Brian was joined by members of law enforcement and children’s protection groups as he briefed members of the House of Delegates on the importance of ‘Alicia’s Law’ recently. New reports show that there is a significant number of children at risk of abuse and exploitation.

The Associated Press reported that,

Law enforcement officials have identified more than 19,000 individual computers with such hard-core child pornography files on them in Virginia, but said they simply do not have the resources to investigate all of the suspected sexual predators.

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Del. Brian Moran’s bill would provide more than $32 million over the next two years to expand law enforcement and forensic capabilities to investigate crimes against children, and to train and educate prosecutors and parents on the dangers of Internet predators.

“We know the enormity of the problem. We need to apply the necessary resources to get the job done and investigate, arrest and ultimately put these child sexual predators behind bars,” Moran, the House Democratic Caucus Chairman, told reporters at a news conference.

Unfortunately, this vital bill has been stopped because the Appropriations Committee in the House said, “there isn’t enough money in this tight budget year to fund new state programs.”

This came as local law enforcement officials report that the problem in Virginia is serious.

“Tidewater is rivaled only by Northern Virginia,” said Lt. Mike Harmony of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office. Harmony is part of the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Officials said they don’t have enough resources to go after all child pornography offenders, even though they know where many of them are.

For more on the pressing need to pass ‘Alicia’s Law’, see this article in the Washington Examiner, and this article in the Richmond-Times Dispatch.