Child pornography
pornography that exploits children
Child pornography (CP), also known as child sexual abuse material (CSAM), is erotic material that involves or depicts persons under the local age of majority or age of consent. The precise characteristics of what constitutes child pornography vary by criminal jurisdiction.
Child pornography is often produced through online solicitation, coercion, and covert photography. Sexual abuse (such as statutory rape or forcible rape) is mainly involved during its production. Pornographic pictures of minors are also often produced by children and teenagers without the involvement of an adult. CSAM images and videos are frequently collected and shared online.
Laws regarding child pornography generally include sexual images involving prepubescent, pubescent, or post-pubescent minors and computer-generated images that appear to involve them. Most individuals arrested for possessing child pornography are found to have images of prepubescent children. Those who possess pornographic images of post-pubescent minors are less likely to be prosecuted, even though such images also fall within the scope of the statutes.
Child pornography is illegal and censored in most jurisdictions.
“Child pornography” enters the record as pornography that exploits children. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Child, pornography and exploits can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Child pornography” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Child, pornography and exploits provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q660567. The Library of Congress control number is sh85023536. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Child pornography”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Child pornography primary sources, Child pornography archive and Child research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Child pornography”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Child pornography” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.