Senator Nozzolio Unveils Measures To Protect Children From Internet Predators
New York State Senator Michael F. Nozzolio announced that the State Senate has issued a new report entitled, "Protecting Children in the Internet Age". The report calls for the enactment of a wide array of aggressive measures designed to protect children from the dangers posed by Internet predators, child pornography and child sexual abuse.
“There is nothing more important than the safety of our children,” said Senator Nozzolio. “The Internet has become an integral part of our children’s education and lives and we need to make sure that New York State law keeps pace. The recommendations contained in the report will toughen penalties for sexual predators and help keep children safe from harm.”
The report comes amid a dramatic expansion of networking and video sharing sites such as MySpace.com and YouTube.com, which present additional challenges to parents seeking to monitor their children’s activities on the Internet. The full report can be viewed at http://www.senatornozzolio.com/senate_update.asp?id=1201
The report recommends passage of a comprehensive series of measures that will:
> Toughen penalties for promoting child prostitution or producing child pornography;
> Crack down on child sexual predators in Internet chat rooms;
> Establish stiff penalties for predators that use computers to commit sex offenses;
> Support training for law enforcement in the area of computer child exploitation;
> Strengthen the sex offender registry; and
> Establish Internet Service Provider Warnings, among many others.
The report highlights a number of significant and growing problems related to the spread of child pornography, which is now estimated to be a $2-$3 billion a year enterprise. The possession or distribution of child pornography is illegal under federal law and in all 50 states, but many researchers and law enforcement officials have found these crimes to be increasing at an alarming rate, fueled largely by the rapid growth in the use of the Internet and modern technologies.
“Sexual crimes against children are amongst the most heinous in our community. Protecting our children is one of our most important responsibilities and I am strongly urging my colleagues in the Legislature to join me in adopting laws that will help prevent crimes against children and severely punish those who prey upon them,” concluded Nozzolio.
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