Prevent passage of well-intended but wrongly focused bill S.1738 Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007

We, the undersigned, ask the Senate to consider the negative consequences of the aforementioned bill, S.1738, Combating Child Exploitation Act of 2007, before it is voted on.

We have several laws in place in this country already that are tough on cyber crimes against children, and have no need to implement and fund further harsh laws. What we, the undersigned, would like to see is the federal government funding for Acts such as these go to the prevention of cyber crime, by way of cracking down on the purveyors of child pornography, and by focusing on the Internet itself as means of preventing the exploitation of children, by taking child pornography off the Internet and going after those who commit atrocious acts on a child for profit.

We would like to see the federal government focus on the disruption of the child pornography industry by finding and punishing those directly involved with the abuse of children for profit, such as those who rape and molest, those who photograph and film the act, and those who put the images and videos on pay-for-access websites for financial gain, and less on those who solely view child pornography in their own home.

It is our understanding that the federal and state governments are already overwhelmed by the instances of cases of possession and viewing of child pornography, and that not all cases are able to be investigated and prosecuted. There appears to be a problem in this country of access to these horrible images and videos, as they are easily come by on the Internet, whether free or by paid access.

There is no hard evidence to suggest or prove that all viewers of child pornography are child molesters, or intend to harm children. There is more evidence to suggest that those who view child pornography do so because of a pornography addiction, and access the images during the course of their addiction because they are available so readily.

We believe that if such things were not easily available on the Internet, there would not be so many cases of possession of possession and viewing of child pornography, and there would be little or no �demand�. Therefore, the focus needs to be put on prevention of Internet child pornography by going after those who commit the crimes against children by physical means in order to satisfy their own sexual or financial needs.

While we understand that viewing and possessing fuels the child pornography industry, the crime of viewing child pornography with no instance of child abuse on the part of the viewer is punished to an extreme in this country, with long prison sentences, fines and further restrictions as sex offenders after prison, when rehabilitative counseling and treatment is more effective and should be priority.

We would like to see the federal government focus financially on educating parents and children about Internet safety and the importance of monitoring children's online activities to prevent potential predators from contacting and harming innocent children, rather than entrapping those who are deemed potential predators in online stings. When presented with an opportunity, there are many who would cautiously engage in sexually oriented conversations with a minor child when they otherwise would not.

Parents should monitor their children's online activities and be aware of who they are speaking to and what the conversations consist of, in order to report men and women who are truly predators seeking victims aggressively on line. We are urging Congress to fund Acts that would catch true predators.

We, the undersigned, are asking Congress to fund Acts that would directly end the abuse of children, instead of finding and punishing those who have not been accused of or who have not been proven to have had direct contact with minors for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

We are urging Congress to protect children all over the world by focusing directly on their abusers and those who profit from that abuse, instead of spending billions of dollars on finding and prosecuting the consumer, who is very often not guilty of actual physical abuse against a child.

We, the undersigned, are asking Congress to consider the families and children of those who are convicted of possession of child pornography and of those who have been convicted of the online enticement of children who were convicted based on entrapment in stings to catch online predators, in cases where there has been no evidence to prove that the convicted have ever harmed a child, or have ever intended to. We bear the heavy burden of watching our loved ones go to prison, and then be further punished under Acts such as the Adam Walsh Act, Jessica�s Law, Megan's Law and the Jacob Wetterling Act. These Acts and laws have torn families apart, have caused extreme burdens on those who have already been punished for their crime, and take the focus off those who are TRUE predators and a serious risk to society.

We urge Congress to focus on the perpetrators of physical child abuse, and fund Acts and laws that will focus on those that are truly guilty of an offense against a child, and the education of parents and children when it comes to cyber crime.