A bill named after a victim of a kidnapping by a violent Internet predator would provide funding to help Hawaii investigators capture more such culprits.
State Sen. Will Espero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, introduced Senate Bill 2595, dubbed "Alicia’s Law," to establish a special fund to provide steady revenue for the Hawaii Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
It is named after Alicia Kozakiewicz, who was kidnapped by an Internet predator in Pennsylvania in 2002.
Kozakiewicz, who is in Honolulu this week to urge passage of the bill, said speaking out about her horrific experience helps her heal.
"Healing from this is a lifelong process," she said by telephone Thursday. "It helps me make a purpose out of the chaos."
The bill, introduced Jan. 17, would provide funding for the task force to help increase manpower and resources in their effort to investigate more child-exploitation cases. Currently, relatively few cases are being investigated due to a lack of resources, according to the measure.
Bill 2595 seeks to require every person convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving child pornography, sexual abuse and child exploitation pay $10 toward the special fund.
"We want to put more resources in this battle against crimes on children on the Internet," said Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point). Alicia’s Law, a state version of the federal 2008 Protect Our Children Act, has been passed in Virginia, California, Texas, Tennessee and Idaho.
If it passes in Hawaii, the bill would take effect July 1.
Espero introduced the bill last legislative session, but it died.
Kozakiewicz was lured and kidnapped by a predator when she was 13 near her Pennsylvania home on New Year’s Day 2002. He took her to his house in Virginia, where he raped, bound and beat her.
The predator videotaped his abuse and shared the images online.
The FBI rescued Kozakiewicz a few days later after law enforcement received a tip from someone who saw the images. Investigators tracked down the predator by his Internet protocol address.
A year after the abduction, Kozakiewicz founded the Alicia Project to help educate children, families and law enforcement on Internet safety because predators now have access to numerous applications to lure and victimize children.
Kozakiewicz, 25, is studying at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology toward a master’s degree in forensic psychology. Her goal is to work with task forces to rescue children from predators.
For more information on the Alicia Project, go to aliciaproject.org.
