WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Targeting Child Predators Act.  Sen. Kennedy introduced this bill with Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) and John Cornyn (R-Tx.).  This bill was originally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Ron DeSantis (Fl.-06) and was passed by the House on May 22.

“I am proud to introduce the Targeting Child Predators Act in the Senate.  This bill makes a simple, common sense change to our law that will give law enforcement officials more time to catch and stop child predators,” said Sen. Kennedy.  “It is imperative that we give law enforcement every tool available to hunt these criminals down before more children are hurt, abused, and exploited.” 

“I applaud Senators Kennedy, Hatch and Cornyn for standing up for vulnerable children by introducing the Targeting Child Predators Act in the Senate.  This bill will give law enforcement the tools they need to find and prosecute child predators.  The House has already passed the Targeting Child Predators Act, and I hope the Senate will similarly act swiftly,” said Rep. DeSantis. 

Under current law, law enforcement often obtain the IP address of a suspected child predator and then subpoena Internet Service Providers (ISP) for the user information attached to the IP address.  The ISP can then inform the suspected child predator of law enforcement’s request for their information.  Once the suspect knows about the law enforcement inquiry, they often wipe their accounts clean and disappear.  This bill amends current law to allow law enforcement to require that the ISP’s not tell the suspected child predator that their information was requested for a limited period of 180 days.  This will enable law enforcement to more effectively prosecute criminals who take advantage of children.  

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