 The legislation clarifies current Illinois law to allow prosecuting
attorneys to charge suspects for each individual item of alleged
child pornography in their possession. The bill would be in line
with other statutes, such as the controlled substances laws, that
allow for multiple convictions for "single and separate" violations.
The House originally and unanimously passed the measure in early
April. The Senate then unanimously passed the bill with an
amendment, sending it back to the House for concurrence on
Wednesday."Child pornography is not a victimless crime. Every
time an image of an infant or a toddler being raped is viewed, it
perpetuates the initial crime against these innocent victims,"
Madigan said. "To protect these children, we must ensure law
enforcement has the strongest tools at its disposal to put these
offenders behind bars."
"By clarifying this aspect of the law, we are sending a clear
message to the people who possess and distribute child pornography,"
said Senate sponsor John Mulroe, D-Chicago. "We've cut out any
loopholes that would give a perpetrator any advantage, letting them
know that even one image is too many."
Madigan also stressed the importance of HB 2647 in light of the
consecutive sentencing model that her office helped draft and worked
with the legislature to enact last year. Under that model, courts
must impose mandatory consecutive, rather than concurrent, sentences
for child pornography-related offenses.
"This clarification in the law will provide prosecutors another
tool as they work to crack down on dangerous predators in possession
of child pornography," said Rep. Emily McAsey, D-Lockport, who
sponsored the measure in the House. "I appreciate the opportunity to
work with Attorney General Madigan and remain committed to
strengthening Illinois law to protect our children from
victimization."
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In addition to Madigan's legislative efforts to combat child
pornography, the attorney general conducts "Operation Glass House,"
an ongoing statewide initiative to apprehend the most active child
pornography traders in Illinois. In the first year of Operation
Glass House, Madigan's investigations revealed a disturbing trend of
offenders trading extremely violent videos of young children being
raped. As a result, Operation Glass House has focused on
apprehending offenders who are seen trading and watching extremely
violent videos involving children, including infants and toddlers.
Madigan's office, with a grant from the U.S. Department of
Justice, runs the Illinois
Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which investigates
child exploitation crimes and trains law enforcement agencies. Since
2006, the ICAC task force has been involved in 558 arrests of sexual
predators. The task force has also provided Internet safety training
and education to nearly 290,000 parents, teachers and students and
16,000 law enforcement professionals. Currently, 183 agencies are
affiliated with the Illinois ICAC.
[Text from file received from the office
of
Illinois Attorney General Lisa
Madigan]
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