Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales visited Denver on Monday to campaign for improved child safety against online sexual predators.
Gonzales met with law enforcement leaders and high school students to ramp up the government’s Project Safe Childhood initiative.
He barred reporters from asking questions, declining to discuss the firing of eight U.S. attorneys that Democrats see as a politically motivated purge.
Instead, the group at the U.S. attorney’s office downtown previewed ads designed to persuade teens to “Think Before You Post” private information on the Internet.
Popular networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, officials say, encourage teens to post personal information including photos and videos that makes them vulnerable to online predators.
Monarch and Pomona high school students given seats at the table told Gonzales they believe the new ads will work. They are powerful because “they showed a school setting,” Monarch High School senior Lynn Ersek said. “That’s what’s going to hit home with students.”
The ads depict teens in school settings who discover the perils of sharing personal information online.
“This is a war. I worry about how much progress we are making…” Gonzales said, calling for teamwork. “It’s not enough to simply enforce the law.”
He referred to a federal judge’s ruling last week that effectively killed the 1998 Child Online Protection Act on the grounds it is unconstitutional.
“Obviously I respect the First Amendment. We need to continue to protect that. We also need to find a way to protect our kids,” Gonzales said.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said state agents need federal help because online child-abuse cases often involve activity in foreign countries. Denver Police Sgt. Kirk Hon said many of the 420 computer child-abuse cases Denver police initiated last year weren’t prosecuted because data needed as evidence was lost.
Gonzales called for a national standard for data retention.
Federal prosecutors warn that online sexual exploitation of children is a growing problem, with computers and the Internet enabling a booming global pornography business that in the past required personal contact.
“We are only beginning to understand this problem,” U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said.
