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Senate sponsor pleased child protection legislation signed into law

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The fight against child sexual predators gets some help with additional resources that will soon be available now that Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO) has signed legislation aimed at better protecting children. Senator John Loudon (R-Chesterfield) sponsored Senate Bill 714 – which strengthens laws to allow police to more easily go after predators. But it also commits additional funding to help law enforcement in the effort.

The current law, which is being replaced, only provides for an attempt charge to be filed against anyone trying to use the Internet to set up a sexual encounter with a minor. The big advantage of this new law is that it will provide $3-million annually to fully fund the cyber crimes grant program, with the money spent throughout the state.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

Proposal puts death penalty on the table for rapists of young children

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Lawmakers who are wrapping up the legislative session at the State Capitol could complete this day by approving a proposal to make rapists of young children eligible for the death penalty. The proposal is an amendment to SB 976 – a much larger bill covering several issues.

Representative Bryan Pratt (R-Blue Springs), who put forward the amendment, says the death penalty would not be mandatory for sexual offenses against young children under the age of 12, but it would be an option for prosecutors.

Thursday’s activity in the House ended with Pratt not knowing whether his amendment would remain a part of the larger bill that must be dealt with by 6 o’clock this evening if the bill is to become law.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

Governor tours state to call for death penalty for sexual offenders who attack children

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Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO) is renewing his call for the state’s worst sexual predators to be death penalty eligible. The Governor is asking the General Assembly to send him legislation that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in cases of forcible rape and forcible sodomy when the victim is younger than 12-years of age.

In issuing his call, Blunt noted a recent child rape case in Springfield where a 36-year-old man has been charged with kidnapping and forcibly raping and sodomizing a 7-year-old girl and leaving her for dead in a burning house. Blunt strongly believes death should be an optional penalty for child rape.

Currently Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas have laws that allow capital punishment for a violent offender convicted of child rape. Alabama, Colorado, Mississippi and Tennessee also are considering similar laws.

Crackdown on Sexually Abusive Teachers Moves Forward in House

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An effort to get teachers who sexually abuse students out of the classroom receives preliminary approval in the House, though some representatives wonder whether the bill skirts due process.

Rep. Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield) said she took action in wake of an Associated Press series ranking Missouri as having the 11th worst record of educators charged with sexual misconduct. During House floor debate, Cunningham told colleagues about a former teacher, principal and superintendent who bounced among nearly ten school districts before finally agreeing to resign. More than a dozen students had lodged complaints against him. The district accepted the resignation and provided him with a $16,000 severance package. It promised not to disclose the reason for his resignation. The Department of Secondary and Elementary Education revoked his license after 20 years in the public schools.

HB 1314 would require school districts to report allegations of sexual misconduct to the Children’s Division of the Department of Social Services. Unsubstantiated and unresolved findings must be reported to the Child Abuse Registry for its internal records. That provision sparked objections during House floor debate.

Rep. Michael Brown (D-Kansas City) questioned that provision, "If they’re unsubstantiated, why do they need to be put on a registry?"

Cunningham responded that just because the case was found to be unsubstantiated doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It just means that a preponderance of evidence was not found.

The bill adds sexual misconduct in the second and third degree and sexual contact with a student on school property to the list of offenses that could cost a teacher his or her license. Criminal background checks, including registering with the Family Safety Care Registry, would be required of teachers. The bill would also remove the 20-year statute of limitation for the prosecution of a sexual offense against a person 18 years old or younger.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Supreme Court Strikes Down Sex Offender Law

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The Missouri State Supreme Court has ruled a law banning certain sex offenders from living within one-thousand feet of a school or child-care facility cannot apply to an offender who was already living there before the law was passed.

The Court says the Constitution bans retrospective laws – laws that make something a crime that was not a crime until the law was passed.

Internet Harassment Seen as Tough to Tackle

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Missouri hopes to crack down on Internet harassment, but drafting legislation to fit the problem might be much tougher than first thought.

A special task force began reviewing the topic in light of the Megan Meier tragedy. Megan was the St. Louis County teen-ager who committed suicide shortly after being a victim of a cruel Internet chat room hoax.

University of Missouri law professor Doug Abrams is a member of the task force and has been guiding members through tricky legal waters. He says any legislation drafted this session must be able to stand up to a First Amendment challenge. Abrams suggests lawmakers concentrate on regulating conduct rather than speech. He says a good place to start is using the current harassment statute as a guide, because it has been upheld in court.

Even as the task force makes its recommendation to the legislature, members acknowledge that lawmakers might have trouble fashioning anything to fit the Megan Meier case. In it, Megan became a victim of a hoax perpetuated by adults apparently intent on getting back at Megan for the perceived snub of their daughter.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (:60 MP3)

Record Number of Child Pornography Cases Prosecuted

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The federal prosecutor in St. Louis has prosecuted a record number of child pornography cases this year; 52 so far.  Last year, prosecutor Catherine Hanaway and her staff prosecuted 34 cases last year. Hanaway credits the increase to a national effort started in February called Project Safe Childhood. The initiative focuses on protecting children from online exploitation and abuse. 

Internet Cops Fight Online Sexual Predators

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The effort to protect children from online sexual predators is becoming more challenging as technology expands and the use of that technology expands.

Platte County Sheriff’s Department Captain Paul Carrill is the Officer in Charge of the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, a unit which serves the nine counties around metropolitan Kansas City. Carrill says the investigators on this task force conduct online undercover investigations to nab those who are trying to set up sexual encounters with children. The unit also tries to learn the distribution sources of child pornography.

Through investigative standards, those distributing child pornography are located. Search warrants are then obtained to enter a suspect’s home to recover evidence of any crime.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)

Blunt Calls for Death Penalty for Violent Sexual Predators

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Governor Matt Blunt (R-MO) wants violent sexual predators who prey on children to be put to death … or at least face the possibility of the death penalty.

The Governor made the call as he addressed a Cyber Crimes Summit in Jefferson City, saying crimes of this nature against children deserve the most serious punishment that can be delivered. He wants to work with the General Assembly in the new year to make this happen.

He also wants tighter reins on those already convicted of sexual crimes against children. He’s calling for new legislation dealing with those offenders. He wants their e-mail addresses and Instant Messaging information placed on the state’s Sex Offender Registry.

The Governor says the death penalty should be in play for anyone who commits forcible rape or forcible sodomy against a victim who is less than 12 years of age.

The Cyber Crimes Summit was organized by State Senator John Loudon (R-Chesterfield), who says he is very interested in the Governor’s proposal. He adds this could be used as a tool by prosecutors to plead a case down to life without parole. The Summit was organized by Loudon, who has been the major sponsor of legislation dealing with sexual predators using the Internet to attack and hurt children.

Download/Listen: Governor Blunt addresses Cyber Crimes Summit (8:00 MP3)

Child Porn: As Close as Your Child’s Phone

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A state senator who is planning a summit meeting on internet pornography says children can tap into child porn–or any other kind of pornography—with no trouble at all.

Senator John Loudon of St.Louis was a key player in writing Missouri’s cyber crimes law of 2006. It gives law enforcement more tools to catch and prosecute people who circulate pornography, especially child pornography on the internet. He asks, "If I asked you what the number one source for people to access porn, what do you think that would be?"

Loudon’s answer to that question might cause some jaws to drop. He says more than three-fourths of pornography that is downloaded today is downloaded on cell phones.

A large percentage of children have cell phones with that capability….and today’s cell phones have cameras…Loudon says it is not unusual for children to circulate photos of classmates in various stages of undress. In fact, he says nine out of ten teenagers could easily find a porn site by using their cell phone.

Loudon says it’s hard to imagine how that kind of trafficking of child porn, often produced by children, of children, for children….can be stopped.

He hopes some answers to that problem, and to the broader issues of cyber crime generally, can be found at a special cyber crime summit in December, in Jefferson City.

Download Bob Priddy’s story (:60 mp3)