SUPPORT AB 1817 (Atkins): STRENGTHEN PROTECTIONS AGAINST CHILD ABUSE

I think that this petition is very important. I decided to do a post on it. The majority of child sexual abuse media (aka child pornography) is found on predators computers. Yet there is no law that mandates computer technicians to be mandated reporters if they find child sexual abuse media on someone's computer. I would think that if someone found this type of abuse while fixing someone's computer they would morally feel obligated to tell. Yet, that doesn't seem to be the case. One of the ways teacher Mark Berndt was found out is because he took a role of film and had it developed. The film developer saw the images and called the authorities. Commercial film developers are mandated reporters. I would like to think that a film developer even if they weren't mandated reporters would feel morally obligated to do something about the images they found.

There is a bill in the State of California AB 1817 (Atkins)   http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_1817/20112012/ would require computer technicians who find child sexual abuse images of children who look to be 16 years old and younger to authorities. This petition is to garner support of bill AB1817 (Atkins). Please stop by and sign the petition in support of trying to protect more children.
http://www.change.org/petitions/support-ab-1817-atkins-strengthen-protections-against-child-abuse

Why This Is Important

We all want to have safe and healthy environments for our children. The Keeping Innocence Digitally Safe (K.I.D.S.) Coalition strives to keep our children safe from sexual predators. In 2007, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit mandated by Congress to catalogue child sexual abuse images, had identified more than 9.6 million images and videos of child pornography.

Currently, the state of California requires commercial film developers to report sexual crimes against children. California law does not protect or require computer technicians to report child abuse images or child pornography. However, a 2005 study funded by the Department of Justice found that 96% of perpetrators arrested for child pornography had images on hard drives or removable media, while only 18% possessed images in print format.

When is the last time you developed a roll of film?
With the surge of Internet usage, more and more children are being abused. The child pornography industry generates over 3 billion dollars annually, and more than 200 new images are circulated each day to drive that market. A 2005 study funded by the Department of Justice found a high correlation between those viewing images and those committing hands-on abuse of children: 55 percent of people arrested for Internet-related crimes were dual offenders.

The K.I.D.S. Coalition's proposed solution to protect our children from sexual abuse is to update existing California penal code 11165.7 by adding National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. California would be the 11th state in the nation to adopt this law and protect our children in the digital age.
We ask you to support AB 1817 (Atkins) to encourage and protect computer technicians in California to report child pornography.