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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6572
January Session, 2023
AN ACT CONCERNING THE CREATION OF A STATE POLICE
INVESTIGATIVE TASK FORCE TO ADDRESS ONLINE SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE OF MINORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 29-4 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2023): 3
(d) The commissioner shall establish such divisions as the 4
commissioner deems necessary for effective operation of the state police 5
force and consistent with budgetary allotments, a Criminal Intelligence 6
Division, [and] a state-wide organized crime investigative task force to 7
be engaged throughout the state for the purpose of preventing and 8
detecting any violation of the criminal law, [and] a Hate Crimes 9
Investigative Unit for the purposes described in section 29-7d, and, for 10
the fiscal years ending June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2025, an investigative 11
task force relating to the online exploitation and sexual abuse of minors 12
for the purposes described in section 2 of this act. The head of the 13
Criminal Intelligence Division shall be of the rank of sergeant or above. 14
The head of the Hate Crimes Investigative Unit shall be of the rank of 15
sergeant or above, and shall serve as a member of the State-Wide Hate 16
Crimes Advisory Council, established under section 51-279f. The head 17 Substitute Bill No. 6572
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of the state-wide organized crime investigative task force shall be a 18
police officer. The head of the investigative task force relating to the 19
online exploitation and sexual abuse of minors shall be of the rank of 20
sergeant or above. 21
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) For the fiscal years ending 22
June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2025, the Commissioner of Emergency 23
Services and Public Protection shall assign to the investigative task force 24
relating to the online exploitation and sexual abuse of minors, 25
established under subsection (d) of section 29-4 of the general statutes, 26
as amended by this act, such personnel as may be required to fulfill the 27
duties of this section. The task force shall utilize existing resources and 28
processes to: 29
(1) Investigate any suspected criminal activity and arrest any 30
individual who commits any criminal activity in the state in which such 31
individual uses the Internet to sexually abuse, sexually exploit or 32
sexually assault a minor online or in-person, or attempt to sexually 33
abuse, sexually exploit or sexually assault a minor online or in person; 34
(2) Compile, monitor and analyze data regarding any criminal 35
activity or suspected criminal activity described in subdivision (1) of this 36
subsection; and 37
(3) Share data and information with, and, at the discretion of the head 38
of the task force, provide additional assistance to, any law enforcement 39
unit to assist in the investigation of any criminal activity or suspected 40
criminal activity described in subdivision (1) of this subsection. 41
(b) Not later than November 1, 2023, the Police Officer Standards and 42
Training Council, in consultation with the Commissioner of Emergency 43
Services and Public Protection, shall: 44
(1) Develop, and disseminate to all law enforcement units, a 45
standardized form or other reporting system to be used by a law 46
enforcement unit in making an initial notification or report to the 47
investigative task force relating to the online exploitation and sexual 48 Substitute Bill No. 6572
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abuse of minors as required by subsection (c) of this section; 49
(2) Develop best practices to facilitate the continued sharing of 50
information among and between the investigative task force relating to 51
the online exploitation and sexual abuse of minors and law enforcement 52
units; 53
(3) Take such actions as are necessary to inform the public of its right 54
to report any criminal activity or suspected criminal activity as 55
described in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section and how to 56
make such reports, including, but not limited to, considering the 57
establishment of state and municipal telephone hotlines and Internet 58
web sites that can be used to make reports; and 59
(4) Develop a model policy for the investigation of the online sexual 60
exploitation and abuse of minors. 61
(c) Each law enforcement unit shall, not later than fourteen days after 62
receiving notification, information or a complaint of any criminal 63
activity or suspected criminal activity described in subdivision (1) of 64
subsection (a) of this section, provide a notice and report to the 65
investigative task force relating to the online exploitation and sexual 66
abuse of minors regarding such criminal activity or suspected criminal 67
activity using the standardized form or other reporting system 68
developed pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section. 69
The law enforcement unit shall continue to share information regarding 70
the investigation of such criminal activity or suspected criminal activity 71
with the investigative task force relating to the online exploitation and 72
sexual abuse of minors according to the best practices developed 73
pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section. 74
(d) Not later than January 1, 2025, and January 1, 2026, the 75
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall submit 76
an annual report regarding the activity and results of the investigative 77
task force relating to the online exploitation and sexual abuse of minors, 78
as well as a recommendation as to whether the investigative task force 79 Substitute Bill No. 6572
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should be extended, to the joint standing committees of the General 80
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, public 81
safety and judiciary, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 82
of the general statutes. 83
(e) For purposes of this section, "law enforcement unit" has the same 84
meaning as provided in section 7-294a of the general statutes. 85
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2023 29-4(d)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 New section
de", for clarity.
KID Joint Favorable Subst.
PS Joint Favorable
APP Joint Favorable