Sex Predators

Shocking sexual crimes against children fill the headlines, and many parents wonder if enough is being done. Rob McKenna heard their concerns and put together a comprehensive sex offender legislative package with the help of law enforcement and victim advocates. Working with members from both parties, the entire package passed. The package strengthens laws protecting kids, including:
  • A first-in-the-nation law establishing Criminal Trespass Against a Child, which allows facilities where children congregate to ban sex offenders from coming onto the property.
  • Mandatory prison time for crimes committed with sexual motivation.
  • Strengthening sex offender registration requirements.
  • Making possession of child pornography a Level IV felony with a minimum one year prison term.
  • Including second-degree assault of a child with sexual motivation a “strike” under the “Two Strikes, You’re Out” law for sex offenders.
  • Extending the statute of limitations for sex crimes where the perpetrator is identified by DNA evidence.
Sex predators can find their victims anywhere, including the internet. Rob negotiated with MySpace to make the site safer for kids, and he formed his Youth Internet Safety Task Force to find ways to protect children from sex predators. The group wrote a bill making the viewing of child pornography a crime similar to possession; it did not pass in 2008, but Rob will bring it back next session. Rob is also developing a curriculum with the Superintendent of Public Instruction to teach kids how to protect themselves online.

Read and comment on Rob's joint efforts with the Youth Internet Safety Task Force to Protect Kids from Online Predators.