Senator Hopeful House Will Approve Measure to Reduce Child Computer Porn

A bill to help bring computer child pornographers to justice is now making its way through the House of Representatives. State Senator Cliff Branan, R-OKC, is principal author of SB 513 which has already won unanimous approval in the Senate. He explained the measure is similar to a law requiring photo labs to report child porn pictures they find while processing film.

“We’re simply saying that if a professional computer technician accidentally happens upon graphic images of child pornography while repairing a computer, that technician is to report those images to the police,” said Branan.

Similar legislation has won Senate approval in the past, but was not passed by the opposite chamber.

“In the course of our discussions, I think we’ve addressed some of the issues that may have stopped passage of this measure in the past. We’ve clearly defined the terms, including who is a professional computer technician and what kind of images we’re talking about,” Branan said. “Plus we’ve stressed in the bill that we’re talking about people who deliberately download and save such files. I’m hopeful these changes will help get the measure all the way to the governor’s desk this time.”

Sen. Branan said there is no mandate requiring the computer technicians to mine or search for the images—it simply requires them to report any child pornography images they run across in the course of servicing the computer.

“The thing to remember is that a computer image of child pornography is evidence of a crime—the sexual exploitation of children, some of whom are pre-school age and younger. That’s why we need to pass SB 513.”