The Child Protection eNewsletter

“Jessica’s Law” passes in Arkansas, Nebraska and Oregon…
Jessica’s Law, (see vol3_iss27 vol3_iss30) which requires 25-year minimum sentences, and GPS tracking if they ever do out of prison, has become law in Arkansas, Nebraska and Oregon. www.foxnews.com Similar laws are pending in Pennsylvania vol3_iss46 and Michigan. www.macombdaily.com 25 states have adopted or are close to adopting the Jessica Lunsford Act or similar legislation. billoreilly.com Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have formally adopted Jessica Law.

In other news...
Over the last several months, MySpace has been pummeled in the media and criticized by elected officials and law enforcement for maintaining a social networking web site that makes it far too easy for predators to find young victims. www.cbsnews.com Recently, the site has been taking steps to enhance user safety but there are also things that users and parents can do to protect privacy and enhance online safety. We recommend that you start by NEVER allowing a computer in a child’s bedroom. For more safety tips, visit Donna Rice Hughes’ site www.protectkids.com

100,000 children who live in the counties devastated by Hurricane Katrina could develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from their experiences. hosted.ap.org Some 1.2 million children under the age of 18 were living in counties rendered disaster zones by Katrina.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales used strikingly graphic language to focus attention on online child pornography and said Internet services companies are not doing enough to combat the problem. www.cbsnews.com The Justice Department called for legislation designed to help ensure that electronic communications services providers report the presence of child pornography on their systems by strengthening criminal penalties for failing to report the presence of child pornography. www.justice.gov The legislation is also aimed at protecting individuals from inadvertently coming across pornographic images on the Internet.

Italian police said Wednesday they have arrested 18 people - many of them middle-aged Italian men - in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of about 200 children. public.findlaw.com Dania Manti of the Rome police said those arrested included a 16-year-old Romanian boy accused of helping to lure the children away. Six other Romanians are also among those arrested.

The Los Angeles Times reported that a 2004 report by Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony failed to disclose that he let seven priests continue in ministry for as long as 13 years after they had been accused of inappropriate behavior with children. hosted.ap.org Mahony acknowledged in the report that he left five priests in ministry after accusations they molested children, but the seven others were not mentioned, according to the Times.

Nine former employees of a county juvenile detention center were charged Monday with using their positions of authority to have sex with teenage girls housed in the center. www.courttv.com The nine workers were accused of having sex with six girls who were 13 to 15 years old at the time. The age of consent in Indiana is 16.

A 10-year-old South Carolinian was molested in the electronics aisle of Wal-Mart by a registered sex offender, who also happened to be a store employee. www.courttv.com Now, after almost six years, the civil case filed against the retail giant is finally going to trial.


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