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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Jennifer L. Mann |
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Bill to make viewing child porn a crime passes House
HARRISBURG, Feb. 11 – State Rep. Jennifer Mann, D-Lehigh, said legislation she authored that would make viewing child pornography a criminal offense under Pennsylvania law unanimously passed the House today.
Pennsylvania Superior Court previously ruled that existing state laws prohibiting child pornography apply only to individuals who possess these illegal images. In at least one case, the conviction of an individual who admitted to intentionally viewing sexually explicit images of children on the Internet was overturned.
Mann said H.B. 89 would close the loophole in the law to better protect children from child sexual predators.
"Because the State Supreme Court has ruled that current law makes it legal for people to view child pornography, we must act quickly to change the law," Mann said. "These sexual deviants who intentionally view these images of children are contributing to their exploitation and should be held to the same criminal standards as those who hold the camera."
This same bill passed the state House unanimously last year, but then spent 21 months languishing in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the end of the legislative session. Mann urged her colleagues in the Senate to move the legislation out of committee and for a full vote without delay.
"There is no argument – moral, ethical, legal or logical – to hold up passage of this legislation," Mann said. "I hope the Senate chooses to act quickly to protect our children.
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
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