Stop Child Predators (SCP) mission has one goal – to protect children from exploitation. To that end we craft legislation; build coalitions; and provide education to policy makers and the public. To confront the victimization of children at the local level we have passed model legislation in forty-six states. Now, as the challenges to protect children have become global we are focusing our attention on federal policy to ensure adequate law enforcement support to meet the moment when it comes to keeping children safe. If predators are not removed from the equation no community, no platform, no family, no child will be safe.
Mission
We are a group of experts in child welfare and child protection who have become increasingly concerned that proposed policy development in child exploitation has largely failed to address prevention, support law enforcement, or make the critical connection between digital and real-world exploitation of children. While most critics of some proposed legislation have rightly focused on serious constitutional concerns and unintended consequences, there has been little discussion of how to prevent harm, stop the cycle of abuse by predators, and support law enforcement support to ensure meaningful and effective child protection.
about us
Stop Child Predators President, Stacie Rumenap, speaking at U.S. Capitol rally
Many vehicles have been introduced in Congress by well-intended members seeking to mitigate online child exploitation. Some of these bills are duplicative. Others present serious and unavoidable constitutional concerns that do not provide adequate, enforceable protection for children. Most do not provide the funding needed to have a real impact on outcomes. All but one fail to address the most pressing element in any successful child protection exercise, strong financial and political support for the role law enforcement must play if we are going to protect children in any meaningful way and prevent abuse in the future.
Good Bills vs.
Bad Bills
Despite this crisis, the Department ofJustice has largely failed to implement the 2008 law. As of 2019, it has produced only two of the six mandatory reports and consistently sends only half of the $60million that was authorized for state and local law enforcement each year.
High levels of appointee and staff turnover have further hindered progress.
enforce existing laws
While many in Congress are enthusiastically focused on protecting children “online” they seem less concerned about the circumstances of children in real life. Current efforts to establish greater liability for organizations most responsible for identifying who and where perpetrators may be seems not just shortsighted but entirely counterproductive by robbing victims of important information needed for them to access both criminal and civil justice.
What Does It Mean to“Protect” Children?
One of the ironies of the child protection debate is how readily elected officials from both sides of the aisle are turning to the government to dictate policy around children and access to the Internet. One example of this disconnect is the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA.) While on the surface KOSA seems well intended, the bill represents the worst kind of box-checking when it comes to public policy. One could readily see an already overburdened and conflicted Congress passing a bill with a deceptively attractive title and then consider a serious issue “addressed” for what could be a generation.
The Government Makes a Lousy Parent
Whether holding the US child welfare system accountable for its failures or synchronizing adoption policy with responsible child protection rules, any member of Congress seeking to protect children should ensure well-informed, consistent policy development that encompasses both digital and real-world concerns and solutions.
The Danger of Failing to Connect the Policy Dots
Child safety must be addressed in both the real world and the online world. Stop Child Predators (SCP) recognizes that technology and the App Economy are becoming more prevalent in the lives of families and children. That’s why we launched the Digital Safety Project -- to ensure that children are protected from online offenders and recognize that the private sector has a responsibility AND ability to protect children. The project will also make sure that the government doesn’t unnecessarily interfere with the protection of children or the ability of parents to decide what’s best for their children.
Digital Safety
What this Is About
News
STACIE RUMENAP
As a seasoned political operative, Stacie specializes in campaign management, coalition building and strategic alliances, and grassroots mobilization. She has led 18 successful ballot initiatives in 11 states and worked as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill. Stacie also spearheaded the passage of Jessica’s
Law – a measure that mandates tougher penalties for adults who exploit children under the age of 13 – in 46 states and at the federal level. She was instrumental in passing a version of this law as a model bill in 2006 through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where she continues to be an active member. More recently, within ALEC’s Women’s Caucus, Stacie was part of a discussion where she supported the rights of teens and families to use social media in contrast to the onslaught of legislative bans currently underway in most states.
MAUREEN FLATLEY
Maureen is an expert in government reform and oversight involving children. A
trusted advisor to SCP, she has spent decades advocating in the US and abroad
for children who are victims of abuse, neglect, and exploitation on and offline.
She has been an architect of a range of bills in Congress and at the state level that dramatically reform systems serving children. In 2006, in the interest of amplifying civil justice for victims of online exploitation, she was instrumental in the creation and passage of Masha’s Law. This bill tripled the civil penalty for predators downloading CSAM. Working with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), she has been instrumental in the creation of the Invest in Child Safety Act and continues to advise dozens of Congressional offices on child protection issues.
Jessica
jenna &
chelsea
The stories that changed the law
Stop Child Predators' story begins with Jessica's story. In 2006, SCP crafted The Sexual Offenses Against Children Act, model legislation inspired by Florida’s Jessica’s Law. The law, named in honor of Jessica, mandates a minimum 25-year prison sentence and lifetime electronic monitoring for adults convicted of lewd and lascivious acts against a child under the age of 12. Since then, the landscape for exploitation has shifted from in person to online, SCP has continued to convene policymakers, advocates, and law enforcement to develop effective, actionable strategies to protect children.
