Gov. Scott Walker signed six bills Tuesday designed to protect state children and teenagers against abuse and trafficking.
The legislation eases access to information on suspected Internet predators for law enforcement, expands sex trafficking definitions, improves child abuse investigations and increases resources for authorities and welfare agencies to locate missing children.
Walker traveled around the state to four bill-signing events throughout the day, accompanied by state Attorney General Brad Schimel. The two began in Green Bay this morning and later made stops in Hudson, Wausau and Waukesha. Schimel has been a strong advocate of many of the enacted bills, including Senate Bill 325 and Senate Bill 546.
SB 325, authored by state Rep. David Heaton, R-Wausau, and state Sen. Robert Crowles, R-Green Bay, establishes repeated physical abuse of the same child as a felony. The bill is modeled after a current law that specifically criminalizes repeated charges of sexually assaulting a child.
SB 546—also known as Alicia’s Law—is authored by state Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc and state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine. It authorizes the state’s attorney general to order subpoenas for Internet service providers to release information on computer users accessing child pornography independent of a judge. The legislation also increases funding to the Internet Crimes Against Children, a federal task-force program.
“I have confidence the bipartisan bills being signed by Governor Walker today will make an impact on the culture of child welfare and improve the way the criminal justice system interacts with child victims in our state,” Schimel said in a press release.
