Woodson’s Child Protection Legislation Approved by State Senate

(NASHVILLE, TN), March 20, 2008–  Tennessee may soon require convicted sex offenders to provide email addresses and screen names to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), under legislation sponsored by Senator Jamie Woodson (R-Knoxville) and unanimously approved by the State Senate.  Woodson said the bill would crack down on convicted sex offenders and better protect children online.

“These predators know where children are,” said Woodson.  “This bill will serve as an effective tool for law enforcement to strengthen Tennessee’s child protection laws.”

According to the Crimes Against Children Research Center, one of five U.S. teenagers who regularly log on to the Internet say they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the web.  However, only 25 percent of the children who encountered the approach told a parent or adult.

The legislation, SB 2594, would require that convicted sex offenders provide email addresses, chat names, instant message screen names, and any other online electronic communications information to the TBI as part of their routine and annual information collection requirements.  The TBI would be authorized to transmit that information electronically to companies that provide pre-screening services.  In order to obtain information from the TBI, this bill requires the requesting business or organization to agree to notify them when a comparison indicates that a registered offender's email address, instant message, chat, or other Internet communication name or identity is being used on their system.  Finally, the bill would also provide stiff penalties and/or incarceration for the falsification or omission in providing this information to the TBI. 

Woodson said other studies show teens are willing to meet with strangers, with 16 percent of them considering meeting someone they have talked to online.  Eight percent have actually met someone they only knew online.

Recently, a Tennessee convicted sex offender’s vehicle was stopped during a routine search in Nashville and was found with five male children, ranging in age from 12-13 years-old.  The sex offender met one of the boys on MySpace, a popular social networking site.  The five juveniles were in the vehicle with the offender for three hours, and officers discovered that none of them had any relation to the defendant, police records indicate.  Earlier this year, MySpace announced a national partnership with 49 states to implement greater security measures for sites available to teens online.

“If a child or teen has a computer in their room and they utilize popular network services, it gives these sexual predators the opportunity to visit with them alone through this technology,” Woodson added.  “Hopefully, this bill will deter convicted sex offenders from using communication technologies to contact children via the Web.”

There are 600,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S.  An estimated 150,000 of these offenders have been “lost” in the system.

###