[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 13, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4111-S4112]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Mr. Kyl, and Mr. Vitter):
  S. 3014. A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to strengthen 
penalties for child pornography offenses, child sex trafficking 
offenses, and other sexual offenses committed against children; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I come to the floor to discuss with my 
colleagues an issue that has hit home over the last few years for all 
Americans, and that issue is crimes against children. We have all heard 
stories of children, our most innocent population, being victimized and 
abused by predatory criminals. While it is true we have made great 
strides passing Federal legislation against criminal predators, more 
work needs to be done. That is why I am here today to introduce a bill 
that I entitled the Prevention and

[[Page S4112]]

Deterrence of Crimes Against Children Act of 2008. I am pleased to be 
joined by Senator Kyl and Senator Vitter who have cosponsored this bill 
with me.
  This is a very important bill that will protect our children from the 
vilest forms of abuse and will send a strong signal to criminals that 
we as a society will not tolerate such behavior and that their 
predatory actions have real significant consequences.
  I wish to take a moment to talk about the murder of a girl from my 
home State of Iowa, Jetseta Marrie Gage. On March 24, 2005, Jetseta, a 
10-year-old girl from Cedar Rapids, IA, went missing from her home. 
Within 12 hours of her disappearance, Iowa law enforcement agents 
arrested a registered sex offender, Roger Bentley, for the crime. He 
had been previously convicted of committing lascivious acts with a 
minor.
  Regrettably, this criminal served just over a year in prison for his 
previous sex crime conviction. Two days after her disappearance, an 
AMBER Alert tip led officials to the location of her body. She was 
found stuffed in a cabinet in an abandoned mobile home. The autopsy 
revealed she had been sexually assaulted and suffocated with a plastic 
bag.
  I can't help but wonder whether Jetseta would still be alive today 
had her killer received stricter penalties for his first offense. It 
breaks everybody's heart to hear about cases such as this, but it is 
even more demoralizing when you know that it might have been prevented 
with adequate sentencing.
  Last week, I honored two extraordinary law enforcement officers who 
helped put away another one of Jetseta's abusers: James Bentley. 
Unbelievably, James Bentley is the brother of Roger Bentley who was 
responsible for the rape and murder of Jetseta. A year prior to her 
murder, James Bentley took nude photos of 9-year-old Jetseta and her 
13-month-old little sister Leonna.
  After the child abuse prosecution of James Bentley stalled in State 
court due to sixth amendment concerns, U.S. Postal Inspector Troy Raper 
and Cedar Rapids Police Department Investigator Charity Hansel followed 
up on child pornography allegations that eventually led to James 
Bentley's conviction on Federal child pornography charges.
  These investigators worked tirelessly to find nine previous victims 
of James Bentley. Only two of the nine victims testified, but their 
courage and their accounts of abuse by this man were very powerful. As 
a result, these testimonies influenced the district court's decision to 
use higher sentencing guidelines to put him away in Federal prison for 
100 years. I am truly thankful for the public service that Inspector 
Troy Raper and Investigator Charity Hansel have done for Iowa's kids.
  In doing our part, we in Congress have not sat idly by. Two years ago 
we passed into law the Adam Walsh Child Protection Safety Act. This 
important legislation made great strides in protecting America's 
children against violent sexual predators. Among its many components, 
this act standardized the National Sex Offender Registry, eliminated 
the statute of limitations for sex crimes against children, provided 
grants for electronic devices used for monitoring sex offenders and, 
lastly, established more severe criminal punishment for certain crimes 
committed by sex offenders.
  As part of the Adam Walsh Act, we were able to include the Jetseta 
Gage Assured Punishment for Violent Crimes Against Children amendment. 
The amendment created mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for 
criminals who commit murder, kidnapping, or serious bodily harm against 
children.
  We are on the right path, but I still say this is not enough--not 
enough punishment for people who commit these despicable crimes. There 
is still a lot of work that needs to be done on this serious issue.
  This bill I am introducing today will help change this by protecting 
children in four ways. It will increase mandatory minimum sentences, 
boost penalties for certain crimes against children, control the use of 
passports by convicted sex offenders, and strengthen the process for 
removing criminal aliens who commit sex offenses.
  The first section of the bill increases the penalties for child 
pornography offenses and elevates the mandatory minimum punishment for 
criminals who commit exploitation crimes against children. I know some 
of my colleagues have concerns about mandatory minimums, especially in 
the context of drug sentences. I understand that concern, but in light 
of the Supreme Court's decision in the Booker case, something must be 
done to ensure that sexual predators receive the type of sentences 
appropriate for their crimes.
  In Booker, the Court held that the Federal Sentencing Guidelines are 
no longer mandatory, thus Federal judges have unfettered discretion in 
sentencing. I am very worried judges are not doing their job to protect 
children. As a matter of fact, Deputy Attorney General Laurence E. 
Rothenberg testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee last year that 
since the Booker decision, Federal judges have significantly increased 
the number of downward departures for those convicted of possession of 
child pornography.
  To counter this trend, my bill establishes the following mandatory 
minimums for exploitation crimes against children: One, where a crime 
involves child pornography, the offender will receive 20 years to life; 
two, where the crime deals with sexual exploitation of a minor by a 
parent or guardian, the offender will receive no less than 3 years to 
life.
  The second section of the bill increases penalties for child sex 
trafficking and child prostitution. The penalties for these crimes need 
to be adjusted to adequately reflect the gravity of these crimes and 
the damage that they do to children.
  The third section of the bill will ensure harsh penalties for 
criminals convicted of child sex offenses resulting in death, repeated 
child sex crimes, and forcible rape of children. These crimes involve 
the most violent types of sex offenders, and justice for these crimes 
should be dealt out with the strongest available prison sentences.
  The final section of the bill has to do with not permitting these sex 
offenders to travel outside the country. If we know someone is a 
convicted child molester, we have the responsibility to not allow them 
travel to Asia or Europe or anywhere to exploit and harm other kids in 
other lands.
  The bill provides for the following: When the sex offender has been 
convicted of a sex offense, the issuance of passports shall be refused. 
Secondly, if a passport has already been issued, the use of a passport 
may be restricted if the passport was used in the furtherance of a sex 
offense. Lastly, any alien convicted of a sex offense shall be placed 
immediately in removal proceedings.
  The provisions of this bill are designed to protect our children by 
locking up violent sexual predators. I doubt that the Members of this 
body, many of whom have young children of their own, will have any 
objection to ensuring that violators of crimes against children receive 
tougher penalties for their acts.
  It is unfortunate that it took the murder of girls such as Jetseta 
Gage for a law with severe penalties to be proposed, but I strongly 
believe a vote for this bill could save the lives of children in the 
future. We have an obligation as legislators to protect our citizens, 
including our most vulnerable populations, and we have an obligation as 
adults to protect our young people. We have a commitment as parents to 
protect our children and ensure that they are given the opportunity to 
grow up free from the dangers that violent sex offenders pose. I urge 
my colleagues to join me and Senator Kyl and Senator Vitter in 
strengthening our laws so that no child becomes a victim of a repeat 
offender.
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