[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 30 (Friday, February 16, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       DELETING ONLINE PREDATORS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARK STEVEN KIRK

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 16, 2007

  Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the Deleting Online 
Predators Act of 2007, H.R. 1120. This legislation is a critical step 
to empower parents to exercise more control over what their children do 
on the Internet and to protect them from Internet predators.
  In Lake County, IL, we have seen what can happen when Internet 
predators are able to make contact with children. In October 2005, 
Joseph Caprigno molested a 14 year-old boy he met on the Internet. 
Caprigno, a 40 year-old man, arranged to meet the boy in a 7-11 parking 
lot in an Internet chat room. In January a 20 year-old man, Michael 
Zbonski, molested a 16 year-old girl he met on MySpace.com. 
Frighteningly, not only did he communicate with this girl for 2 years 
on the Internet, he admitted to having a sexual relationship with one 
of the victim's underage friends.
  The Deleting Online Predators Act is a commonsense piece of 
legislation designed to empower parents to play a more active role in 
their children's activities online. The bill calls on the Federal Trade 
Commission to issue consumer alerts and establish a unique Web site to 
better educate parents as to the dangers posed by Internet predators. 
Parents are the first and most important line of defense against these 
predators, and it is imperative to arm them with timely and accurate 
information to protect their children.
  This bill also requires schools to prevent children from accessing 
social networking Web sites and chat rooms unless they are doing so for 
a legitimate educational purpose and are under adult supervision. It 
also requires public libraries to prevent children from accessing these 
Web sites unless they have the permission of a parent. I believe this 
is an entirely appropriate action to help parents determine what their 
children can and cannot do online. It seems foolish for the taxpayer to 
subsidize what amounts to a loophole by which children can circumvent 
their parent's wishes and unwittingly expose themselves to Internet 
predators.
  Madam Speaker, Lake County also offers one more case that plainly 
demonstrates the need for this legislation. The Lake County State's 
Attorney recently filed Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse charges 
against two teachers who are accused of soliciting and arranging to 
molest underage students at the school where they taught. Jason Glick 
and James Lobitz didn't just molest two underage students, they 
arranged to do so using school-owned computer equipment and resources 
during school hours.
  The cases against Jason Glick and James Lobitz are still pending, but 
by passing this bill, we can send a message to parents that just as we 
wouldn't allow sexual predators to roam the halls of a school, we will 
not allow them to infiltrate our schools over the Internet.

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