Contact: Rob Ostrander or Shana Stribling 202.224.5721
Friday, May 5, 2006

WASHINGTON, D.C - The Senate approved a measure sponsored by U.S. Senators Jim Talent and Kit Bond to clarify that federal law allows law enforcement to represent themselves as minors on the Internet to stop sexual predators. The Talent-Bond legislation was attached to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act which passed the Senate unanimously last night.

Senators Talent and Bond took action in response to last year’s decision by a federal judge to throw out a jury’s conviction of a sexual predator because of interpretation that the law requires the enticement of a minor, not an undercover law enforcement official posing as a minor.

“The Senate has taken this necessary step to make the Internet safer for our kids,” said Senator Jim Talent. “Predators routinely abuse the anonymity of the Internet to entice kids. And our law enforcement officials should be allowed to pose as someone else to protect kids. Our measure makes clear that law enforcement can patrol the Internet to help make it safer for our kids to use the Internet.”

“Passage of this common-sense Missouri idea will give law enforcement another tool to keep our children safe from sexual predators,” said Senator Kit Bond. “We must take every step necessary to protect our children from being stalked by these dangerous predators in cyberspace and today's action is a good start.”

Talent and Bond’s measure amends federal statutes to explicitly allow law enforcement to represent themselves as minors on the Internet. It would clarify federal law to match similar anti-predator laws in Missouri and Kansas. Missouri and Kansas have enticement and child solicitation laws that allow prosecution involving undercover officers, but state penalties are not as severe as those available under federal law which allows for up to 30 years in prison.

Last August, a Missouri lawyer was convicted for enticing a teenager on the Internet. After the verdict was read, a federal judge threw out the conviction, ruling that for conviction, the law requires that a minor actually be enticed, not an undercover law enforcement official posing as a minor, as in this case. The case is still pending. Missouri’s law expressly states that communicating with law enforcement rather than an actual minor is not a defense and the state’s enticement and child solicitation laws allow prosecution involving undercover officers. Talent and Bond stressed that it is essential federal law contains this important tool for law enforcement officials in their efforts to keep the Internet a safe place for children.