Child porn police squad gets support Senate OKs creation of computer crime unit

AUGUSTA – A bill to add new muscle to an overburdened state police computer crimes task force won a vote of support in the Senate on Tuesday, but whether there will be enough money for bolstered enforcement remains unsettled.

No one spoke against the bill before senators approved legislation to add two new positions to what is now a task force and give it more permanent status as the Computer Crimes Unit of the Maine Crime Laboratory.

Making a pitch for passage Tuesday, Sen. Bill Diamond said the existing task force has become overburdened with computer crime cases, the bulk of which involve child pornography. Diamond said children in much of the pornography being transmitted into computers via the Internet are 7 years old, and some are as young as a few months.

Diamond co-chairs the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, which recommend the bill’s passage. It is also supported by Gov. John Baldacci.

To process cases, police must remove hard drives from computers and download material on them to be used as evidence. Right now, Diamond said, police have a backlog of 112 hard drives. Since 2002, the number of hard drives turned over to the task force has increased steadily, said Sgt. Glenn Lang, director of the task force.

“Without staff we cannot get to these,” said Diamond, D-Windham. “The evidence sets literally across from an empty desk. It’s something we need to address.”

Diamond cited a U.S. Postal Service study that says 80 percent of those who view child pornography go on to sexually molest children. He also cited a federal Internet Crimes Against Children analysis showing hundreds of online hits in towns across Maine by people who seek and trade child pornographic images online.

While the bill is gliding through the Legislature with no resistance, it faces tougher scrutiny when the question comes to funding. The bill has a price tag of $300,000, with portions coming from both the general and highway funds.

About $730,000 in general fund money is expected to be left over after a supplemental budget is adopted. But as of Tuesday, nearly 100 bills that have won lawmakers’ general approval awaited funding.

Diamond, a Democrat, said he believes that having the governor on board helps prospects for funding. The bill faces final House and Senate votes.