Pennsylvania House approves law fortifying protections from online predators
“Alicia’s Law,” which is named for a woman who was abducted when she was a teenager from her Crafton Heights home by an online predator, was approved Wednesday by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
If the measure is approved by the state Senate and signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro, it would establish a state grant program to help law enforcement track down internet predators who target children.
Twelve other states have already put similar laws on their books. Alicia Kozakiewicz, who survived her abduction on New Year’s Day 2002 and is now 38 years old, has been an advocate for strengthening laws that go after child predators who lurk online.
The House bill was first introduced in 2024 by state Rep. Jason Ortitay, a Republican who represents the 46th Legislative District, which includes communities in northern Washington County and southern Allegheny County, and state Rep. Jessica Benham, a Democrat whose district encompasses a portion of Pittsburgh. The law would set up a program within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency that would provide funding to task forces investigating online crimes against children, supplement federal funding for task forces that address online child exploitation and provide training.
The measure envisions state task forces working with the federal Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, which provides funding for 61 task forces across the country.
Kozakiewicz’s abduction 24 years ago made national headlines and is believed to be one of the first times a child was snatched by someone they encountered on the internet. She was found three days later in a home in Virginia. The man who abducted her spent almost two decades behind bars for the crime, and was arrested again last year for possession of child pornography and stalking.
Ortitay explained that the law “puts Pennsylvania on the offense.”
“Alicia’s story is not a relic of the early internet,” he said. It’s a preview of what happens when kids have unlimited access to strangers online, and we don’t give law enforcement the tools to keep up. With social media now in the hands of children as young as 9 or 10, these crimes are not slowing down. They are accelerating.”
The House approved the bill unanimously.