Efforts to protect children from pedophiles and other “cyber predators” were discussed during a hearing held on March 28 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families.
Subcommittee Chair Judd Gregg (R-NH) cited studies showing that 90 million American households have access to the Internet, while approximately 75 percent of parents are not supervising their children’s online activity.
According to a study by Greenfield Online, he said, “only 20 percent of parents take advantage of available Internet filters.” He added: “With so many unattended, vulnerable children on the Web, it has become a virtual feeding ground for those who seek to exploit innocent kids.”
The subcommittee’s ranking member, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), highlighted a provision included in the 1998 omnibus appropriations package (P.L. 105-86). Known as the Child Online Protection Act, the provision mandated the formation of a commission to study child exploitation and the Internet. “I look forward to watching the commission as it begins the work of producing a report on technological solutions,” Sen. Dodd said.
Under another provision included in P.L. 105-86, companies that provide Internet service are required to offer parents and teachers access to filtering software. In addition, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that discover child pornography displayed on their sites are required to report them to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which operates a CyberTipline to gather reports on possible child exploitation. Federal law also prohibits the transmission of obscene material to children.
Kenneth Neu of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) testified on federal efforts to address child exploitation through the Internet. He highlighted the Innocent Images initiative, which the FBI started in 1995. As part of the initiative, the agency monitors chat rooms and websites, seeking indications of criminal activity and studying the most prevalent techniques among child predators.
In chat rooms, the FBI concentrates its efforts on those who express willingness to travel across state lines to meet with children, as federal jurisdiction pertains to cases that involve interstate commerce. In addition, the FBI coordinates with ISPs and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to identify individuals who upload images that violate child pornography statutes. Since 1995, Mr. Neu told the committee that Innocent Images has brought about 448 convictions.
William Hagmaier of the FBI said the agency favors new statutes to facilitate convictions among cyber predators. The current federal laws were written before the widespread use of the Internet, he said, and they “don’t cover people who commit crimes within their own states, they don’t cover people who don’t make direct threats in their messages, they don’t cover people who falsely represent themselves, and they don’t cover people who pay for stalker information.”
Members of two families testified on cases involving the Internet and children. Teresa Strickland described the abduction of her 15-year-old daughter, who was lured from home by a child pornographer she met in an online chat room. The girl and a friend were molested by their abductor for four days before one of the girls was able to make a phone call for help and the girls were located. “I am here to tell you that it can happen to any kid,” said Ms. Strickland, adding: “She was a regular teen, and vulnerable to the seduction of an online predator. Our computer is in the kitchen—in a common area, as recommended—but that did not matter.”
Tim Remsburg described the stalking and murder of his 20-year-old daughter. It was discovered that the murderer—who never interacted with his victim in person—for two years maintained several Internet sites detailing his stalking activities and plans to murder her. In addition, the murderer collected his victim’s address and other personal information after purchasing her Social Security number on the Internet. Mr. Remsburg urged the committee to crack down on Internet companies that sell personal information. “Collection agencies that can prove who they are…or agencies that are looking for missing persons can benefit from this information, but…we need to stop the sale of our personal information to private individuals,” he said.
Dr. Mary Anne Layden described the Internet as “an ideal delivery system” for child pornographers and pedophiles because the many available images encourage the belief that “sexually pathological behavior is normal, is common, hurts no one, and is socially acceptable.” Because pictures are “particularly potent,” she said, “the Internet sex sites produce…role models for every form of perpetration against women and children.”
Dr. Layden and Internet security expert Donna Rice Hughes both highlighted the use of computers in public libraries by “cyber predators.” Ms. Hughes said libraries “employ policies that would seem to encourage the illegal transmission of child pornography, by offering privacy screens, destroying patron sign-up sheets after use, and employing computer programs that delete any trace of user activity.” She added, “Some pedophiles have even used library computers to run child pornography businesses.”
Calling the activities in libraries “a national scandal,” Dr. Layden said, “pedophiles can go to the library to gather pictures for free. Pedophiles ask themselves, ‘How bad can this behavior be if you can do it at the library?’”
