Nebraska Targets Predators, Gives Pass to ‘Sexting’
Legislative Bill 97 is sure to be passed in Nebraska soon. The bill would toughen penalties for tech-savvy sexual predators, and would block them from using social networking sites to prey on kids. It’ll also give investigators a better way to track Internet use by such perpetrators.
However, the bill also provides an “affirmative defense” against conviction for those younger than 18 who “sext” a friend, as long as the photograph is only of the sender and as long as the sender believed he or she was sending it to a willing recipient who was at least 15 years old. The same defense would be afforded those younger than 19 who possess a “sext” message in their phone, as long as the racy photo was generated “willingly and voluntarily” and wasn’t the result of being coerced.
But if a girl texts an explicit photo to a boyfriend, who then sends it to 15 friends, that boyfriend would be in big trouble under LB 97. The person forwarding such photos could face a felony charge of possession of child pornography, punishable by up to five years on prison.
After thinking about this one for a good 10 minutes, you can see how great this is. Maybe kids shouldn’t go to jail for sending their significant others nudie pics, but anyone who abuses those pics, or is an adult trying to coerce a picture of that nature from a minor – they do need to be punished. As for the sexters, it’s really up to the parents to govern.
Of course, this involves two steps: 1) parents acting like parents again and not passive friends and 2) parents monitoring the internet and cell phone usage of their kids. You can monitor computer usafge with PC Pandora monitoring sotware… for cell phones, here’s a though – take it from them and check it. You bought it; you pay for it; you own it. Act like it.
Anyway, good step for Nebraska. I hope to see more states following suit.
LINCOLN – The state is gearing up to get tougher on sexual predators who prowl the Internet.
But in the process, they hope to separate the truly criminal from the truly stupid by providing a possible exception for high schoolers who “sext” naked pictures of themselves to a friend via a cell phone.
State lawmakers gave initial approval Wednesday for a bill that would toughen penalties for tech-savvy sexual predators. It also would block them from using social networking sites, such as Facebook or My Space, to prey on kids and would give investigators a better way to track Internet use by such perpetrators.
Legislative Bill 97 appears assured of passage after first-round approval by a 44-0 vote.
The proposal also provides a way to avoid jailing high school-aged “sexters” for what amounts to possession and distribution of child pornography.
The bill provides an “affirmative defense” against conviction for those younger than 18 who “sext” a friend, as long as the photograph is only of the sender and as long as the sender believed he or she was sending it to a willing recipient who was at least 15 years old.
The same defense would be afforded those younger than 19 who possess a “sext” message in their phone, as long as the racy photo was generated “willingly and voluntarily” and wasn’t the result of being coerced.
“We don’t want to treat childish behavior as criminal activity,” Attorney General Jon Bruning said.
But if a girl texts an explicit photo to a boyfriend, who then sends it to 15 friends, that boyfriend would be in big trouble under LB 97, which was introduced by Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh on behalf of the attorney general.
The person forwarding such photos could face a felony charge of possession of child pornography, punishable by up to five years on prison.
Sexting is not uncommon – 22 percent of teenaged girls have posted a nude or semi-nude photo of themselves, as have 18 percent of teenaged boys, according to a national survey of 1,280 teens and young adults. The survey was conducted last fall by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com.
Bruning initially sought the bill to prevent convicted sex offenders from being able to prowl for teenagers by using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Related bills introduced by Sens. Mike Flood and Tom White were amended onto LB 97.
The attorney general said more and more sexual predators are using the social networking sites because they can stay anonymous while finding out many details about a teen victim before attempting to contact them.
Sex offenders have no reason or right to use such sites, Bruning said.
“They’re going in there to entice children for salacious reasons,” he said.
LB 97 attempts to keep up with newer technologies used by predators by including Blackberrys and other Internet-capable cell phones in a new criminal offense, “Enticement by Electronic Communication Device.”
The bill would require the more serious, registered sex offenders and those convicted of crimes against minors to register any devices they use to access the Internet, and to provide an identifying “Internet Protocol” (IP) address so their Internet use could be easily tracked.
Parents could even obtain such addresses to check whether their kids were being contacted by convicted sex offenders, who typically contact teens under false names and ages.
“This is one of the best tools we’ve got to protect children,” said White, whose bill requiring posting of email addresses and IP addresses of convicted sex offenders was added to LB 97.
Bruning called LB 97 “one of the most important public safety measures” advanced in years, because it provides tougher sentences, as well as mandatory minimum sentences for predators over age 25 who prey on children. He cited a couple of recent probation sentences, one in York County that his office is appealing, as being too lenient.
“Nebraskans are just drawing a line in the sand and saying enough is enough – we’re not going to allow grown men to prey on our children in that way,” Bruning said.
The bill, through an amendment offered by Flood, allows prosecutors more leeway in introducing evidence of past sexual crimes by a defendant.
The amendment mirrors what happens already in federal court cases, Flood said, and should aid prosecutors in obtaining convictions by helping show a propensity to commit such crimes.
Ed Sexton, who seeks out online sexual predators via computer for the Attorney General’s Office, said that by having a sex criminal’s IP address, it will be easy to track their Internet usage and remove the anonymity that is provided online.
The tougher penalties, Sexton added, will give law enforcement more incentive to pursue such crimes, as well.
“The bad guys are always trying to find new ways from being discovered, and we’re trying to find new ways to find out who they are,” Sexton said.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:00 AM
[...] wrote about proposed legislation a few weeks ago here, Nebraska Targets Predators, Gives Pass to ‘Sexting’. The bill passed 48-0! Read about it below and remember that as good as this is, PC Pandora can [...]