Blunt’s Internet Harassment
Task Force Gathers to Review Online Bullying
JEFFERSON CITY, Tuesday December 18, 2007—Gov.
Matt Blunt’s Internet Harassment Task Force met today at the
direction of chairman and Department of Public Safety Director Mark
James. Blunt has charged the group with carefully reviewing state
law and making recommendations for changes to better protect Missourians
from Internet harassment.
“Missouri families are familiar with the name
Megan Meier and the terrible story of the Internet hoax that turned
deadly,” Gov. Blunt said. “As families and friends continue
to remember Megan and celebrate her life, we must ensure our laws
have the protections and penalties needed to safeguard Missourians
from Internet harassment. I created this task force to protect young
people from cyber harassment. As technology advances and social networking
sites become even more popular, our laws must also evolve to deter
activity that can place our young people in harm’s way.”
The 15-member group is comprised of elected officials,
law enforcement, child services, mental health and Internet providers
which represent a diverse team who share the same goal in keeping
Missourians safe. The group met for five hours today and engaged in
discussion relating to the following areas:
• Current Missouri statutes related to harassment,
stalking, and child endangerment activities
• Current federal and other states’ statutes that exist
on this topic
• Local ordinances that apply to this issue
• The role of social networking site providers
• The mental health and sociological impact of harassment; and
strategies and responsibilities for preventing, mitigating and investigating
such activities
• Increasing parental awareness
“We are only in the beginning stages of reviewing and analyzing
this complex issue, but our task force is dedicated to spending long
hours to ensure that individuals who devise new methods of manipulation
to harass others through technology are deterred or punished,”
said Mark James, Chairman and Director of Public Safety.
The task force has a deadline of thirty days to make
recommendations. The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2008.
Gov. Blunt's strong leadership ensured Missouri has
one of the toughest versions of Jessica's Law in the nation. The legislation
mandates a lifetime sentence with a minimum of 30 years for serious
sexual crimes committed against young children and calls for certain
sex offenders to be monitored their entire lives. The governor also
led the successful effort to expand the state's sexual offender registry
and add new tools to make it a more powerful resource for parents
and law enforcement officials.
Gov. Blunt created a state program to support Multi-jurisdictional
Internet Cyber Crimes Task Forces and a related grant program to help
protect children from online predators. The budget Blunt signed this
year provides a total of $1.25 million for the cyber grant program
to help further law enforcement efforts to protect Missouri children
from cyber sexual predators. The governor recently announced he will
recommend a quarter million dollar increase in funding specifically
designated to help protect Missourians from cyber crime in the next
state budget.
Earlier this year the governor announced his support
for a new initiative to strengthen Missouri's sex offender registry
even further. The legislation would require convicted sex offenders
to submit their e-mail addresses, Instant Messaging names, and any
other electronic identifiers to the sex offender registry. The information
would then be available to help parents and law enforcement keep our
children safe from sexual predators. Registered sex offenders would
only be allowed to use email addresses or other Internet-based identifiers
that they provide to the sex offender registry.
Gov. Blunt also announced last week that he is seeking
the death penalty to be included in state law as punishment for the
worst sexual predators.
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