‘CHiPs’ Star Helps Fight Child Pornography

Photo by FLICKR/nrbelex/1296971520/ "Ponch" made a trip to Richmond last week.

By Rich Griset and Alli Atayee
Capital News Service

RICHMOND – Actor Erik Estrada visited Capital Square last week to voice his support for Virginia’s fight against child pornography.

Estrada, best known for portraying motorcycle cop “Ponch” on the hit ’70s show “CHiPs,” said he is a sworn deputy with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, based in Bedford County.

Sporting his trademark mop of hair and kilowatt smile, Estrada appeared at a press conference with Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville; Delegate David Albo, R-Springfield; and House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem.
The actor and the lawmakers said Virginia needs stronger laws against child pornography.

“It is real, what is out there and … it’s just a click away,” Estrada said. “It’s a lot nastier and a lot more dangerous than what you might believe.”

The legislation Estrada supported included Deeds’ Senate Bill 620, which would create a fund to help law enforcement fight child pornography. The bill would add an additional $10 charge to any felony or misdemeanor conviction, which would go to the Internet Crimes Against Children Fund. The fund would generate a minimum of $1.5 million for ICAC task forces.

“In government, we like to talk about the things we like to do, but you know what? It costs money sometimes,” Deeds said.

Griffith said support for Deeds’ bill crosses party lines.

“This is a bill that affects every family,” Griffith said.

Albo’s House Bill 736 would add state police and circuit courts to the list of agencies required to report all cases of child abuse and neglect into an online database called the Virginia Child Protection Accountability System. Government agencies and the general public can use the database to track the number of child abuse and neglect cases in Virginia.

Last week, the House joined the Senate in unanimously approving HB 736. It now goes onto the governor to be signed into law.

Sen. Fredrick M. Quayle, R-Suffolk, sponsored an identical bill to Albo’s, Senate Bill 284. Quayle’s bill has also passed both chambers.

At last Wednesday’s press conference, investigator Steve Anders of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office gave a briefing about investigations into child pornography in Virginia.

Anders said most child pornographers in Virginia are duel offenders, both partaking and creating child pornography.

“Child pornography is nothing short of a crime scene,” Anders said.

He said the ICAC task force goes after the top 100 traffickers in the commonwealth. Some offenders even post tutorial videos on how to sexually abuse minors and how to get away with the crime, Anders said.

He estimates that 50,000 computers in Virginia are used to transmit or view child pornography. In the past year, Anders said, he has seen more than 70 convictions and hundreds of people have been arrested and are awaiting trial.

Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said his county’s ICAC task force was among the first created in the United States in 1998.

The Bedford-based ICAC task force investigates crimes across Virginia and then hands over the cases to the local jurisdiction where the crimes were committed. Fifty-two local agencies work under Bedford.

For Anders, locking up people who collect pornographic pictures and videos of children like trading cards means much more than just a paycheck.

“I have a 2-year-old son,” Anders said. “He is the reason I get up every morning and wade through this filth and sewage.”