Fridays With Chris; Keeping Our Children Safe from Online Predators

Statement

Dear Friend,

This past Wednesday, the President signed my legislation, the Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography Act, into law. It was included as part of H.R. 4120, the Effective Child Pornography Prosecution Act of 2007, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent and passed the House with a vote of 418 to 0.

Child pornography has become a $3 billion annual industry. According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted online every week. U.S. Customs Services estimate that 100,000 websites offer illegal child pornography, and according to the National Center for Mission & Exploited Children, approximately 20% of all Internet pornography involves children.

My legislation works to dry up the source of demand for child pornographers. It allows the Justice Department to more effectively prosecute people who produce child pornography or knowingly access child pornography repeatedly with the intent to view it. The legislation changes the U.S. Federal Code (U.S.C.) to improve the efficiency in the prosecution of child pornography cases by including money laundering as a prosecution tool. Additionally, the bill expands the U.S.C. to make it easier to prosecute those who knowingly and repeatedly view child pornography.

This is not about playing ‘gotcha' games with anyone accidentally stumbling across a mistyped web address. This is about protecting our children by stopping those who repeatedly seek out child pornography and those who continue to produce it. I will continue to fight to protect our children.

Sincerely,

Christopher P. Carney
Member of Congress

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