Monday’s episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show was dedicated to the “PROTECT Our Children Act”, referring to U.S. Senate Bill 1738 targeting online child predators, according to an official release from Chicago’s Harpo Productions. Please don’t turn away – If this post is the only one you ever read on this site and you are moved by what you learn about Senate Bill 1738 and what it will do to protect children, your children and grandchildren, then I feel truly blessed to have helped bring awareness to this important issue. (See Important Update below!)

During the show, Oprah and her guests detailed the “extent and pervasiveness of child pornography trafficking in America,” and Winfrey has asked viewers to contact their senators about U.S. Senate Bill 1738, the Protect Our Children Act. It doesn’t matter what your political position is with the upcoming election, whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independent etc. This is a bipartisan effort to help protect children across the United States.

The map behind Oprah shows how quickly one single pornographic image of a child being molested can spread across the United States from coast to coast within 24 hours, starting with the large red dot from a computer in Washington, D.C. “This is just an average day in America—24 hours.” Oprah says, “For once, you and I can do something about it!”

“What you are going to see is going to shock you to the core, but I’m asking you to please don’t turn away, because this is happening in our country to our children in the United States every day”, Oprah said. One particularly disturbing new trend involves predators engaging in live video chats that include on-demand child molestation and rape, which has caught the attention of the cybercrimes division of the Department of Homeland Security, which combats child exploitation.

Agent Claude Davenport says, “They will get together, discuss activities that they would like to see performed and actually perform it on their own children.” Davenport continues saying, “We’ve had cases where infants have been molested on live feed. When the violators are caught, their reason for using such a young child is because the child can’t articulate the violation that they’ve received.”

Authorities have discovered How-To videos and manuals created by pedophiles with instructions on how to molest and rape children, some just months old (including one case of a baby with the stub of an umbilical cord still attached being raped) and how to get away with the crime of molesting and raping children. Well-known cartoon characters are being used in videos to desensitize the children in order to rape or molest them.

Flint Waters, father of two and commander of the Wyoming Internet Sex Crimes Against Children Task Force, developed a revolutionary and historic software program that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, pinpointing and tracking computers trading pornographic images and videos of children in order to catch child predators. There is a serious problem of man-power, not enough money to put more “boots on the ground” to catch these predators.

As I’ve said before, child sexual abuse occurs more often than you think and the perpetrator most likely to rape or molest children is someone you know, like a family member or close friend. Camille Cooper, who works with PROTECT, a group working to pass better laws to build protection for children, says Senate Bill 1738 is going before the Senate this month. Camille stresses that it is important to contact your senators immediately and put pressure on the Senate before Congress recesses on September 26th.

The PROTECT Our Children Act has already passed the U.S. House but it must pass in the Senate before sexually abused children can be rescued and pedophiles caught and put away.

Please help protect children, from infants to toddlers to teenagers from these predators. Please take a few moments and read more about the PROTECT Our Children Act on Oprah.com, and then follow her links to send a made-for-you letter that you may send to your local senators. Remember, the Senate recesses on September 26th, so don’t wait a moment longer. If you are so inclined, please forward this onto others so they too can help pass the PROTECT Our Children Act, Senate Bill 1738. Thank you.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:  Did the PROTECT Our Children Act Senate Bill 1738 pass? YES! Yes! Yes! The PROTECT Our Children Act, Senate Bill 1738 PASSED in the Senate!!!

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Why Kids Don’t Tell: Talking to Your Children About Child Sexual Abuse
Child Sexual Abuse: Blaming Mothers of Sexually Abused Children

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