 House Bill 2647, which was sponsored by Rep. Emily McAsey and drafted in
conjunction with Madigan's office, seeks to clarify 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 that allow for multiple convictions for "single and separate"
violations involving controlled substances or deadly weapons, for example. Sen.
John G. Mulroe will sponsor the measure in the Senate.
"Child pornography is an unspeakable crime that has very real consequences.
Every time an image of an infant or toddler being raped is viewed, it
perpetuates the initial crime, further scarring these young, innocent victims,"
Madigan said. "This legislation will ensure that law enforcement has the most
effective tools at its disposal to put away these despicable offenders for years
to come."
"This clarification in the law will provide prosecutors another tool as they
work to crack down on dangerous predators in possession of child pornography,"
McAsey said. "I appreciate the opportunity to work with Attorney General Madigan
and remain committed to strengthening Illinois law to protect our children from
victimization."
Madigan also stressed the importance of HB 2647 in light of the consecutive
sentencing model that her office helped draft and was enacted last year,
directing courts to impose longer mandatory consecutive, rather than concurrent,
sentences for child pornography-related offenses.
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In addition to her legislative efforts to combat child pornography,
Madigan 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, also runs the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children
task force, which investigates child exploitation crimes and trains
law enforcement agencies. Since 2006, the task force has been
involved in 552 arrests of sexual predators. The task force has also
provided Internet safety training and education to more than 286,000
parents, teachers and students and 16,258 law enforcement
professionals. Currently, 182 agencies are affiliated with the
Illinois ICAC task force.
[Text from file received from the office
of
Illinois Attorney General Lisa
Madigan]
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