MADISON -- Wisconsin lawmakers heard harrowing testimony from a survivor of sexual exploitation Wednesday as part of an effort to funnel more resources to police who investigate Internet crimes against children.
Two legislative committees held hearings on the bill, known as "Alicia's Law." It would impose a fee on people convicted of crimes and direct the money to investigations, while allowing police to more easily get an administrative subpoena and learn who owns a suspected IP address.
Alicia Kozakiewicz, who was abducted and abused for four days in 2002 before police found her in Virginia, shared her story with committee members and urged them to pass the legislation.
"It's not easy to share," Alicia Kozakiewicz said. "I was that terrified young girl who was lured from my home, taken across state lines, chained by the neck, forced into a disgusting basement dungeon, and tortured."
Her abductor posted videos of the sexual abuse online, where a viewer saw it and contacted police. Officers used the abductor's IP address to track Kozakiewicz down.

Kozakiewicz has since become an advocate and the namesake of "Alicia's Law." Similar legislation has passed in 11 states and three other legislatures are considering versions of it this year, said Camille Cooper, a national advocate.
Police who handle Internet crimes against children in Wisconsin say they lack manpower and technological resources to handle more than a fraction of the cases.
"We'd definitely like more resources, hardware and time to train to be able to keep up," testified Jason Falkner, an officer with the Town of Summit Police Department. Falkner said he's handled six cases in his first two years in the program.
Two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary committee voiced concerns with the funding mechanism within the bill.
The legislation would tack a $20 fee on any misdemeanor conviction, and a $40 fee on felony convictions. Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said she doubted the state would get much money from the surcharge because many criminals can't pay the fees that are currently assessed.

"When we do a surcharge, it sounds good. But the problem is, we have an inability to collect ," Taylor said. She said she was still a supporter of the bill, but wanted the funding to come from the state budget instead.
Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he hadn't yet decided how he would vote because of the surcharge issue. Risser asked the Legislature's council to provide a list of all fees that the state adds to criminal fines. The data wasn't immediately provided.
Advocates for the bill said Virginia assesses a $15 fee on all misdemeanors and convictions, and has netted $3.4 million a year dedicated to investigations of Internet crimes against children.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel testified in favor of the legislation, saying that it would "help ensure" that investigators would have more resources to do their work.
A companion bill received a hearing in an Assembly committee. Neither committee has voted on the legislation.

By: Theo Keith, Political Reporter, FOXNews6
Read full article: http://fox6now.com/2016/01/13/victim-begs-lawmakers-to-pass-bill-that-would-help-police-pursue-internet-crimes-against-children/

Alicia’s Internet safety activism—The Alicia Project—is grounded in this experience, which she says could happen to anyone—any parent, any child. The Alicia Project works to protect children in all 50 states. It funds, trains, supplies resources and brokers action. Alicia will detail a plan for avoiding Internet predators: creating open lines of communication, learning technology and Internet slang, and coordinating actions of families with those of law makers and law enforcers.

See more: http://www.rsaconference.com/videos/alicia-kozakiewicz-children-deserve-protection

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- State Police call internet child pornography the fastest growing crime in Kentucky. Now police will have more resources as they try to hit “delete” on the problem.

WDRB watched as a forensic investigator performed an autopsy - on a laptop. If there are illegal images of child porn on its hard drive, he'll find them.

“We're looking for evidence, just in a different kind of way,” said Lt. Jeremy Murrell, commander of the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crimes Unit.

Nine people, including four detectives, make up the Internet Crimes Against Children or ICAC unit. They team with other agencies across the state to track down child predators.

“We're working the file sharing networks, called peer to peer, and we're looking for people that are advertising known child exploitative images to download,” said Murrell.

The unit is paid for primarily with federal funds, but will soon get an infusion of state dollars.

“We'd like to grow our task force. We'd like to get more people involved,” Murrell said.

The General Assembly passed, and the governor has now signed HB 427, Alicia's Law; named after Alicia Kozakiewicz.

She was abducted by an Internet stalker, at age 13, bound, raped and tortured.

“But I was miraculously rescued because of the FBI; because they had the funding and the resources to find and rescue me,” Kozakiewicz told WDRB in February before successfully testifying in front of a House committee.

The law adds a $10 fine to every criminal conviction in Kentucky, with the money going to ICAC.

Supporters say it could amount to $3 million a year. It means more personnel, more training and more equipment.

“To combat this problem, we need the best computers there are. And those aren't cheap,” said Murrell.

The unit has made 20 arrests so far this year, already more than last year.

The increased funding sends a clear message that Kentucky is serious about internet crimes involving children.

“Every arrest we make, in my opinion, rescues a child,” said Murrell.

This is one issue where Kentucky is on the cutting edge: it's just the ninth state to adopt Alicia's Law.

Copyright 2015 WDRB News. All rights reserved

KIMT News 3 – When you hear the term, child exploitation, the severity of the crimes that term covers may not hit you right away.  But the crimes are serious, everything from child pornography, to sexual abuse, abductions, and sex trafficking.

26-year-old Alicia Kozakiewicz knows the reality of that term.  At 13-years-old, she was abducted by a man she had met on an internet chat room.  It was 2001, and the internet was picking up speed, and entering more homes across the country.

“It felt like somewhere I could be safe, where I could speak up a little bit more even though it wasn’t speaking I was typing, but where I could voice my opinion more.”  Alicia says her friends started logging on more, and finally, she broke down, and got a screen name as well.

Along the way, she met 38-year-old Scott Tyree.  Initially though, she didn’t know who he really was.  “I thought it was somebody around my own age and I didn’t think anything else.  Now people ask ‘How could you not know?’ But I was a 13-year-old kid and 13-year-old kids think they know everything.”  After 8 months of grooming her, on January 1st 2002, Tyree drove from his home in Virginia to Alicia’s home, in Pittsburgh.  She said between dinner and dessert, she slipped out the front door of her home, into the bitter cold January night, going against everything she would normally do.

“My intuition said ‘Alicia you need to go home this is really dangerous, what are you doing?’ And I went to turn around and I heard my name being called. And the next thing I knew I was in the car and this man was squeezing my hand so tightly and was barking commands at me. ‘Be good. Be quiet. I have the truck cleaned out for you.’  He drove me about five hours from my Pittsburgh home to his house in Virginia where I was held captive in his basement dungeon.”

For the next four days, Alicia lived a nightmare.  Tyree kept her locked up, and raped, beat, tortured and starved her.  “Now there’s no words to describe. ‘Well how does it make you feel?’ There’s no words to describe the pain, and the loss of self and hopelessness that you can feel in that situation.”

On the fourth day, Tyree told her they would be taking a ride later and left for work.

Little did Alicia know, the FBI was at work, looking for her.  Agents finally found Alicia chained up in her abductor’s bedroom.  “All these agents rushed in and they cut the collar from around my neck and they set me free and gave me a second chance at life.”

The FBI had received a tip from a man in Florida. That man had met Tyree online, in an internet chatroom, and had witnessed Alicia’s abuse over live streaming video.  He had heard about a missing girl from Pittsburgh, and made the connection.  Alicia does not consider him a hero, but believes the tip he gave was because he didn’t want to be considered an accomplice in the crime.

“It’s amazing, one monster coming forward about another. I’m so lucky. But to think that there are so many children right this second, as we are speaking, as people are watching us, who are being raped or being tortured or being degraded.”

Alicia is an advocate now, and shares her story around the nation.  She speaks to kids, teens, parents and has even testified before Congress.  Her story is one she knows holds power, and comes with a warning.  “I wasn’t torn from the silver screen of a horror film or ripped from the pages of a scary novel. This happens to me, it happened in real life, and it’s happening to so many kids right now.”

Alicia has also teamed up with PROTECT, a non-profit organization that’s dedicated to the protection of children from abuse, exploitation, and neglect.  They are working to pass “Alicia’s Law” in all 50 states.  Alicia explains why it’s so important to her. “The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is making a huge difference when they can. Their funding and resources are so limited. It’s terrifying to think, and heartbreaking to think of the images and videos that they see every day, the child pornography.  They look at this every day, and then they go home to their families with the screams of children echoing in their heads.  They know where these kids are, but they can’t go get them because they don’t have the funding.  They don’t have the resources, they don’t have boots on the ground. And that’s what Alicia’s Law provides.”

The law would direct state specific funding to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces around the country.  According to her website www.aliciaproject.org the money would also be used to make sure there are child rescue teams in place, and the funds would be safe from cuts to the general budget.  Alicia’s Law is in place in Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Hawaii and Idaho, and similar legislation was passed in California and Tennessee as well.

While her story can be hard to share at times, Alicia says she will continue to push for internet and child safety measures, more awareness about what’s happening online, and will advocate for those children who are missing.

“I continue to tell my story, even though it’s very painful because it is still to happening to others. And if I can save just one life. If I can save one person, or one family from going through what my family did, then it’s entirely worth it.”

For more information about Alicia’s Law, and resources to talk to your kids about internet dangers, check out these sites:

www.aliciaproject.org

www.protect.org

www.missingkids.com

http://www.netsmartzkids.org

http://www.icactaskforce.org

By: Sarah Danik, KIMT
Source: _http://kimt.com/2015/02/18/special-report-abducted-by-an-online-predator/