ALEXANDRIA, Va. – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after former Governor Mark Warner officially kicked off his campaign for the United States Senate. Delegate Moran will join Governor Warner at his announcement event on Monday evening at the Carlyle Club.

“Our nation faces as many challenges today as we have at any point in modern history. We have a war without an end in sight, a sluggish economy, and government run by the special interests. But, Virginia has faced these kinds of challenges before. And we changed direction and brought results for the people of Virginia. Now we need that in Washington.

Mark Warner’s leadership made Virginia the best managed state in the nation, the best state in which to do business and the best state for a child’s lifetime success.

Whether you’re a Democrat, an Independent, or even a Republican, you know we need a new direction in our nation’s capital. We have already seen that direction here in Virginia. We’ve seen an optimistic, hopeful vision of the future. We’ve worked with results-oriented leadership that gets things done.

We saw them in Mark Warner as our Governor. And now we need him to be our next US Senator. I will be doing all I can to help him make that happen.”

Warner was elected governor in 2001 and Delegate Moran was elected chairman of the House Democratic Caucus that December.

RICHMOND – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the General Assembly approved the Higher Education Bond initiative that provides $1.5 billion in new capital construction to Virginia’s colleges and universities. Delegate Moran joined Governor Kaine and University Presidents at the announcement of this initiative on December 13, 2007 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“This funding will be a great step in our efforts to compete in the 21st century global economy,” said Delegate Moran. “Last spring I traveled to India on the Governor’s Trade Mission and toured the Indian Institute of Technology. India and China produce as many engineers each year as we will produce this decade. If we want to compete and win, we have to invest in higher education so we have the capability to do groundbreaking research in the life sciences and nanotechnology and biotechnology.

“Today we’ve authorized the largest investment in construction at our colleges and universities in Virginia’s history. This will help jumpstart our construction industry while building capacity for our future. We have thousands of new graduates that want to go to Virginia’s public colleges and today’s effort will help make sure we have room for them.”

RICHMOND – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the General Assembly approved the Higher Education Bond initiative that provides $1.5 billion in new capital construction to Virginia’s colleges and universities. Delegate Moran joined Governor Kaine and University Presidents at the announcement of this initiative on December 13, 2007 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“This funding will be a great step in our efforts to compete in the 21st century global economy,” said Delegate Moran. “Last spring I traveled to India on the Governor’s Trade Mission and toured the Indian Institute of Technology. India and China produce as many engineers each year as we will produce this decade. If we want to compete and win, we have to invest in higher education so we have the capability to do groundbreaking research in the life sciences and nanotechnology and biotechnology.

“Today we’ve authorized the largest investment in construction at our colleges and universities in Virginia’s history. This will help jumpstart our construction industry while building capacity for our future. We have thousands of new graduates that want to go to Virginia’s public colleges and today’s effort will help make sure we have room for them.”

ALEXANDRIA - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after Governor Kaine announced his amendment to the state budget to include only the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard for new construction of state buildings rather than lowering the standards by including “Green Globes”. The “Green Globes” standard does not include third party verification, mandatory energy consumption reductions and has been used by less than 10 percent of those who use the LEED standard. Delegate Moran asked the Governor to take this action in a letter dated March 19, 2008 (attached).

“I thank Governor Kaine for his responsible action to preserve our environment for the next generation and generations to come,” Delegate Moran said. “With the looming threat of global warming, we cannot afford to lower the environmental standards for state construction. Building ‘Green Buildings’ reduces energy usage, preserves the environment and lowers energy costs. Virginia ranks 38th in the nation for energy efficiency and conservation programs – we can do better.

As a father with two young children, I want them to be able to enjoy the same God-given natural treasures we have today. I urge my colleagues to accept this important, responsible and forward-looking amendment.”

Delegate Moran introduced “Green Buildings” legislation during the 2008 session of the General Assembly (HB1195). Today’s amendment makes the budget language consistent with that in Governor Kaine’s Executive Order 48.

ALEXANDRIA – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the announcement from Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown that the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (SOVA/ICAC) had taken a Waynesboro, Virginia resident into custody for sexually exploiting a local child. Delegate Moran sponsored “Alicia’s Law” to invest in local law enforcement’s ability to investigate and arrest online child sex predators like this one.

“The work of local law enforcement has ended an innocent child’s suffering,” said Delegate Moran. “I am proud of the work the Bedford and Augusta counties’ Sheriff’s Offices did as part of our ICAC team. As a former prosecutor and the father of two young children, I know there is nothing more important.

When the General Assembly acted this year, we had heard the story of Alicia and knew it was time to prevent her tragedy from becoming all too real for other children. We took a tremendous first step this year in our efforts to protect Virginia’s children from these violent, vile predators. Today’s news from Waynesboro makes our efforts to all the more critical.”

The Waynesboro man was charged with one count of manufacturing child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography and one count of attempted indecent liberties with a minor under the age of 14. A local child victim was identified and placed in the care of child protective services. The arrest was made by the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office, which is an affiliate member of the SOVA-ICAC.

Review the announcement from the SOVA ICAC here.

Washington, DC – Virginia House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran received an appreciation award from Our Military Kids during an awards reception on Monday near the Capitol. He received the award for his support of their program, which provides grants to children of deployed and severely injured National Guard and military Reserve personnel. When the program began, Delegate Moran helped the organization secure initial support from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The award was presented by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

“I thank the leadership of Our Military Kids for this recognition,” Delegate Moran said. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to work with them to provide grants that help the families of those service men and women fighting overseas. These kids and families deserve our support as a tribute to their parents’ service to a grateful nation.”

The program has provided over $1 million in grant funding to help children of deployed service members while their parents are overseas. They have provided 369 individual grants in Virginia. The grants are made to honor the sacrifices military parents make and to ensure that their children have access to activities and support that help the children better cope with the challenges that arise during a parent's deployment or injury recovery. The funds are often used to support youth sports programs, fine arts programs or tutoring.

“We are greatly indebted to Brian for his strong advocacy of the program,” Our Military Kids Co-Founder Gail Kruzel said. “Thanks to Brian, we have been able to provide additional benefits to the children of Virginia’s deployed. Virginia’s support of the program sets the benchmark for other states to emulate.”

Awards were also presented to former Virginia Governor Mark Warner and 11th District Congressman Tom Davis.

For more information on the awards see this statement from Defense Secretary Gates.

ALEXANDRIA – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after Governor Tim Kaine signed legislation repealing the abusive driver fees and refunding monies collected. Delegate Moran had introduced legislation to repeal and refund the fees (HB1188) and was a long-time critic and opponent of them.

“These fees were a Washington-style gimmick that wouldn’t have fixed our transportation crisis, failed to make our roads safer, and turned our police officers into tax collectors. I was proud to oppose their introduction and support their repeal. I thank Governor Kaine for signing this important legislation.

As a former prosecutor, I knew these fees were not the solution we needed to our transportation crisis and am glad that the people of Virginia stood up in opposition. It is clear that these fees were not the right answer and now they are gone.”

ALEXANDRIA – Virginians for Brian Moran committee director Mame Reiley announced additional staff members today. In early January, Brian Moran formed this new committee to explore a campaign for Governor in 2009 and hired veteran strategist Steve Jarding as a General Consultant.

“We are proud of the strong team we have assembled to work for our committee,” said Director Mame Reiley. “Many of these people are veterans of the Warner and Kaine campaigns. These are people who understand how to help Virginia Democrats be successful.”

Del. Lionell Spruill, Sr. Spruill is Chesapeake’s Delegate to the Virginia General Assembly and joins the committee as Outreach Consultant. Spruill is a veteran of numerous successful campaigns, including Warner for Governor in 2001. He is also a member of the Democratic National Committee and Vice-Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

Jean Jensen. Jensen joins the campaign as Senior Advisor and will be responsible for strategic direction and political affairs. She was previously Secretary of the State Board of Elections under Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. A graduate of the Sorensen Institute’s Political Leadership program in 1996, Jensen was recognized with the Institute’s “Expression of Ideals Award” presented to the alumna who best represents the ideals at the heart of the Institutes mission. She previously served as Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia and as the Northern Virginia Director of Warner for Governor.

Jesse F. Ferguson. Ferguson continues working for Moran as Director of Communications and Policy. He had served as Chief of Staff to Moran since April of 2006 and directed his political efforts in the 2007 elections. Prior to working for Moran, Ferguson served as Executive Director of the non-profit higher-education advocacy group Virginia21. He is a 2004 graduate of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership.

Dave Mills. Mills will serve as State Director of Finance. He will serve as a senior member of the fund-raising team. He recently completed work as Finance Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia where he had served since January of 2006. Prior to that, Mills was Western Regional Finance Director of Kaine for Governor, and he has managed campaigns for the VA House of Delegates, VA State Senate and the US Congress.

Dominic Gabello. Gabello joins the committee as Political Director, having recently left the Kaine administration’s Liaison Office. He previously served as Deputy Political Director for Mark Warner’s Forward Together Political Action Committee (PAC) and Field Director of Warner’s One Virginia PAC. Gabello was President of the Virginia Young Democrats between 2005 and 2007.

Noble Ackerson. Ackerson will serve the committee as Technology Consultant. He is the principal of Anobleworld S3, Inc. and previously served as Director of Technology for Mark Warner's Forward Together PAC. He will be joined by Darrell Raymond, Chief Technology Officer at Anobleworld S3 and former Network Administrator for the Governor’s Office of Virginia.

Jerome Armstrong. Armstrong joins as Netroots Consultant. He is a principle in the Webstrong Group and will coordinate internet and technology strategy. Armstrong coordinates Netroots outreach for former Governor Mark Warner along with Senators John Kerry and Tom Harkin. He will be joined by Nate Wilcox, also formerly of Forward Together PAC. Armstrong is also the principle of the blog Mydd.com and is co-author of the book "Crashing the Gates" with Markos Moulitsas.

ALEXANDRIA - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran helped launch the “SoberRide Free Cabs” program for St. Patrick’s Day in order to reduce drunk and dangerous driving. Delegate Moran joined representatives of the Alexandria Police Department, the Virginia State Police, and Red Top Cab service at Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub in Alexandria to announce the program. The program is available in the Greater Washington area and is offered by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP).

The St. Patrick’s Day SoberRide program will operate between 4 p.m. today (March 17) and 4 a.m. Tuesday as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk holiday. During this 12-hour period, area residents celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number 1–800–200–TAXI and be afforded a no-cost (up to a $50 fare), safe way home.

“Too many Virginians are hurt each year because of the preventable tragedy of drunk driving,” said Delegate Moran. “I’m proud to join with the regional alcohol program to launch this program and provide free cab rides on St. Patrick’s Day that will reduce drunk driving on our road ways.”

Delegate Moran has worked for years to reduce underage drinking and drunk driving, including authoring Virginia’s felony driving under the influence law (HB1812, 1999). He has been recognized as Mothers Against Drunk Driving “Legislator of the Year” and received the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) Public Policy Award.

“People might be surprised to know that more Americans are killed by drunk drivers during St. Patrick’s Day than on New Year’s Eve,” said WRAP President Kurt Gregory Erickson.

Expanding law enforcement to protect kids

Richmond – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement after the budget conference committee approved $1.5 million in funding for Alicia’s Law. The law, named after the a 13-year old victim of an online child sex predator, will expand regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces (ICAC) that will investigate, arrest and prosecute these predators. The ICAC reports more than 20,000 computers in Virginia with online child pornography, but ICAC only has the capacity to investigate and arrest approximately 2 percent of these cases. The final budget will be approved this Thursday afternoon.

“Today is a tremendous step in our efforts to protect Virginia’s children from the most violent, vile online predators. Every time you bring a computer into your home, you provide online predators with access to your children. Law enforcement officers have not had the resources to combat these crimes, but today we have taken a major first step by expanding two regional task forces to investigate and arrest these offenders.

As a former prosecutor and the father of two young children, I know there is no more important investment than protecting our kids. These task forces will be able to save thousands of children from unspeakable and unimaginable crimes. I thank the members of the House and the Senate who have worked to secure this important investment.”

The $1.5 million investment in Alicia’s Law will be split evenly between the Southern Virginia ICAC based in Bedford and the Northern Virginia ICAC based in Fairfax.

ALEXANDRIA – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran sent the following letter to Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Colgan (D-Manassas) and House Appropriations Chairman Lacey Putney (I-Bedford) to call for their support in funding “Alicia’s Law.” Delegate Moran was alerted today that this morning House and Senate budget conferees opted to consider removing funding from Alicia’s Law in the final budget proposal to be offered this Thursday. This initiative will expand our regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces to investigate, arrest and incarcerate the most hardcore child sex offenders in Virginia.

“The Honorable Chuck Colgan
Senate Finance Committee
General Assembly Building, 10th Floor
State Capitol
Richmond, VA 22319

The Honorable Lacey Putney
House Appropriations Committee
General Assembly Building, 9th Floor
State Capitol
Richmond, VA 22319

Dear Chuck and Lacey,

I came to Richmond today and heard highly disturbing news that the budget conferees had retreated from supporting critically needed investments in Alicia’s Law. As you already know, Alicia’s Law is designed to expand our regional Internet Crimes against Children Task Forces (ICAC) so we can arrest, prosecute and convict online child sex predators.

There are over 20,000 Virginians that we know are trafficking in hardcore online child pornography. These are not merely “innocent images.” These are hardcore pictures and videos of children – as young as 18 months – being brutally raped. There is no more vile, heinous act. But, unfortunately, law enforcement does not have the resources to investigate these leads, catch these criminals, and rescue these children. So we came to the General Assembly for help.

I would be remiss if I did not thank the House Appropriations Committee for making an investment of $1.25 million in their proposed budget and thank the Senate budget conferees for their press release, dated March 8th, where they announced support for the funding. Unfortunately, I was told today that the current draft conference report does not include these funds to which all sides have publically pledged their support. The funds proposed in the House budget for ICAC would double their capacity to investigate and arrest child offenders and double their ability to rescue child victims.

So I ask you – as the leaders of the two delegations – to step in and ensure the funds for this important initiative. I know, and deeply respect, the hard work that you both put in to crafting the state budget for the next two years. There are myriad demands and interests to balance. But I truly do not believe that the values we bring to the General Assembly – or any of us bring to our life in public service – are well served if we fail to find these critically needed funds.

Every time you bring a computer into the home, you provide these online predators access to your children. As a former prosecutor, I know our law enforcement must have the tools to combat these criminals and as the father of two young children, I know there is no more important investment to make.

I hope to return to Richmond on Thursday with different news than what I heard today. When we return to Richmond, I hope we will have a conference report that honors our public commitment and moral responsibility to protect children. In a budget of over $77 billion dollars, I find it inconceivable that we could not find the first $1.25 million to take the next step in protecting our kids.

As you know, this initiative is named after Alicia Kozakiewicz. At age 13, Alicia was the victim of an online child sex predator in Northern Virginia who tortured her for 4 days. Fortunately, she was rescued by the Northern Virginia ICAC officers. With your help, more children like her can be rescued.

Thank you for giving this all necessary consideration.

Sincerely,

Brian J. Moran

Cc: The Honorable William J. Howell
The Honorable Richard Saslaw
The Honorable Janet Howell
The Honorable Phil Hamilton
Grier Weeks, National Organization to Protect Children”

For more information about this initiative please click here and review the new online video available at The National Association to Protect Children.

by Brian Moran

In 1971, in response to segregation and unequal schooling across the Commonwealth, Virginia’s leaders joined together to create our educational financing system that ensures every child in Virginia has a chance to succeed. Just last year, Virginia was named the best state in the nation for a child’s lifetime success.

Now, however, that fundamental compact between the Commonwealth and our children is in danger.

Despite the basic commitment that educational funding will be based on the realistic costs of educating a child, some General Assembly members have proposed significant reductions in educational funding – far below the true cost.

When it comes to education, the Commonwealth can do nothing less than meet our challenges with steadfast commitment and real, honest solutions.

But, just like finding the hidden charges on your credit card bill, to find the hidden costs in the House Republican budget, you must read the fine print. Embedded in its budget proposal is a formula change that alters the fundamental state commitment to provide public education to our children. This fine print has major impacts: dramatic cuts to public education, an inability to pay competitive teacher salaries and forced increases in local property taxes.

Among other things, Republicans simply ignore the efforts of local governments to raise teachers’ salaries.

According to the state’s nonpartisan watchdog agency, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the Republicans’ proposal would reduce state support for education by $78.8 million in this budget and take away at least another $250 million the following budget.

In one formula change, they would undo nearly all the investments we made in public education in 2004 under Governor Warner’s leadership. Those investments made us the best-managed state in the nation, the best state in which to do business and, most importantly, the best state for a child to achieve lifetime success.

Why would we turn back?

Last spring, I traveled on the Governor’s Trade Mission to India and saw firsthand the competition we face for good, high-paying jobs. Now is the time to recommit to public education. If we want to compete globally – and succeed – we need the best and the brightest from our schools, and our children.

The gap between the national average teacher salary and Virginia’s teacher salaries has doubled in the past decade. We have fallen $6,100 per teacher behind the rest of the country.

The Republicans’ reduction in funding for local public schools is only going to make it harder to recruit and retain top-quality teachers for our children.

To obfuscate the debate, some will call this merely a change in methodology. But in reality, it’s turning a blind eye to reality and the true costs facing our school system.

That’s not the Virginia way.

In the mid-1970s and again in the mid-’80s, Virginia’s attorneys general supported proper funding for public education.

They have said that the Assembly “must take into account the actual costs of education” and cannot rely on arbitrary estimates to develop our education funding policy. But arbitrary is exactly the methodology of the House Republican budget.

In the 21st century, we face tremendous challenges in our education system, from workforce training to university research, in order to succeed. We need to tackle those challenges in the best traditions of Govs. Mills Godwin and Warner. If we invest in those critical areas that drive our economy and determine our future, then we will be rewarded.

This is a tough budget environment with declining revenues. Yet education should be our number-one priority, and these tough times are not an excuse to shy away from that commitment.

Record investments in the early part of this decade helped pull us out of challenging economic times, and we can do it again.

Education is not just a promise we make to our children during a campaign, but a value we must fight for as public servants.

_{Alicia and actor David Keith join lawmakers}

RICHMOND - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran and Appropriations Vice-Chairman Phil Hamilton (R-Newport News) today announced success with “Alicia’s Law” that will provide new investments to help law enforcement crack down on online child sex predators. They were joined by Alicia and Mary Kozkeiwicz, actor David Keith, Delegate Bobby Mathieson (D-Virginia Beach), Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown and representatives of the National Association to Protect Children. Together they announced the first significant appropriation of statewide funds to build a strong network of law enforcement officers to investigate, arrest and imprison online child sex predators. The House Appropriations Committee budget included a $1.25 million investment in the Southern and Northern VA Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces (ICAC), which will allow a 100 percent increase in cases investigated and arrests made. The House budget will now go to the Senate of Virginia and be reconciled in conference prior to March 8th.

“This investment will provide a 100 percent increase in arrests made and a significant increase in the number of children saved,” said Delegate Brian Moran. “I thank my Republican and Democratic colleagues on Appropriations for seeing the merit of the program and making this critical investment. As a former prosecutor, I know our law-enforcement officers need the tools and resources required to protect us, and as the father of two young children, I couldn’t be happier that we’ve taken this great first step.”

The initiative is named after Alicia Kozakiewicz – the 13-year-old girl who was abducted by an Internet predator, held hostage and tortured in his Virginia basement. Earlier this month, regional ICAC Task Force members announced that nearly 20,000 computers in Virginia contain hardcore child pornography.

In commenting on the funding initiative by the House, Delegate Phil Hamilton said, “Internet sex crimes are invading our homes and attacking Virginia’s children. This funding will assist these two task forces in addressing this plague on our society.”

The House Appropriations Committee recommends an additional $1.25 million in funding for the regional ICAC Task forces, the largest investment in recent history to crack down on online child sex predators. These new funds increase local police capacity, allowing more of these criminals to be stopped. In approximately 30 percent of child pornography cases, there is a local victim that can be rescued by stopping their predator.

“We will put special focus on finding and helping child victims like Alicia,” Delegate Moran said. “As the prison cells begin to slam shut and we rescue more children, we may be back in Richmond for reinforcements.”

The new funds for each regional ICAC will make it possible to:

• add new analysts and investigators, allowing for a 100 percent increase in cases worked and 100 percent increase in the number of arrests;
• provide new training programs to affiliated agencies within the ICAC; and
• acquire new equipment, such as dedicated high-speed Internet and electronic forensic equipment for affiliated agencies

“This might be the first government program ever that taxpayers would gladly pay more to fund,” National Association to Protect Children spokesman Grier Weeks said. “These officers do only one thing: rescue and protect children.”

The following data is from the central ICAC database in the Wyoming regarding Virginians trafficking in child pornography. What follows are the top 30 regions of known child pornography on hard drives distributed through peer-to-peer networks.

Virginia Beach	1956
Norfolk	1367
Richmond	1256
Herndon	1058
Newport News	887
Chesapeake	815
Hampton	674
Alexandria	657
Fairfax	507
Arlington	503
Woodbridge	467
Roanoke	406
Falls Church	386
Reston	373
Fredericksburg	360
Manassas	353
Portsmouth	336
Ashburn	319
Springfield	246
Charlottesville	243
Williamsburg	229
Yorktown	226
Midlothian	222
Centreville	203
Vienna	162
Stafford	156
Annandale	152
Harrisonburg	147
Lynchburg	139
Winchester	136
Mc Lean	129
Waynesboro	124
Blacksburg	121
Warrenton	105

RICHMOND – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran made the following statement this morning after the Courts of Justice committee delayed action on the “Child Toy Safety Act”. The committee voted 12-10 to continue the legislation to 2009 during a late meeting Friday, February 8.

In 2005, more than 73,000 kids went to the emergency room because of dangerous and toxic toys, and more than 9 million toys were recalled last year. The “Child Toy Safety Act” was supported by Voices for Virginia’s Children and the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians.

“As the father of two young children, I’m disappointed the committee delayed action on such a pressing safety concern for Virginia’s children,” Moran said. “More than 73,000 kids went to the emergency room last year because of unsafe toys – more will next year without quick action. This is a common-sense measure to make sure no parent worries that the toy they give their child could send them to the hospital.”

The “Child Toy Safety Act” would:

• Direct the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Health to remove recalled toys from the shelves of stores in Virginia and to consider the development of standards for toys in the Commonwealth.
• Mandate new regulations for Virginia’s Child Daycare Council that would keep lead-based toys and toys containing other carcinogens away from children in both home-based child care facilities and in child-care centers.
• Create a new civil penalty for stores that knowingly resell recalled toys.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission has only one toy tester and a tiny force of 15 inspectors to check millions of toys at hundreds of ports of entry. Lead exposure in children can cause damage to the brain and nervous system, behavioral and learning problems, slowed growth, hearing problems, and headaches.

To review the legislation, click here.

_{over 2,500 children could be rescued}

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Brian Moran was joined by law enforcement and children protection groups to brief members of the House of Delegates on “Alicia’s Law”. The plan, named after the 13-year-old victim of an online predator, will create a strong statewide network of highly trained law enforcement to track down and arrest child sex predators. During the briefing, Delegate Moran released results from the Internet Crimes Against Children database that showed 19,357 hard drives with hard core pornography here in Virginia since 2005.

Delegate Moran was by joined Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown and Lt. Mike Harmony of the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and Srgt Johnny Hall and Det. John Chapman of the Northern Virginia ICAC to brief members of the House of Delegates on “Alicia’s Law”.

The briefing included a live demonstration of the national online system that identifies and cracks down on predators. According to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces presentation, law enforcement has logged 215,197 felony transactions since 2005 in Virginia of the most brutal images of child pornography. During the presentation, ICAC members reviewed sample hard drive analysis of a child pornographer in the Richmond metro area.

“This new information makes a compelling case for the General Assembly’s swift action on Alicia’s Law,” Moran said. “With thousands of online predator’s active in Virginia, we must build the capacity to track and arrest them. After spending time with Alicia, learning her story and hearing the compelling information from law enforcement, I know now – more than ever – how important it is to the victims, their families and the community that we act.”

“Alicia’s Law” would increase law-enforcement capacity to crack down on Internet child sex predators by:

• Expanding the regional Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program to ensure we have one cyber unit in each county dedicated to these cases. The ICAC officers are on the front lines of tracking cyber predators and this provides them with the resources desperately needed to expand staff and facilities and build the infrastructure necessary to capture these known offenders.
• Creating three regional computer forensic labs dedicated to crimes against children. The computer forensic backlog is the single-greatest bottleneck for law enforcement. Officers report that sometimes they wait months to have a hard drive analyzed. The time lost results in more children being put at risk.
• Authorizing a grant program in the Department of Criminal Justice Services for additional localities that take on the effort to track and catch online predators.

According to a 2005 study by the Department of Justice, 55% of Child pornography possessors had committed contact offenses. And, according to ICAC, 30% of these cases would result in the rescue of a local victim. That means, out of these known traffickers, we could conservatively rescue over 2500 children here in Virginia.

“Delegate Moran’s strategy is to reach into every community in Virginia and catch the predators who are hiding in plain sight,” said Grier Weeks, Executive Director of the National Association to Protect Children. “Law enforcement now knows how to locate thousands of these criminals in Virginia alone, and that means they can rescue thousands of child victims.”

REGIONAL BREAKOUT

Data from the central ICAC database in the Wyoming regarding Virginians trafficking in child pornography. The following is the top 30 regions of child pornography on hard drives distributed through these peer-to-peer networks since 2005.

Virginia Beach	1956
Norfolk	1367
Richmond	1256
Herndon	1058
Newport News	887
Chesapeake	815
Hampton	674
Alexandria	657
Fairfax	507
Arlington	503
Woodbridge	467
Roanoke	406
Falls Church	386
Reston	373
Fredericksburg	360
Manassas	353
Portsmouth	336
Ashburn	319
Springfield	246
Charlottesville	243
Williamsburg	229
Yorktown	226
Midlothian	222
Centreville	203
Vienna	162
Stafford	156
Annandale	152
Harrisonburg	147
Lynchburg	139
Winchester	136
Mc Lean	129
Waynesboro	124
Blacksburg	121
Warrenton	105