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Vermont State Police urge ability to prosecute sextortion threats, call for juvenile enhancements
Summary
A Vermont State Police lieutenant told the House Judiciary Committee that sextortion is a gateway to trafficking for juveniles and urged H.6 be amended to allow prosecution on threats alone and to add an automatic felony enhancement for offenders targeting minors.
The House Judiciary Committee continued consideration of H.6 on online sexual extortion as Lieutenant Michael Studi of the Vermont State Police testified the department supports the bill and urged lawmakers to strengthen protections for young people.
"Sextortion is definitely, an avenue that traffickers use to lure, especially our vulnerable juvenile population into trafficking," Lieutenant Michael Studi said, arguing the prevalence of digital evidence and online targeting makes the legislation timely. Studi said Vermont investigators are seeing a mixture of perpetrators, including…
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