[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 21, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H2277-H2278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TAKING THE INNOCENCE OF A CHILD IS SHAMEFUL
(Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, a 14-year-old girl last week was
kidnapped off the streets of Houston, Texas. After being held against
her will for 5 days, she was taken to a motel, where she met a person
named Denise Coronado.
But Coronado was no friend. Instead, she threatened the girl.
Coronado ground cigarettes into the girl's body. She threatened
everyone that the child loved. She published photographs of the girl on
backpage.com, selling her on the marketplace of sex slavery. In a 1-
week period, the young girl was forced to have sex with more than 20
men. Finally she escaped.
But, Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the victim sometimes never
truly escapes. The horrors sometimes live with them forever. We can no
longer be ignorant to modern day slavery. My legislation, the Shame
Act, gives Federal judges the ability to publish the names and
photographs of convicted buyers and sellers of humans.
Those who sell or buy the innocence of children should be shamed for
all to see. Put their photographs on backpage.com.
[[Page H2278]]
And that is just the way it is.
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