Blumenthal introduces bill to identify and rescue victims of online sexual abuse

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has introduced legislation that he says would make it easier to identify and rescue child victims of online sexual abuse.

The Renewed Hope Act would allow the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit to hire at least 200 additional experts; computer forensics and criminal analysts who can identify victims from the photos posted of them online.

The bill is bipartisan and has been introduced in both the House and Senate. Blumenthal said he hopes to pass it before the end of the legislative session in January.

“There is an urgency to identify, rescue and protect these victims and survivors,” Blumenthal said. “These kinds of images on the Internet stay with these children for the rest of their lives. They are indelible.”

“The only people who are interested in them are the money makers who make a profit from exploiting these children, and the deranged people will be interested in them,” Blumenthal said.

The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX).

It is endorsed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Tim Tebow Foundation, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, ChildFund International, the Child Rescue Coalition, and more.

Nicole Taylor, chief of the child behavioral health division at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, said most children who are exploited live with their parents.

“The Connecticut DCF receives approximately 300 cases each year involving possible commercial sexual exploitation of children, many of which begin on the Internet,” Taylor said.

To contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber ​​Tip Line, visit report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678.