WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today supported the Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act, which passed in the Senate by a vote of 98-0. Grassley is a cosponsor of this bill, which he reported out of the Judiciary Committee on February 5, 2015.
“Sexual exploitation, especially child pornography, has a devastating impact on the lives of its victims. They ought to have access to full restitution from any single perpetrator for their losses. This bill ensures that victims can be fully compensated for these heinous crimes, and can focus their attention on healing. I am thankful for the great work of my colleague, Senator Hatch, for authoring this legislation and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have shepherded it through the committee process,” Grassley said.
The Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act reverses a Supreme Court decision that limited the restitution victims of child pornography could seek from any one perpetrator. Because each viewing, possession or sale of the sexually-explicit material constitutes a crime against the victim, the Court’s ruling forces the victim to seek restitution from each perpetrator to fully recover all of the damages created by the crimes. This bill establishes a minimum amount for damages for certain child pornography offenses, and makes any single perpetrator responsible for the full damages created by a crime that involves multiple perpetrators. Perpetrators, instead of victims, will have the burden of suing each other to recover damages they paid beyond their offense.
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