John Kerry: “today the Senate passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which will help prevent the child…”

“today the Senate passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which will help prevent the child exploitation by, among other things, creating a national system for the registration of sex offenders. Included in this legislation is a very important provision that I authored with Senator Isakson called Masha's Law. Masha's Law is named after a very brave 13-year-old girl-- a Russian orphan who was adopted by a Pennsylvania man at the age of 5 and sexually exploited from the moment she was placed in his care. Masha suffered unspeakable atrocities in the hands of her abusive father, a man with a history of child exploitation. She continues to suffer as photographs of this abuse, taken by her father and posted on the Internet, are downloaded every day. Yet Masha does not cower in fear. She is taking a stand. She is using her experiences to demonstrate why the law must change. And it is because of her that we are now closing unacceptable loopholes in our child exploitation laws. Masha's photographs are among the most commonly downloaded images of child pornography. Law enforcement estimates that 80 percent of child pornography collections contain at least one of her photographs. In fact, it was the high volume of images being distributed by this one individual that raised suspicions and led law enforcement officials to the home of Masha's adopted father.…”