Attorney General Gansler Honored with Champion of Online Safety Award

PHILADELPHIA, PA (May 13, 2009) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has received the Stop Internet Predators’ Champion of Online Safety Award, an award given to those individuals whose leadership has been crucial in combating the online sexual exploitation of our nation’s children. The award is part of an effort by Stop Internet Predators to recognize leaders who have the vision and ability to educate parents and communities on emerging online child safety issues and empowers them to protect their children’s privacy and safety.

“Attorney General Gansler has been diligent about proposing, drafting and successfully advocating for legislation to protect Maryland children from sexual predators,” said Stacie Rumenap, Executive Director of Stop Internet Predators.

“ As Attorney General, I have made it a priority to educate parents, students and members of the law enforcement and education communities about online safety,” said Attorney General Gansler. “I am honored to receive this award in recognition of the great strides we, as a state, have made in developing strategies and programs to help protect our children from the underbelly of the Internet.”

In his first two years in office, Attorney General Gansler has been a leader in Internet safety, and successfully has:

• Established the C.L.I.C.K.S. Initiative to equip community leaders with the resources to teach students and their parents about Internet safety.
• Reached agreements with MySpace and Facebook to protect children from online predators and inappropriate content.
• Reached an agreement with Craigslist that resulted in the elimination of its “erotic services” section.

Stop Internet Predators is a project of Stop Child Predators, which brings together a team of policy experts, law enforcement officers, community leaders, and parents who persuade lawmakers and the public to enact policies that protect America’s children from sexual predators. Stop Child Predators is the only national organization that leads campaigns in every state to advocate legislation that prevents the sexual exploitation of children and protects the rights of child victims.

Also honored with the Champion of Online Safety Award were Attorneys General Patrick C. Lynch of Rhode Island, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Bill McCollum of Florida and Jim Hood of Mississippi.