Michael Becker News Editor mbecker@nsnews.com THE province has proclaimed iis week to be Stop the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth Awareness Week in B.C. Tell that to Alan Walker, the North Vancouver founder of GOCIAP (Guarding Our Children’s Innocence Against Pedophiles) and he'll draw a blank. “I didn’t even know about this stuff. We're a registered charity, we're hot on the Internet, Pve emailed the govern- ment before. TU don’t get answers from the government. If this is (Stop the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth Awareness Week in B.C.) it would have been nice to have been made aware of it.” While the Ministry of Attorney General crows about its initiatives regarding the problem of child prostitu- tion, Walker continues to struggle with little support. fa 1997 Walker, a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of pedophiles himself, set up a Web site on the Internet to tell his story and educate people about the dangers of pedophiles. The site includes many helpful resources. He also hosts a forum at the site, where people can come and ask him questions, As a young victim of pedophiles Walker felt very alone. Ironically, he now sees an exponential growth in the poten- tial vicumization of children by pedophiles via the Internet. Fire burns park clubhouse A fixe destroved the Myrtle Park clubhouse March 2. North Vancouver District firefighters were called at 3:10 p.m. to douse the blaze, which was threatening to spread to neighbouring houses. Damage is pegged at $80,000. “Flames were coming through the roof, it was totally invelved,” said Capt. Willy Biela. mo ‘ta The Great Canadian ‘ . iL CHANG Snes 1978 LTD, : 73° OFF HANGE $24 $9 aus ond cewvo lors. © WY ies Coegon «For most vetectes ; EEE = Lonsdale & 73th, N. Vancouver - . Loneiy war waged agains! pedophiles He's on to the cyber-perverts and spends many hours a day monitoring Web sites and online chat forums. “I: depends on how active | want to get. Ptook three months away from it recently because Twas petting too uptight. I needed a break from perver- sion,” Walker said. He provides poteatial case informa- tion to policing agencies around the world. For his efforts, Walker in turn has received death threats from the targets of his activities. Watker exists on a disability pension and receives $721 monthiy. Said Walker, “It’s still a struggle. GOCIAP is really me — I do it all. The expenses {have trouble with are the Internet costs. As people got to know me in this area, there has been some help from silent supporters. Safeway helped outa lietle last year with $400, but that's it.” He said GOCIAP has received $1,600 in donations from all sources over the past 18 months. “We haven’t had anything since Christmas. For what I am doing | need a faster connection (to the Net) so I went out and got one, but I cancelled my cable. [ only need $100 a month to real- ly make this run smooth. I just have trouble communicating with people. I live a reclusive lifestyle. I don't know much about grant papers,” Walker said. From Walker's yantage point child pornography activity has increased since “It had a pretty good start.” ne’s been paying attention to the online world. “The Ineeroet multiplies. My latest Statistics are that there are 200 to 400 newsgroups with postings from 500 to 5,000 a dav on child pornography alone. Then we have the Web sites. There has been an increase in the Boy Lover move- ment. As more and more people are get- ting on the Internet, more and more peds are vetting on the Internet. “This movement is a very serious threat to the kids. They get on the Internet and they start reading the crap that they are writing about. We need to be aware of this movement,” Walker said. While monitoring a “Boy Chat” room fast month, Walker was disturbed to find a trail leading to Yahoo!, a global Internet media giant. Yahoo! offers chat rooms, where those logged on can inter- act. Among the many child pornography forums he found within the boys and girls section at Yahoo!: Sex Boy Photos; Young Boy Paradise; Pics of Teen Nude Boys; Boys and Mens Butts; Preteen and Younger Girls Pix. Walker brought a TV news reporter into the equation and a subsequent investigative piece brought the Internet company to shut down the chat rooms. They (Yahoo!) reacted quickly because Global got involved. When | emailed them, the first of the groups started getting deleted within two hours.” To contact GOCIAP, a non-profit charitable organization, write PO Box 30065, Parkgate Postal Outlet, North Vancouver, V7H 2Y8. “Supercalibagelistic especiallydelicious...” aNeEe sy 2 is oe Ree Biela said he didn’t know whether the fire was the work of an arsonist or caused acciden- youths. 1089 Marine Drive 965-1050 B.C's FOREMOST SLEEP SPECIALISTS - Farrily Owned & Operated For Over 38 Years YES, I'm very interested in the Gift of Sleep. 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