terri learned that this doll had been listed on the online superstore since November of 2019, she immediately reached out to Amazon. It took four days for her to get the doll resembling her daughter’s likeness removed, and then she started to receive messages from Kat’s supporters that it was listed elsewhere on the internet. The doll wasn’t going away, and she knew she needed help, so a friend suggested she contact Child Rescue Coalition.
Are Child Sex Dolls Legal? Sadly, Yes.
Child sex dolls are legal in the United States, with the exception of Florida, Tennessee, and Kentucky, but many have been trying to get them banned from import into the U.S. via the Creeper Act. The bill aimed to block the importation and transportation of anatomically correct childlike dolls, mannequins or robots, intended for use in sexual acts. But the Creeper Act has stalled in the Senate, as has the bill H.R. 4150 introduced last year. But Terri is motivated to get this, or legislation like it passed.
She said, “I have contacted my state representative, my governor, anyone that would help me make a new federal law to protect all children in the United States from these pedophiles. I know in my heart that I need to get the Creeper Act passed so this nightmare will never happen to another family or a child. I want a new federal law to charge these buyers as sex offenders. I want the people that create these dolls banned from selling them in the United States, and charged and fined.”
Terri enlisted the help of Child Rescue Coalition and their Chief Operating Officer, Glen Pounder, who has written this petition to gain public support to make all child sex dolls illegal in the United States. “We were aware of and have even taken some steps towards identifying the predators who are purchasing these dolls and who also are known to us at CRC to be trading illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM). However, this kind of doll, with the likeness of a real child isn’t something we’d encountered and adds an additional even more sinister aspect. We hope this heart-breaking situation is the impetus to create real energy for change in this area. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if legislation would aim to stay ahead of the game for a change? Making all child sex dolls illegal in the U.S. is the goal of the petition, but the real goal is to create a safer society for all children.”
Why Child Sex Dolls Need to Be Outlawed
The United States is behind the eight ball when it comes to child sex dolls, as this has been a long-ignored issue that needs more attention. Here is why these need to be made illegal now:
- Canada and Australia have already banned these horrific sex toys, recognizing the true danger they pose. It’s time to follow their example.
- These are not harm reduction strategies for pedophiles. Child sex dolls are often found when law enforcement raid active sexual abusers’ homes. They are not preventing abuse. Michael Bourke, Ph.D. for the United States Marshals Service, who worked with sex offenders for a decade in the federal prison system, says this about using dolls as substitutes for real child victims:
“These dolls make the sexual fantasies of pedophiles more real. And making their fantasies more real is precisely what we want to avoid. We do not want them to reach the point where they become habituated to their dolls. The child sex dolls reinforce and increase the longing and desire to abuse children, and because the dolls are only a substitute for what the offender truly wants, they are likely to “push” offenders down the road toward acting out with a real child.”
- They are readily available for purchase as evidenced by Terri’s experience this month. In March of 2019, Amazon came under scrutiny when reports emerged they were selling “child sex dolls for pedophiles.” While the online retail giant confirmed these products had been listed, they cited corporate policy intended to restrict their sale and vowed to remove them. Child sex dolls remain on the platform.
Child Rescue Coalition and Kat Need You to #JOINTHEFIGHT
Please join Terri and Child Rescue Coalition in the fight to #PROTECTKAT and get the Creeper Act or other legislation passed, making it illegal to buy these dolls in the U.S. SIGN THE PETITION HERE NOW and share it with everyone you know.
Terri adds, “There should be a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse material which includes sex dolls that look like real children. The United States should not support pedophiles that wish to sexually abuse our children. We need to act NOW.”