A stranger’s message was this mother’s worst nightmare, as she learned that photos of her daughter were found on a child pornography website.
Amanda Morgan, 29, didn’t think twice when posting cute pictures of her daughter online, until she got a message from another parent that shocked her. “I cried uncontrollably for 45 minutes when I received that message. My partner couldn’t calm me down, I was sobbing and shaking. I thought it was all my fault because I had this Instagram page,” said Morgan.
Morgan was contacted by other moms who had found themselves in a similar situation, and were actively trying to get the website shut down.
Morgan created an account with the website to see which pictures of her daughter were being used, and was shocked to find images of child abuse plastered across the site. Three pictures of her baby daughter, Callia, were on there, photo-shopped to appear that the child was wearing heavy makeup.
Morgan’s Reaction
As a mother, she felt sick to her stomach scrolling through the website, but the worst feeling came when she saw the comments left on pictures of her own daughter. One read: “If she were with me I couldn’t resist.”
“These kids are getting abused and getting pictures taken of them by their own parents. I just feel so sick and I feel sad for those babies. As sickening as the comments were on Callia’s, they were mild.
The other stuff that’s on there is even worse. I nearly threw up, I was literally retching like I was going to be sick. I’ve not been sleeping properly since I found out,” said Morgan.
Amanda Morgan has decided to spread her message, to caution other parents about posting images of their children publicly online.
“My child is covered, she’s wearing a long-sleeved jumper and a skirt in one of the pictures and you can’t see any of her skin. I would say to parents to make sure they’re covered in any pictures they share, never naked or in the bath.
If you want to take those pictures just keep them to yourself, don’t put them anywhere for these creeps to get hold of,” she said.
Efforts to shut down the child pornography website are still ongoing, despite multiple concerned parents notifying police.