We all want to have safe and healthy environments for our children. The Keeping Innocence Digitally Safe (K.I.D.S.) Coalition strives to keep our children safe from sexual predators. In 2007, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit mandated by Congress to catalogue child sexual abuse images, had identified more than 9.6 million images and videos of child pornography.

Currently, the state of California requires commercial film developers to report sexual crimes against children. California law does not protect or require computer technicians to report child abuse images or child pornography. However, a 2005 study funded by the Department of Justice found that 96% of perpetrators arrested for child pornography had images on hard drives or removable media, while only 18% possessed images in print format.

When is the last time you developed a roll of film?

With the surge of Internet usage, more and more children are being abused. The child pornography industry generates over 3 billion dollars annually, and more than 200 new images are circulated each day to drive that market. A 2005 study funded by the Department of Justice found a high correlation between those viewing images and those committing hands-on abuse of children: 55 percent of people arrested for Internet-related crimes were dual offenders.

The K.I.D.S. Coalition's proposed solution to protect our children from sexual abuse is to update existing California penal code 11165.7 by adding computer technicians to the list of 40 mandated reporters. California would be the 11th state in the nation to adopt this law and protect our children in the digital age.

We ask you to support AB 1817 (Atkins) to encourage and protect computer technicians in California to report child pornography.