MySpace Bill Would Make Talking To Minors A Crime
PLAINFIELD, Ill. With more teenagers and young adults posting profiles on MySpace.com, state lawmakers are looking for a way to make it safer.
A new bill in Springfield, Illinois, would give authorities more power to crack down on sexual predators.
The Web sites let people of all ages post pictures and other personal information. But they're also places where child predators go to lure young victims.
According to one mother who testified "Some of the worst was a link to my daughter's site, which took me to a link of a boy that was naked with a girl sitting on his lap fully clothed. That's pornography!"
State Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) is introducing a bill that would give police more power to track child pornography on those Web sites.
"This legislation is designed to recognize that which goes on," said Cross. "We're in a different age than we were 10 or 15 years ago and we have to adapt."
Under current law, explicit sexual communications over the Internet with a minor is not a crime, but Cross's bill is also trying to change that. Several law enforcment agencies now have investigators tracking activity on networking Web sites. But authorities say they also need the help of parents.
"You put a computer in your kid's bedroom with the door shut. You might as well give them a loaded gun," said the Will County State's Attorney William Glasgow. 
