(JUNEAU) - The Alaska State Senate unanimously approved House Bill 52 by a vote of 19 to zero on Friday. Sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage), House Bill 52 allows the state to seize equipment used for child pornography or another sexual offense. State law enforcement would then use the equipment, such as computers and photography equipment, to continue other investigative work.

"It is becoming far more common for pedophiles to seek new victims through on-line chatrooms and email, and for child pornography profiteers to use these technologies as a means to distribute their materials," McGuire said. "HB 52 will provide the state courts and law enforcement agencies another tool to combat these sexual predators by giving the courts additional punitive sentencing options and, in turn, awarding forfeited computer technology back to law enforcement agencies for ongoing monitoring operations."

HB 52 helps law enforcement keep up with the demand for more advanced computer and surveillance hardware. Any hardware criminally used to send pictures or sound can be seized. Law enforcement agencies can also use the seized computer hardware to study the methods of criminals who prey upon children.

"HB 52 will make it possible for law enforcement to stay on top of this rapidly changing industry without spending more government dollars," McGuire said. "Law enforcement can search the seized hard drives to track where those criminals have been and how they're luring in children."

HB 52 also contains provisions from Senate Bill 96, sponsored by Senator Fred Dyson (R-Eagle River). HB 52 now bans ancillary services for "fee-based" child porn sites by making such activity a class B felony that allows up to a $100,000 fine and 10 years in prison. Posting child pornography on the web is already a felony in Alaska; however, providing billing services for the owners of these sites remains a legitimate practice.

"HB 52 now posts a 'No Trespassing' sign on our borders to the operators of these billing services," Dyson said. "Hopefully it will keep these services from coming here by cracking the link between child porn and making money."

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