Combats fastest growing crime in America: Internet Child Pornography

The following statement is from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith upon his introduction of The Child Protection Act of 2012.

The bill (H.R. 6063) increases penalties for the possession of child pornography, raises funding and resources for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces and provides additional protections to child victims and witnesses.

Congressman Smith introduced the bill on June 29th with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and 29 additional co-sponsors.

Congressman Smith:

"Internet child pornography may be the fastest growing crime in America, increasing an average of 150% per year. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed more than 51 million child pornography images and videos in the hopes of identifying the victims in them. These images of children being sexually assaulted are crime scene photos – and each face represents a child in desperate need of help.

"Every day these online criminals prey on our children with virtual anonymity. The Child Protection Act of 2012 provides law enforcement officials with important tools to combat the growing threat of child exploitation. We must ensure that investigators have every available resource to track down predators and protect the weakest among us. This bill ensures that paperwork does not stand in the way of protecting our kids. It gives the U.S. Marshals tasked with tracking down these predators the legal tools they need, and it helps prevent more victims by raising the penalties for those who hurt our children."