ILLINOIS AMBER ALERT To activate the AMBER Alert Notification Plan in Illinois, law enforcement agencies must ensure the following criteria are met:       1.  Law enforcement must confirm a child has been abducted.       2.  The child must be under the age of 16 or have a proven mental or physical disability.       3.  Law enforcement must believe the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.       4.  There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect’s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.

No active Illinois AMBER Alerts Expired Alerts - Child(ren) Still Missing The AMBER Alert Notification Plan is a tool for law enforcement to promptly notify the media of a confirmed abduction so the information can be broadcast to the public for assistance in locating the child and/or abductor. AMBER is a voluntary program for law enforcement and the broadcasters. AMBER is NOT the entire missing child investigation.

What is the CyberTipline? Learn about this reporting mechanism for cases of child sexual exploitation.	Child Pornography Fact Sheet Important facts about the issue of Child Pornography
Reporting Categories The types of child sexual exploitation that may be reported to the CyberTipline.	Electronic Service Providers (ESP) Information for Electronic Service Providers.
Commercial Child Pornography Get the fact sheet on the Financial Coalition Against Child Pornography.

Megan's Law

     In mid-1997 California authorities released to the public a CD-ROM containing detailed information on 64,000 sex offenders residing in the state. The information on the disc was mandated by a new California law requiring the publication of information on freed sex offenders. California's action reflected the conservative change sweeping through American criminal justice. Like many other states, California had recently enacted a form of 'Megan's law"-a statute requiring community notification of released sex offenders. The first Megan's law was passed by the New Jersey state legislature on October 31, 1994. It was named after seven-year-old Maureen "Megan" Kanka, who was attacked, sodomized, and brutally killed by Jesse K. Timmendequas, a 33-year-old parolee living across the street from her home. Unknown to Megan or her parents, Timmendequas had been convicted twice before on charges of sexually molesting a child.

     At the time the law was passed, New Jersey and 44 other states required released sex offenders to register with authorities. In passing Megan's law, however, New Jersey joined 12 states whose laws provided for some form of public notification when sex offenders were about to be released from confinement-a requirement that goes beyond mere "registration." Under New Jersey's Megan's law, the information to be released to the public includes the offender's name, a recent photograph, a physical description, a list of the offenses for which he or she was convicted, current address, place of employment or school, and the offender's automobile license plate number. Presently, Pennsylvania and a number of other jurisdictions are in the process of enacting their own versions of such laws, supported, in part, by a federal initiative advocating notification legislation. On May 17, 1996, President Clinton signed a federal "Megan's law," which was enthusiastically endorsed by Congress in a 418-0 vote. The federal version of Megan's law strengthens requirements of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 by requiring states not only to notify local law enforcement officials when a convicted sex offender moves into a neighborhood, but also to make that information available to the community.

     One of the first court tests of New Jersey's law came on February 28, 1995, when U.S. District Judge Nicholas H. Politan ruled that the community notification provision of Megan's law was unconstitutional. A notification requirement, ruled Judge Politan, amounted to a second form of punishment-one to which the offender had not been sentenced. The judge, however, upheld New Jersey's requirement that sex offenders must register with local authorities in areas where they reside.

     The New Jersey ruling against Megan's law provisions came in the case of 49-year-old Alexander A. Artway, who was convicted in 1965 of statutory rape and in 1971 of sodomizmg a 21-year-old woman. The state had been supported by the U.S. Justice Department in arguing the legitimacy of the law. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno depicted the issues involved in the case as follows: "I think we have got to balance the interests (of the public and released prisoners), and we have received studies...that there is at least a 40 percent recidivism rate among child sex offenders." "We understand," Reno said, "the necessity for striking that balance and making sure the public is protected."

     Judge Politan's action led to a war of words between advocates on both sides of the issue. The judge enraged Megan's law supporters when he asked whether requiring public notification upon the release of sex offenders was similar to the Nazi practice of making Jews wear a Star of David during World War II. Supporters countered that while innocent people were forced to wear the yellow star, Artway's right to privacy ended when he committed his crimes.

     Reaction from Artway himself was quick in coming. "My reaction is 'Yahoo,"' Artway said outside the courtroom building. "I jump in the air and click my heels. I can now move to another area if that becomes necessary for my protection." Artway seemed to be referring, at least in part, to the fact that a New Jersey man who had been mistaken for a released sex offender had previously suffered a beating at the hands of two men. The New Jersey Supreme Court later upheld the law, as did the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998.

     In the midst of the battle over the legality of the Megan's law community notification requirements, Jesse Timmendequas was taken to trial and found guilty of murdering little Megan Kanka. The New Jersey jury that heard the case recommended death, and on June 20, 1997, Judge Andrew Smithson of state Superior Court formally sentenced Timmendequas to die. As the death sentence was read, Megan's mother buried her face in her husband's shoulder and cried. "Megan was worth a life," she told reporters. "This man will never, ever, ever get out and hurt another child."

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