Thursday, June 7, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Helps Promote Internet Safety with INOBTR Campaign
ST. LOUIS– Gov. Matt Blunt today teamed up with the INOBTR campaign, INOBTR celebrity advocate Nick Lachey and other state and local officials in the fight against the dangers children face online. Gov. Blunt, who has supported funding for INOBTR, helped promote the campaign at St. Louis Cardinals Internet Safety Night at the Ballpark.
“Keeping Missouri children safe is one of the most important roles I have as governor,” Blunt said. “Missourians can be proud we are investing in the latest resources for law enforcement and working hard to equip Missouri families to better protect their children. Together we can effectively fight heinous criminals who exploit technology to victimize young Missourians.”
Blunt has championed the INOBTR (text shorthand for “I Know Better”) campaign to help fight against online sexual predators by securing $150,000 in the state budget. The funds will support this public awareness campaign and education initiative which is designed to help Missouri parents and students learn about the latest issues facing kids online, become active in the fight to stop Internet predators, and protect children online. Governor Blunt is expected to sign the budget bill with the INOBTR funding, and his strong leadership is helping ensure that Missouri’s children are protected from dangerous sexual predators.
Blunt tonight attended the St. Louis Cardinals Internet Safety Night, where INOBTR campaign spokesman Nick Lachey promoted the importance of online safety and encouraged parents and young Missourians to “know better” when it comes to online threats. For more information about the INOBTR campaign visit www.inobtr.org.
Blunt’s strong leadership has ensured Missouri has one of the strongest versions of Jessica’s Law in the nation. He signed legislation that mandates a lifetime sentence with a minimum of 30 years for serious sexual crimes that are committed against young children and calls for certain sex offenders to be monitored their entire lives. The governor has also led the successful effort to expand the state’s sexual offender registry and add new tools to make it a more powerful resource for parents and law enforcement officials. Missouri’s Jessica’s Law also included the creation of Multi-jurisdictional Internet Cyber Crimes Task Forces to protect children from online predators.