It appears lawmakers do not want to prevent and/or solve crimes, instead the money goes to TRACKING former offenders whose crimes were 5-10-20-30-40-50 years ago. Yup, sounds like they have a PRIORITY PROBLEM, but thats just a guess on my part?2-27-2012 Virginia:
Alicia Kozakiewicz, an internationally recognized figure in the fight to rescue missing and exploited children, came to the Virginia General Assembly on Thursday with a simple plea.
She told lawmakers, who were preparing to vote on amendments to the budget plan, to keep their hands off money used to investigate Internet sex crimes against children.
“If you steal this money, you are stealing hope from children who are living in hell — a hell I know all too well," she said. "If you take this money (to help balance the budget), you will be aiding and abetting the enemies of children.”
But by day’s end, the Virginia House voted unanimously to move an additional $650,000 to Internet Crimes Against Children, or ICAC, task forces in Northern and Southern Virginia.
That money is in addition to the $1.8 million appropriated to help police investigate cases in which children have been abducted and sexually abused — like Kozakiewicz.
In January 2002, Kozakiewicz, now 23, was lured by an Internet sex predator in Pennsylvania, abducted and taken to Virginia, where she was held captive. Just 13, she was held hostage and tortured for four days, before FBI agents rescued her.
“He had what you would describe as a sadistic dungeon,” said Camille Cooper, a spokeswoman for pro-child, anti-crime, nonprofit advocacy group, PROTECT.
Kozakiewicz founded “The Alicia Project,” an Internet safety and awareness education program. She has taught children, families, teachers, law enforcement, government and social agencies, lending her personal and unique insight to debates nationwide.
The money lawmakers voted to give to ICAC will fund a new Sex Offender Investigative Unit, including 43 new positions for detectives who will monitor sex offenders and ensure they comply with registry requirements. The money is distributed in grants to police departments in Northern and Southern Virginia.
“Outstanding,” said Bedford County Sgt. Stephen Anders, a detective who investigates child pornography crimes for the Southern Virginia ICAC task force, after hearing the news late Thursday.
Some days, Anders said, he leaves work in tears after watching hours of tape where grown men are raping children, who look much like his own.
“It infuriates me,” he said.
In Richmond, law enforcement made 332 arrests last year — more than double the amount in previous year.
Alicia’s Law, inspired by Kozakiewicz, imposes a $10 fee for felony and misdemeanor convictions, projected to send $1.8 million in annual revenue to investigations of online sexual predators. Alicia’s Law is a state initiative that combats sex crimes against children. Virginia joins California, Mississippi and Tennessee in having this law.
At the time, state lawmakers expected the fee to generate $1.8 million per year, but actual collections have exceeded that projection by $650,000 each year.
Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell's draft of the budget projects $2.7 million in 2013 and $1.5 million in 2014 in fees that will be used to hire more detectives.
But Democratic Caucus Chairman Mark Sickles, D-Franconia, accused McDonnell on Thursday of taking $1.3 million from the fund over the course of two years in a misguided attempt to balance the budget.
“I don’t know why the governor, with his reportedly tough-on-crime background, would take away a fee that we enacted,” Sickles said. “The governor’s budget shifts the money.”
McDonnell spokeswoman Taylor Thornley disputed the claim.
"Governor McDonnell has been a strong advocate for 'Alicia’s Law' and supportive of the work of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force," she said. "The governor did not 'strip excess funding.'"
In the 2010-2012 budget McDonnell signed, there is language that explicitly outlines that excess money will be directed into the ICAC fund. Republicans said the missing funds that Sickles referred to were due to an error in projecting the number of arrests that would be made.
If the Virginia task force needs more funding, it will have to be worked out, as lawmakers try to balance the budget, said Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City.
“We’ve got to have a balanced budget, and we can’t have it fall apart on the floor,” Kilgore said shortly before lawmakers cast the vote.
But Delegate Patrick Hope, D-Arlington, said he fears that the detectives are still being shortchanged.
Eighty percent of the money for hiring and training new investigators comes from state and federal funding. It takes an average of 40 hours to examine enough taped evidence for prosecutors to make an arrest, Hope said.
“As the father of two girls,” Hope said, “I would like to see twice as much money there.” ..Source.. by Hannah Hess, Virginia Statehouse News
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