Today I felt my heart lifted even as my gut was wrenched.

Kurt Eichenwald, writing for The New York Times, broke so-called rules of journalistic ethics by becoming a part of the story he was covering, and The NYT backed him every step of the way. Three cheers for the NYT!

The Story:

Researching background material on a fraud case, Kurt Eichenwald found references to Justin Berry, a teen porn star operating his own online business. The story tweaked Eichenwald’s fraud attenae, and in the following days and weeks, he uncovered a story that would only serve to sicken and depress me, were it not for the footnote of redemption and Eichenwald’s intervention.

What unfolds from Eichenwald’s story is a gut-twisting story of naivete and seduction, it’s a visceral illustration of how the unwitting use of a powerful tool has profound, life-shattering effects (see my paper: “Integrity on the Internet”). Young Berry, encouraged by the flimsy anonymity of a screen name and a webcam, believed he found genuine paternal friendship in the drooling pederastic grins of predators. Step by step, by degrees of compromise, he descended into a pit of evil. (A theme repeated everywhere by men and women snared by the lure of anonymous sexual exploration online.) Berry ultimately set up a series of webcam-based child-porn businesses, calling himself a “camwhore,” because he would do just about anything in front of a web-camera for the winning bidder.

Fast foward six years: Nineteen-year-old Berry finally wanted out. Having learned to fear the predators he performed for and took cash from—he finally hated what he had become. But not had his lifestyle trapped himn, by now he was bound by cocaine and marijuana addictin. When Eichenwald first contacted him as a journalist, Berry suspected he was actually FBI, and ignored him. Later, Eichenwald approached Berry as an anonymous fan, without the “journalist” hat on. Within weeks, Eichenwald suggested meeting face-to-face at an airport in LA. Berry was susicious again, but decided it didn’t matter anymore. Deep inside, he wanted release:

“[P]art of him hoped he would be arrested, putting an end to the life he was leading.”

In LA, Eichenwald immediately identified himself as a reporter, and Berry didn’t run. They continued talking. And over the next few days, Eichenwald encouraged Berry to shut his website down, to stop answering his cell phone, to stop answering Instant Messages, and to end the drug use. Amazingly, Berry not only agreed—he complied. With The Times’ consent, Eichenwald brought Berry to Washington, set him up in a new residence, provided medical and psychological care, and began documenting the case. Again, Eichenwald goes a step beyond: he convinced Berry to turn his transcripts and payment data over to the FBI and become a witness.

More than 1,500 men are now under investigation.

Redemption:

I wish there was more coverage of this tantalizingly brief line near the end of the story:

“He has sought counseling, kept off drugs, resumed his connection with his church and plans to attend college beginning in January.”

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