Newsroom

AUSTIN—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today hosted a press conference with U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-TX, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on their coordinated efforts to strengthen penalties for Internet predators and enhance safety measures to protect Texas children. They were also joined by Cathy Crabtree, Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas, a non-profit representing 63 centers across Texas that are dedicated to assisting children entering the justice system because of suspected sexual abuse, serious physical abuse, and for children who have witnessed a violent crime. “I’m proud to join my colleague Lamar Smith from the House of Representatives in announcing our legislation, the Internet Safety Act, to combat Internet predators and create a safer environment for Texas children. It is our hope that we can garner the support of all our colleagues and pass this bill to strengthen penalties for child sex offenders and Internet predators. While the Internet has generated many positive changes in the way we communicate and do business, its limitless nature offers anonymity that has opened the door to criminals looking to harm innocent children. Keeping our children safe requires cooperation on the local, state, federal and family level.” Sen. Cornyn said. “Our legislation complements the hard work of Attorney General Abbott, who has been relentless in his efforts to crack down on violence against children. He is realistic about the dangers that exist on the Internet and makes every attempt to keep Texas families informed and equipped with the resources to protect their children. Organizations like the Children’s Advocacy Centers are working on the front lines to respond to crimes against Texas children, and help them recover from these despicable and traumatic acts. Together, with the help of vigilant families and members of the community, we can continue to deter individuals from targeting our children and remove these dangers from the Internet.” U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith said: “Of the nearly 600,000 images of graphic child pornography found online and reported to law enforcement officials, only 2,100 of these children have been identified and rescued. Federal, state and local law enforcement officials have reached a digital dead end in their battle against the online sexual exploitation of children. Investigators need the assistance of Internet Service Providers to identify users and distributers of online child pornography. The Internet Safety Act requires ISPs to retain subscriber records, similar to records retained by telephone companies, to aid law enforcement officials in their fight against child pornography.” Attorney General Greg Abbott said: “With sexual predators increasingly using new technology to prey upon children, it is critical that law enforcement stay ahead of the criminals. Innovative legislative responses to high tech crimes are vital to the ongoing success of our crackdown on cyber predators and online child pornographers. Thanks to creative legislative initiatives at both the state and federal levels, law enforcement will have the legal tools we need to help protect Texas children.” Background: Earlier this month, MySpace announced that about 90,000 sex offenders had been identified and removed from their web site. When Sen. Cornyn served as Attorney General in 2000, he formed the Texas Internet Bureau to help investigate the new crimes of the digital age. Today, under General Abbott’s leadership, the Cyber Crimes Unit helps prevent and prosecute electronic consumer fraud, violations of privacy, hacking, and child pornography. On the federal level, Sen. Cornyn and Rep. Smith have introduced the Internet Safety Act, which would: 

• Strengthen existing federal penalties against child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children. 
• Create new federal crimes for those who facilitate child pornography over the internet. Those who set up the servers hosting child pornography could face up to 10 years in prison, and those who help fund these activities could face up to 20 years in prison. 
• Target those who deliberately endanger our children–not those internet service providers who work with law enforcement to protect them. 
• Increase funding for the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative by $30 million. This would nearly double funding for the FBI agents who investigate online child pornography and child sexual exploitation.

Sen. Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary and Budget Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge. -30-