Idaho Legislators to Boost War on Child Pornography

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Police officers afraid that Idaho will become a safe haven for child pornographers helped convince a Senate panel to lend its initial support to a proposed $2 million measure to boost efforts to fight cybercrime. The Senate State Affairs unanimously backed the plan on Wednesday morning.

Now, the full Senate will debate the bill. Initially, the Idaho attorney general's office would use money recovered in consumer protection cases to fund startup of the expanded Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The five-year-old, two-person task force would be boosted to 14 investigators to tackle complex cases where sophisticated computer skills are necessary to catch people producing, trading and consuming child pornography.

Ongoing costs for the agency would run about $1.6 million annually. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden would oversee the task force.