House Members Weigh Sex Crimes On Internet
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Wednesday concerning sex crimes and the Internet.
One goal of the session was to gain input on the best way to prosecute sexual predators online.
Legislators came to the table to introduce new laws such as the Safe Act of 2007. The Safe Act requires all electronic service communications providers to report child pornography.
Providers would be fined for every image and every day that goes by if they don’t report child pornography. Other legislation requires more penalties against online sex offenders.
Investigators report over 350,000 people over the age of 12 are victims of sexual offenses each year. One in four women and one in seven men will be victims in their lifetime. The FBI estimates there are as many as 50,000 child predators prowling the Internet at any time.
“The age of sweet sixteen used to be about parties and learning to drive, but now it marks the threshold of Internet freedom,” said Rep. Nick Lamson (D-Texas)
Alicia Kozakiewicz was raped, beaten and kidnapped by a man she met online at the age of 13. She was among those who testified at the hearing. “The Internet provides a type of anonymity that allows a timid child to miraculously transform themselves,” she said.”They’re suddenly able to act without the fears that have constricted their daily lives.”
“I was a good student, I had a few good friends, I had the most wonderful loving and supportive family a child could ever ask for and yet at 13 we change. We question everything, escpecially ourselves,” she said.
“Christine was really a middle-aged pervert named John and he had lots of practice at it little mascarade because he had it all down- the abbreviations, the music, the slang, the clothes, he knew it all,” Kozakiewicz said.
