FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Contact: Senator Joseph Foster

(603) 271-2111

SENATORS CELEBRATE SIGNING OF ONLINE CHILD SAFETY ACT

CONCORD – Senators celebrated today as Governor John Lynch signed into law the Online Child Safety Act – tough new laws designed to protect children from online predators and child pornographers.

Lynch gave one of two pens he used to sign the bill into law to Senator Joseph Foster (D-Nashua), the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 495.

“As the father of three daughters, I know about the threat the Internet can pose to young people. This law not only makes my daughters safer; it makes all of New Hampshire’s children safer,” Foster said.

In crafting the Online Child Safety Act, Foster worked with the governor to modernize and strengthen state laws covering Internet solicitation of children, child pornography and indecent exposure via new technologies such as web cams. The legislation builds on the Child Protection Act passed in 2006, which also was sponsored by Foster.

The Online Child Safety Act passed with widespread support in the House and Senate this year. The law strengthens existing penalties for enticing a child over the Internet, and provides enhanced penalties for repeat offenders; it overhauls and expands existing child pornography laws to better reflect the victimization that occurs when images of sexually abused children are created and distributed; and it closes a loophole so that sex offenders using web cams can be held accountable.

Senator Robert Letourneau (R-Derry) said the law is particularly important in light of recent news reports about a missing Vermont girl who may have been lured from home by someone she met on the Internet.

“This is a perfect example of why this law is needed to protect our children. Parents remain on the frontlines, but this Online Child Safety Act gives our law enforcement important tools to keep predators away from our youngsters,” he said.