TOUGH SENTENCES PROPOSED FOR CYBER-MOLESTERS

APBnews.com/David Noack

Representative Bob Franks, R-N.J., and Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have introduced theCybermolesters Enforcement Act, which would impose sentences of 5 to 15 years on pedophiles whostalk the Internet trying to lure children into sexual relationships. Franks said that the averagesentence is now 18 months. The potential danger posed by cyber-molesters is highlighted by a recentstudy that found 75 percent of parents in online households let their children surf the Net withlittle or no supervision. Greenfield Online conducted the study that found that children 11 orunder were more likely to receive supervision but that most kids 12 and over had little or none.Parry Aftab, a lawyer, writer and executive director of Cyberangels.org, an online group fightingto protect children, supports the claim that people convicted of possessing child pornography getstiffer sentences than those that use the Net to lure children to have sex. She said that whenonline pedophiles are caught through sting operations, they use the defense that they did not meanto have sex with the child but was acting out a fantasy. It's really sad that they get longersentences for the child pornography than they do for the actual intent to molest, Aftab said.