The Marietta Daily Journal – Olens joins effort for more local authority in prosecuting child sex cases

MARIETTA — A coalition of attorneys general wants to shut down one of the nation’s most-profitable criminal enterprises by getting to the source of how child prostitution is marketed on the Internet.

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens announced this week he has joined the bipartisan effort to ask Congress to give local governments the authority to prosecute managers of websites that list classified ads offering underage sex.

Olens said it is time to stop shielding those who profit from child sex slaves by amending the federal Communication Decency Act. The act, authored in 1996, gives immunity to websites such as Craigslist and backpage.com that claim regulating ad content violates the First Amendment right to free speech.

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) discussed the proposed amendment with Olens Friday morning. Gingrey thanked Olens for his work with other attorneys general to identify the loophole protecting Internet predators.

“The buying and selling of anyone — but of children especially — is a violation so deplorable it is difficult to fathom. But only by shining a light on this depravity will we end this scourge and save untold victims,” Gingrey said.

via The Marietta Daily Journal – Olens joins effort for more local authority in prosecuting child sex cases.