Governor Signs Surrogate Stalker Act

We at MASP are overjoyed that Governor Schwarzenegger has signed the Surrogate Stalker Act and it will become law on January 1, 2009. This means it will be a misdemeanor to engage in surrogate stalking, which is the act of publishing photos, physical descriptions, and/or locations of children with the intent that another person uses that information to commit a crime against a child. Thanks to all of the parents who spoke out on this issue, thanks to Assemblymember Smyth (AKA my husband) for carrying the bill, and thanks to all of the state legislators who supported this bill in such a bipartisan fashion.

Surrogate Stalker Act Passes the Legislature!

The 2008 legislative session is coming to a close and AB 534 (the Surrogate Stalker Act) is on its way to the Governor. The bill, which has bipartisan support, passed unanimously out of the Assembly on Friday. Last year when it was introduced Governor Schwarzenegger expressed his support, so we are hopeful he will sign it when it reaches his desk.

This bill will protect children from online predators and will close a loophole in the law that allowed a self described pedophile to stalk our children last summer. We are so thankful to all of the legislators who supported it along the way and are encouraged by the many people who came forward to help.

Internet Safety Tips

We were fortunate to have detectives from the FBI Safe Team and the Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Unit give another internet safety talk for us last week. I thought I would post four of their safety tips.

#1 Computers should not be in kids’ bedrooms. Put them in a common area of the house facing out (so anyone walking by can see what it on them).

#2 Parents should set the passwords. Kids should not be allowed to go on the internet when parents are not home.

#3 Only a parent can clear the history. Kids should never be allowed to clear the history and if they do, you know there is something they don’t want you to see.

#4 Understand the technology. Parents should take the time to educate yourselves so you can better monitor what your kids are doing.

Of course this is in addition to always keeping an open line of communication with your kids. Google their name to find out what information about them is on the internet. And remember, PDAs and cellphones are computers too so you should monitor what goes on there as well.

A Quick Update on our Legislative Efforts

The Surrogate Stalker Act (AB 534) has passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee. Not only did the bill pass but the chair, Sen. Gloria Romero, also asked to be a joint author (which should help it move through the Senate). It will go to the Senate Appropriations Committee next.

Also good news to report on the Water Polo Bill (AB 2104); it has passed unanimously out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. The Chair of this committee, Assemblyman Jose Solorio, was instrumental in its passage. It now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Unfortunately the Ice Cream Truck Bill (AB 2169) has essentially failed. It is a complicated story but it basically hit some roadblocks in the Business and Professions Committee. We are disappointed about this and hope that something else can be done in the future.

We will keep you posted on the bills moving forward and let you know how to help get them through the next committees.

Legislation MASP supports

The 2008 Legislative session has begun. As an organization we are officially supporting three bills; the Surrogate Stalker Act, the Water Polo Bill, and the Ice Cream Truck Bill (we like to use names since remembering all of the numbers gets far too confusing).

The Surrogate Stalker Act (AB 534) was our inaugural project. It came to be after a certain self-proclaimed pedophile began blogging about the best places to find children in our communities. While we found his behavior reprehensible, we were even more concerned about other sexual predators reading his blog and seeking out our kids. SSA would expand the child endangerment statute to include posting and publishing specific information about children and their whereabouts. This bill will be heard in the Senate Public Safety Committee on April 29th.

The Water Polo Bill (AB 2104) was introduced in response to some unscrupulous photographers who took pictures of high school athletes (namely water polo players and swimmers) at sporting events and placed those photos on adult pornographic websites. This had major psychological impacts on the athletes involved and also placed them in danger as their school logos were easily identifiable on their caps. We were shocked to learn that while child pornography is a crime, placing these types of photos on pornographic sites was not. The Water Polo Bill would make it a crime to prepare, post, or publish photos of a minor on an obscene site. It passed unanimously out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee and is now headed to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

The Ice Cream Truck Bill (AB 2169) would prohibit registered sex offenders from obtaining business licenses to operate ice cream trucks. Specifically, the bill would prohibit cities and counties from issuing the licenses to offenders whose victims were under 16 years of age. This came about after it was discovered that a registered sex offender was operating an ice cream truck in Riverside County. Ice cream truck drivers have direct access to children (in many cases unsupervised) and should be prohibited from operating this type of business, period. The bill is headed to the Business and Professions Committee at the end of the month.

We are always on the lookout for reasonable legislation to protect our kids and we always encourage our members to pass along ideas or bills that we may have missed. In the meantime, please visit our website at www.maspofcalifornia.org to join our efforts.