NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
John L. Brownlee United States Attorney Heidi Coy Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2250 FAX (540) 857-2180 |
June 13, 2006
VIRGINIA FIGHTS BACK AGAINST CHILD PREDATORS:
PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD SUMMIT BRINGS LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM ACROSS VIRGINIA TO RICHMOND
Federal and local law enforcement from across Virginia convened in Richmond Tuesday for one of the first Project Safe Childhood conferences in the country. John Brownlee, United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, and Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, together with Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell, have called the conference to develop new strategies to better identify, prosecute, and punish child predators.
“We are committed to protecting Virginia’s children from sexual exploitation and abuse. Many child predators wake up in the morning with the intention of violating a child. In order to protect our children, we must have a coordinated effort from all levels of law enforcement to prosecute these criminals and place them in prison for long periods of time,” said United States Attorney John Brownlee.
Virginia’s efforts are part of President Bush’s Project Safe Childhood initiative. The program makes protecting children from child predators a priority for the Department of Justice. Law enforcement at all levels will coordinate an aggressive approach that includes the identification and prosecution of child predators.
“Our children deserve to be protected, and we pledge to do everything in our power to seek the strictest penalties for criminals who would do harm to them,” said United States Attorney Chuck Rosenberg. “ Today’s conference should send a clear message to those who use the Internet to prey on our children. Law enforcement at all levels of government and our non-law enforcement partners are joining together in this coordinated effort to stop these dangerous predators, not only in Virginia, but across the country.”
Prosecutors will seek stiff penalties for these criminals in order to remove them from their communities for greater periods of time. Virginia’s law enforcement community will also seek ways to provide training to families to show parents how to better protect their children from these predators.
“Today is an important day in the fight to keep our children safe from sexual predators. Our citizens will be safer and our communities will be stronger as we join together to combat child predators who entice children online and abuse them,” said Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell. “I came into office determined to put Virginia in the national lead in the battle against sexual predators. Our launch of the Project Safe Childhood Initiative and yesterday’s launch of our new state-of-the-art registry – combined with mandatory 25 year sentences, GPS tracking, and an improved civil commitment system for the most dangerous offenders – is a significant step forward in this effort.”
Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative aimed at preventing the abuse and exploitation of kids through the Internet. The program was launched by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales on May 17, 2006.