PAEDOPHILES who groom children for sex on the internet will face jail terms of up to 14 years under a proposed new bill.The issue has become a political priority following the revelation that a 14-year-old boy in North Dublin had been abused by men who contacted him via a gay website.
Fine Gael TD Jim O'Keefe said he would be bringing forward a private members' bill because the 1998 Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, was out of date.
Currently, it is an offence for an adult to arrange for a child to travel for the purposes of sexual exploitation but not if the child travels of his or her own free will.
Mr O'Keefe said his bill would make this an offence which would be punishable with up to 14 years imprisonment.
"It is not acceptable for us as a society to be reliant on a child trafficking provision in legislation in order to secure prosecutions for an entirely different offence: internet grooming. There are inherent dangers in doing so," he added.
The Government is planning to introduce legislation this summer to outlaw internet grooming and the sale of children for sex or labour on the internet.
The Criminal Justice (Trafficking in Persons and Sexual Offences) Bill is expected to come before the Dáil this summer. It is likely to oppose Mr O'Keefe's bill on this basis.
But Mr O'Keefe called for his bill, two years in the making, to be allowed to proceed as a matter of urgency.
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