Women are seldom consumers of child porn
On March 31, 1998, something happened in a Buffalo courtroom that almost never happens anywhere in the United States.
A woman was sentenced for a child pornography crime.
Bunthum Grabenstetter, 27, of Switzerland, was sent to federal prison for eight months for selling and possessing child pornography.
Grabenstetter may be the only woman ever convicted of a child pornography crime in Western New York. Authorities said she flew to Buffalo to sell child pornography CD-ROMs at the direction of her dominating husband, John. He was sent away for seven years by the same judge, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Other than that one, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's office, Erie County and Niagara County said they cannot recall a single child pornography case against a woman.
Nationwide, experts estimate that far less than 1 percent of the people convicted of possessing or trading child pornography images are women.
"You very rarely find women who are attracted to this kind of material. I've never encountered one yet," said Dr. David G. Heffler, a Lockport psychologist who counsels sex offenders.
There is no simple answer why.
Heffler believes the powerful maternal instinct is one reason why so many women find it impossible to be entertained by child pornography. He said he has also observed that men are far more likely than women to molest children.
"Generally speaking, I find that women are less interested than men in getting gratification from any kind of pornography, including adult porn," Heffler said.
FBI Special Agent Holly L. Hubert and Elizabeth R. Donatello, a Niagara County prosecutor who specializes in sex crimes, agree. The two women said it has been difficult for them to examine thousands of child pornography images in connection with their cases.
"The first time I ever looked at [child pornography images], I literally could not believe what I was seeing...how bad it was," Hubert recalled. "The first thing that comes into your mind is worrying about your own children, your nieces, your nephews. But you have to keep pushing those thoughts away."
After her first viewing of such images, Donatello had to run to the bathroom and throw up. Every time since, she said, "I've felt like I had to vomit. It never gets any easier for me.
"Male prosecutors who work with me generally seem to get very angry when they look at this stuff. I have a more visceral reaction. I want to get sick, or I want to cry."
While she has never had a case of a woman looking at child pornography, Donatello has seen plenty of child porn that was made with the help of women.
"We don't see women as consumers, but I've seen images and videos where the woman is shown molesting a young child sometimes her own child," the prosecutor said. "That disturbs me."
-- Dan Herbeck
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