Moran and Child Advocates: McDonnell and House GOP Must Restore Alicia's Law Funding
Child Abduction Survivor Alicia Kozakiewicz Asks Former Delegate's Help
Today Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman and former Virginia Delegate Brian Moran joined with Virginia child safety advocates in urging Governor Bob McDonnell and Republicans in the House of Delegates to restore funding they cut out of Virginia's Alicia's Law.
Moran, the original sponsor of the 2008 Alicia's Law, was asked by crime victim Alicia Kozakiewicz to help draw attention to Governor Bob McDonnell's attempt to raid the child rescue fund.
Kozakiewicz was abducted in Pennsylvania at age 13 and brutally raped and tortured for four days by a Virginia man she met online in 2002. Alicia's Law funds Virginia State Police and local law enforcement to investigate and arrest predators who commit Internet crimes against children.
A $10 fee that defendants must pay when they are convicted of a crime funds Alicia's law. Moran was the first House patron in 2008, beginning a fight for its passage that concluded in 2010. At the time of its passage experts estimated the fee would generate about $1.8 million in revenue, but collections have far exceeded that estimate.
Now McDonnell wants to take $1.3 million from the program, transferring it to the General Fund.
"We fought so hard for this," said Kozakiewicz. "They're not stealing from me, they're stealing from children like I was, who are waiting for rescue right now. This money was collected for only one thing: protecting children in Virginia."
The Virginia Senate restored the funding but the House of Delegates has preserved McDonnell's cuts.
"At this moment, Virginia State Police have the capability to identify and locate thousands of computers across Virginia that are being used to traffic in child pornography, and to arrest the people behind these horrible crimes," said Moran. "The only thing stopping them from taking these monsters out of our communities is a lack of resources from the state to support their investigations and the manpower it takes to make arrests.
"By taking funding away from state and local law enforcement agencies that are dedicated solely to enforcing Alicia's Law, Governor McDonnell and Republicans in the House of Delegates are sending a clear message: keeping our children safe from internet sexual predators is not one of their priorities."
The bipartisan group PROTECT, who wrote the original Alicia's Law with Moran, says the problem is massive and growing.
"Last year alone, law enforcement saw over 10,000 unique computers trafficking in the most brutal and sadistic child abuse images in Virginia," says Camille Cooper, PROTECT's Director of Legislative Affairs. "Huge numbers have gone off the radar, as criminals have gotten better at hiding and cops struggle to keep up. But our best estimate is that there are well over 20,000 suspects in the Commonwealth."
"As a father and a citizen of this Commonwealth I urge the Governor and Republicans in the House to realize that protecting our kids is not a political issue, it's a human issue and they must prioritize it in this year's budget." |
