It seems counter-intuitive, but the Colorado Senate will debate a bill Thursday that would allow more people to legally access child pornography — to fight child pornography.
Senate Bill 115 would expand the pool of people who can view or possess the material for investigative purposes to include computer forensic examiners, crime analysts, lawyers and other law enforcement personnel who obtain and review sexually explicit material for investigative purposes.
Under current law, only law enforcement officers are allowed to view the sexually exploitative material.
No one investigating any of these cases has been penalized for accessing sexually explicit picture or videos of children. But a Colorado Bureau of Investigation crime analyst is not able to work on the cases because she is not legally protected when looking at or possessing the material, said Nouire Boraie, a spokeswoman for Colorado Senate Majority.
The bill was passed Monday by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. John Cooke, a Greeley Republican and former Weld County sheriff.