House panel approves crackdown on child pornography

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved by voice vote a bill aimed at cracking down on child pornography and exploitation online.

The bill increases the maximum penalties for child pornography offenses from 10 to 20 years and strengthens protections for child witnesses and victims during the trial process.  

Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the lead co-sponsor of the bill, praised the outcome of the vote.

“Today Internet child pornography may be the fastest growing crime in America, increasing an average of 150 percent per year,” Smith said in a statement. “We must ensure that investigators have every available resource to track down predators and protect the weakest among us.”

Unlike a similar bill authored by Smith last year, the Child Pornography Prevention Act does not include a provision that requires Internet service providers to store user data for 18 months. That data-retention provision stoked concerns from privacy groups.

Chris Calabrese, a legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington office, applauded the change to the anti-child-porn bill, saying the lack of a data retention measure is “a good thing.” 

No amendments were adopted to the bill on Tuesday, according to a committee spokesman. 

---