§21501. Findings

Congress finds the following:

(1) Megan Nicole Kanka, who was 7 years old, was abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered in 1994, in the State of New Jersey by a violent predator living across the street from her home. Unbeknownst to Megan Kanka and her family, he had been convicted previously of a sex offense against a child.

(2) In 1996, Congress adopted Megan's Law (Public Law 104–145) as a means to encourage States to protect children by identifying the whereabouts of sex offenders and providing the means to monitor their activities.

(3) In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109–248) to protect children and the public at large by establishing a comprehensive national system for the registration and notification to the public and law enforcement officers of convicted sex offenders.

(4) Law enforcement reports indicate that known child-sex offenders are traveling internationally.

(5) The commercial sexual exploitation of minors in child sex trafficking and pornography is a global phenomenon. The International Labour Organization has estimated that 1,8000,000 ¹ children worldwide are victims of child sex trafficking and pornography each year.

(6) Child sex tourism, where an individual travels to a foreign country and engages in sexual activity with a child in that country, is a form of child exploitation and, where commercial, child sex trafficking.

( Pub. L. 114–119, §2, Feb. 8, 2016, 130 Stat. 15 .)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Megan's Law, referred to in par. (2), is Pub. L. 104–145, May 17, 1996, 110 Stat. 1345 , which amended former section 14071 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1996 Amendments note set out under section 13701 of Title 42 and Tables.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, referred to in par. (3), is Pub. L. 109–248, July 27, 2006, 120 Stat. 587 , which enacted chapter 209 (§20901 et seq.) of this title and enacted, amended, and repealed numerous other sections and notes in the Code. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 2006 Act note set out under section 10101 of this title and Tables.

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 16935 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

¹ So in original. Probably should be "18,000,000".