Note: While these stories are based on actual events, names and certain details have been altered or removed to protect the privacy of the subjects.

Porn stars in spite of themselves

Emily, Kristin and Melissa met online at a Vancouver site called 4Teens2Talk. The girls had each signed up to meet people, and got to know each other from hanging out in chatrooms.

The girls became involved in the Hottie board on the site—members sent in pictures to add to the board, then other members would talk about who they thought was or wasn't a "hottie". The comments about the pictures and their ratings made the girls feel good about themselves, and it all seemed safe enough because 4Teens2Talk was strictly moderated.

But one day, a message appeared on the Hottie board alerting users to another website. The photos of some Hottie participants, including Emily and Kristin, had been copied to the external site, and their pictures had been manipulated to be sexually suggestive and compromising. The hit counter on the site indicated that thousands of visitors had logged on in the six months since the site first launched. There was no telling how many copies had been downloaded.

Emily and Kristin's families filed a report with an online child exploitation tipline—analysts reviewing the case found sufficient legal grounds to send the file to local authorities in the city where the illicit site originated. Three months later, a 30-year-old Alberta man was arrested for privacy invasion and the production and distribution of child pornography.