Sen.  Debbe Leftwich's office, where inside she is working on amendments to a child pornography bill.  She hopes the bill will crack down on child abusers across the state.  

Sen. Debbe Leftwich talks about the new child pornography bill that she co-authored in the Senate.  She hopes the new bill will make child predators think twice before downloading child pornography.  

Oklahoma Cracking Down on Child Predators

Several Oklahoma lawmakers are trying to strengthen the penalty for those who transmit child pornography via any electronic device.

Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, is the House author of Senate Bill 1020, which would give those who transmit child pornography a sentence of five years to life in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

The current law states that an individual would receive a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if he or she sends any child pornography. Unlike the old law, the bill would include some new technologies including sending child pornography via the internet and cell phones.

“I’ve carried almost all of those statutes clamping down on sex offenders and tightening up on the child pornography offenses,” Terrill said. “It’s an area that’s pretty important to public safety and it’s an area that I care a lot about for obvious reasons.”

The bill passed the Senate unamimously on March 9 with a 44-o vote, and then it passed the House on April 7 unanimously with a 95-0 vote. The bill now heads to the governor where he is expected to sign it into law.