Governor Evers Signs Bills Aimed at Preventing Victimization of Children
Thursday, March 28th, 2024 -- 1:01 PM
(Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) A bipartisan set of bills aimed at preventing victimization of children became law on Wednesday with Gov. Tony Evers' signature.
According to Jessie Opoien with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the laws include measures designed to combat human trafficking and further prevent child sexual abuse.
They were among dozens of public safety-related bills signed following the conclusion of the legislative session that had a heightened focus on addressing trafficking in Wisconsin.
The bills signed would:
- Create a 23-member Human Trafficking Council within the state Department of Justice tasked with collecting information, developing training, creating a statewide strategic plan and making recommendations for county-level programs;
- Allow children who are victims of human trafficking to testify in private;
- Give law enforcement increased access to the cell phone locations of people in immediate danger, such as in the case of a kidnapping;
- Expand the definition of child pornography to include digital or computer-generated images "that contain a visual representation that appears to depict an actual child engaged in sexually explicit conduct" even if it does not depict an actual child, in an effort to prohibit computer-generated and artificial intelligence-generated child porn;
- And make it a crime to intentionally possess a child sex doll.
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