Pappas Reintroduces Bipartisan Stop Crimes Against Children Act

Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-16) introduced the Stop Crimes Against Children Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen efforts to identify, prevent, and respond to crimes against children.

The legislation would amend the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, a Department of Justice (DOJ) effort to put in place best practices in the prevention and interdiction of heinous and destructive acts of child exploitation. Specifically, the legislation would include a broader array of stakeholders and partners in the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, including the nonprofit sector and institutions of higher education, and direct the strategy to include information on victim support. This will ensure that communities can leverage the full spectrum of expertise and resources alongside government and law enforcement agencies to keep children safe.

“The fight against child exploitation and abuse requires an all hands-on-deck-effort, and that means bringing together stakeholders with a broad array of expertise to put in place strategies that will keep our kids safe,” said Congressman Pappas. “This bipartisan legislation ensures that leaders from the nonprofit sector and institutions of higher education, who are doing vital work to protect children from abuse, will be part of our national strategy to identify, prevent, and respond to crimes against children right alongside law enforcement and government agencies. I remain committed to doing all I can to stop crimes against children, hold perpetrators accountable, and provide every resource available to keep children safe in New Hampshire and across the country.”

“There is a rapidly growing foundation of research and best practices that have been shown to protect children from violence and crime. The Stop Crimes Against Children Act will help disseminate those programs and practices more rapidly and effectively. We are making progress but we could do a lot more with this Act as support,” said Dr. David Finkelhor, Director of UNH Crimes Against Children Research Center.

“Crimes against children are among the most horrific and devastating offenses imaginable, and too often they are enabled by rapidly evolving technology,” said Congressman Buchanan. “Law enforcement cannot fight this crisis alone, and I’m proud to join Congressman Pappas in advancing this bipartisan legislation. By bringing together nonprofits, researchers and institutions of higher education, we strengthen prevention efforts, improve victim support and ensure our communities are using every available tool to protect children.”

This legislation is also supported by the Zero Abuse Project.

Background: 

At the start of last year, following the Trump Administration’s attempt to execute a broad freeze of all federal grant programs, Pappas and the New Hampshire delegation joined representatives from local schools, police departments, fire departments, and CAP agencies to highlight the wide-ranging impacts of any freeze on a variety of programs, including significantly impacting investigations into internet-based sexual crimes against children and services for victims of crime.

In May, Pappas reintroduced the bipartisan National Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team (ACERT) Grant Program Authorization Act. The legislation would establish a grant program to provide federal resources for communities across the country to address adverse childhood experiences associated with exposure to trauma by connecting law enforcement and first responders with local child specialists and professionals. The lawmakers’ legislation models successful programs like Manchester’s ACERT to mitigate the impact of traumatic childhood experiences.