the NEWS
March 7, 2015 Volume 6, Issue 47
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Community fondly remembers slain teacher
Page 9
Serving Rockdale County and Conyers
rockdalenews.com
IS GEORGIA TRYING TO
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Closing the child pornography loophole
Kelsey’s Law going through the state House By Meris Lutz
mlutz@rockdalenews.com
Kelsey Upton was just 15 years old when she received a terrifying text from a registered sex offender in another state. The middle-aged man had seen a pornographic image of another woman that had been posted online along with Kelsey’s name, phone number and address in Oxford. Her father, Randy, a retired law enforcement officer, contacted the district attorney and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, but was shocked to discover that no law had been broken. Because the photograph was not Kelsey’s, the image did not qualify as child pornography, and posting a minor’s information on a porn website was also not illegal. The former classmate who initiated the cruel, dangerous prank went unpunished. “That’s the first thing everybody said, ‘you mean it’s not illegal?’” recalled Randy Upton, speaking at the Capitol this week where he spoke in favor of a new bill that would close that
KILL THE
ELECTRIC CAR? Legislative update on transportation funding, blighted roads See full story on PAGE 4
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STATE OF COUNTY
destiny, vision outlined
PAGE 10
See LOOPHOLE on PAGE 4
Simonds earns scholarship
Chris Simonds’ comeback season is on
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