INDIANAPOLIS —
Two legislative study committees charged with paring down Indiana’s criminal code are also looking at racheting up penalties for crimes against children.
Included on their list is legislation aimed at curbing what they fear will be an influx of underage prostitutes in Indianapolis when 2012 Super Bowl is played in Indianapolis next year.
The lawmakers – who in past meetings this summer have considered reducing penalties for drug and property crimes – are also looking at a proposed changes to the criminal code that would increase prison time for Internet predators soliciting sex from minors.
They’re also considering legislation that would create a do-not-contact registry designed to keep email marketers from pitching alcohol, tobacco, and pornography to children.
“We need to do more to protect our children,” said state Sen. Randy Head, a Republican from Logansport and former prosecutor who said sex crimes against children are often difficult to prove and often traumatic for the child who is the victim.
On Thursday, Head and fellow members of the legislature’s Criminal Code Commission heard Indiana Deputy Attorney General David Miller say that major sporting events that attract large crowds of men also attract a bustling sex trade that exploits vulnerable children.
“It’s a problem that happens under the radar,” Miller said, citing similar concerns from past Super Bowl host cities.
Miller’s boss, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller wants the commission to support an effort to fast-track legislation that would add child trafficking to the state’s sex offenses. It would expand the state’s current law against human trafficking, to give state and local police more tools to go after adults who force children into the sex trade.
The law would have to be passed by the legislature and signed by the governor early in the 2012 legislative session to be effective by the first weekend in February, when the Super Bowl is scheduled to be played in Lucas Oil Stadium, located just blocks from the Statehouse.
The commission was also asked by Head to support legislation that would increase penalties for Internet predators who solicit sex from minors. The change would allow for some cases to be charged as a Class B felony, which carries tougher penalties than the current law.
Testifying in favor of it was Darin Odier, an Indianapolis police detective who investigates cyber-crime. Odier described undercover operations in which he went online to pose as a 13-year-old girl in Internet chat rooms. He said five undercover investigations, each lasting two weeks, netted 98 convictions of adults charged of attempted child soliciation.
Also on Thursday, the Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee heard from Head about proposed legislation that would create a do-not-contact registry for minors.
Akin to the state’s Do Not Call list, which prevents telemarketers from contacting people who’ve signed up with the state, it would let parents sign up to keep their children from being contacted, via email, cell phone, or through other electronic contact points, from any company advertising alcohol, tobacco, or sexually explicit material.
A bill to create such a registry passed through the state House with no opposition in the last session, but stalled in the Senate after opposition arose from the email industry. Representatives from the email marketing industry spoke against the registry during Thursday’s committee meeting, saying it would be costly to enforce and difficult to keep the do-not-contact database secure.
Some committee members wanted to know if a do-not-contact registry could be expanded to include adults eager to block the “spam” emails that arrive in their inboxes. “It’s junk and I don’t want it,” said state Rep. Vernon Smith, a Democrat from Gary.
The study committees have until October to continue meeting before they issue recommendations for legislation that could be introduced in the next legislative session.
Maureen Hayden is Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI Indiana newspapers. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
Indiana Legislature
Tougher penalties: Committees look at crimes against children
- Indiana Legislature
-
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
INDIANAPOLIS — An overhaul of Indiana’s criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison has been approved by the Legislature.
-
Budget deal calls for 5 percent income tax cut
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana taxpayers will see their personal income tax rate reduced by 5 percent over the next four years under a budget plan agreed to by state lawmakers.
-
Revoked charters could be forgiven $12M in loans
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering forgiving $12 million in loans that “failing” charter schools accepted from the state.
-
Indiana House set to vote on school safety grant plan
INDIANAPOLIS — A stripped-down proposal that would start a state grant program toward helping school districts hire police officers and buy safety equipment is set to be voted on by Indiana legislators.
-
Indiana Senate approves minimal voucher expansion
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate is signing off on a limited expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
-
Group, bill promote natural gas fueling stations
INDIANAPOLIS — Natural gas advocates want to create incentives for building fueling stations across the state in hopes that more people will operate vehicles using alternative fuels.
-
Senate OKs smaller tax cut than Pence wants
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be holding firm to his demand for a 10-percent income tax cut, despite some movement from Senate Republicans who are willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Pence: Indiana Senate GOP income tax cut not enough
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence says an income tax cut in the Indiana Senate’s proposed budget is a start but he’ll still push for the $500 million cut he has proposed.
-
Indiana Senate leader against school guns mandate
INDIANAPOLIS — The leader of the Indiana Senate has come out against a proposal that would require all public schools in the state to have an employee armed with a loaded gun.
-
House panel approves HIP expansion, strips grants
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana House panel has altered a plan that would use the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in the state.
-
Bill seeks in-state tuition for some immigrants
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering rolling back the state’s two-year-old immigration law so that illegal immigrants who were attending public colleges then would again be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
-
Bill for tougher Indiana abortion pill law advances
INDIANAPOLIS — A legislative committee has endorsed a proposal that would make Indiana clinics that provide only abortion drugs face the same requirements as clinics that perform surgical abortions.
-
Bill to ban Indiana teacher union deductions advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana public schools would be prohibited from handling paycheck deductions for teachers union dues under a proposal endorsed by a Republican-led legislative committee.
-
Bill advances shifting Indiana voucher oversight
INDIANAPOLIS — A Republican-controlled legislative committee has approved a proposal to shift administration of Indiana’s private school voucher program away from the new Democratic state schools superintendent.
-
Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back
INDIANAPOLIS — Republican lawmakers have scaled back a large proposed expansion of Indiana’s private school voucher system.
-
Pence unhappy with GOP budget, Dems seek tax vote
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence is deriding House Republicans’ state budget plan that would replace his proposed tax cut with more spending on roads and education.
-
Grants proposed to add police at Indiana schools
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers say they hope to improve security at schools around the state by offering grants toward hiring police officers and buying safety equipment.
-
Indiana Sunday alcohol sales ban likely to remain
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s longtime ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales will likely continue for at least another year as a vote isn’t being scheduled on a bill to lift it.
-
Indiana bill targets undercover video ‘vigilantes’
INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate panel has approved a bill that would make it a crime to take photographs or shoot footage at Indiana’s farms and businesses without the owner’s permission.
-
Bill would give high-performing schools more flexibility
After focusing on failing schools in recent legislative sessions, some Indiana lawmakers say it’s time to reward high-performing schools with more money and more flexibility.
-
Indiana Senate approves right to hunt, farm proposal
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana voters would decide in next year’s election whether to add the right to hunt, fish and farm to the state constitution under a proposal approved by state senators.
-
Indiana lawmakers push for Sunday alcohol sales
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers hoping to allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday are facing opposition from liquor store owners, who worry the policy could put them out of business.
-
Bill advances to loosen Indiana superintendent rules
INDIANAPOLIS — School superintendents would no longer have to hold an Indiana superintendent’s or teacher’s license under a bill endorsed today by an Indiana House committee.
-
Bill aims to tighten Indiana laws over ‘bath salts’
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana legislators are again trying to toughen state laws that prohibit businesses from selling synthetic drugs known as “bath salts” and other nicknames.
-
Cold medicines could face tighter Indiana limits
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana Senate committee has backed tougher limits on quantities consumers may buy of cold medications that can be used to make methamphetamine.
-
Indiana senators seek new social networking ban
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Republican lawmakers are looking for a new way to keep registered sex offenders off social media one week after a federal appeals court found a previous ban unconstitutional.
-
Indiana House OKs looser rules on selling old schools
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House has approved a bill that would shorten the time that school districts must hold onto vacant buildings in case a charter school operator wanted to move into the building.
-
Indiana lawmakers don sneakers for anti-cancer effort
INDIANAPOLIS — Numerous Indiana lawmakers and staff members are wearing sneakers around the Statehouse as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer activity sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
-
UPDATE: Indiana lawmakers consider protecting right to hunt
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers have delayed action on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.
-
Top Indiana senator seeks gas plant contract review
A top Indiana senator is calling for a review of Indiana’s plans to subsidize a proposed coal-gasification plant.
- More Indiana Legislature Headlines
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Wind Energy Push Leaves Trail of Dead Eagles
Raw: Germany Protestors Picket Barbie House
Horse Saved From Slaughter, Goes on to Win Big
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Music Therapy Bonds Parents and Preemies
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Tensions As Israel Targets Syria in Airstrikes
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
Raw: Spacewalking Astronauts Hope to Stop Leak
Obama: 'Couldn't Be Prouder' of Jason Collins
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Officials Arrest Man in Idaho in Terrorism Case
Today in History, May 6th
Raw: Child, Stroller Falls Onto Pa. Train Tracks
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Coffee Stop Leads To Arrest Of YouTube Sensation Wanted For Murder
Bearded Dragon Reunited With Owner
Marine Reunited with Warzone Companion
Beyonce Is Pregnant!
SF baseball player overpaid $500,000 RETURNS money -- and team says KEEP IT
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
Dad returns from Afghanistan, surprises family during Rays' first pitch
See Jennifer Lopez's New $10m Hamptons Mansion
Woman tricked into taking abortion pill
Emma Watson Goes Pantless
IRS scandal: Republicans seek to tie Obama to agency's woes
Play of the Day: Flipping to Safety
Pregnant Kim Kardashian Squeezes Her Swollen Feet Into Stilettos
Top Videos of the Week: Angry Taco Bell Guy, Glacier Moves on House, Dog Hates Baths
Cindy Crawford Stuns At Cannes
Raw: Marines Come to Obama's Aid in the Rain
CUTE: Monkey shares lollipop with dog, then HITS pooch on head with it
Miranda Kerr Looks Sexy in a Bikini Photo Shoot
