Pennsylvania House Approves Alicia’s Law to Protect Kids from Online Predators

May 6, 2026

HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania House of Representatives today passed Alicia’s Law, sponsored by Reps. Jason Ortitay (R-Washington/Allegheny) and Jessica Benham (D-Allegheny), that would create a dedicated state grant program to help law enforcement find, investigate and prosecute internet predators who target children.

The bill is named for Alicia Kozak, a Pittsburgh-area girl who was abducted in 2002 at the age of 13 by a man she met online. It was one of the first documented cases of its kind in the country. Alicia survived and has spent years advocating for stronger protections so other children don’t go through what she did.

“Alicia’s story is not a relic of the early internet,” Ortitay said. “It’s a preview of what happens when kids have unlimited access to strangers online, and we don’t give law enforcement the tools to keep up. With social media now in the hands of children as young as nine or 10, these crimes are not slowing down. They are accelerating. This law puts Pennsylvania on offense.”

“Protecting children from exploitation must remain a top priority for lawmakers,” Benham said. “By supporting local task forces across the Commonwealth to specifically investigate these crimes, this bill would strengthen Pennsylvania’s ability to prosecute perpetrators and create more tools for our communities to keep kids safe. I am proud to partner on a solution that puts the safety and well-being of our children first.”

House Bill 1098 would establish the Investigation and Prosecution of Internet Crimes Against Children Program within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). The program creates a state-level funding structure to:

• Fund law enforcement task forces made up of state and local prosecutors dedicated to investigating and prosecuting online crimes against minors.
• Supplement federal funding for task forces combating child sexual exploitation online.
• Train task force members on the latest techniques for detecting, investigating and prosecuting these crimes.

These state task forces would work alongside the existing federal Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program, which funds 61 task forces nationally. Currently, Pennsylvania has just one federally funded ICAC task force. Alicia’s Law creates the infrastructure to expand that capacity using state resources.

Alicia’s Law is already on the books in 12 other states. Pennsylvania joining the group through this bill reflects a growing national movement to treat online predation as the serious and organized threat that it is.

“Parents are doing everything right and their kids are still being targeted,” Ortitay added. “That is not a parenting failure. It is a policy failure, and this bill starts to fix it. Alicia Kozak had the courage to tell her story publicly so that other families could be protected. Passing this law is the least we can do to honor that.”

The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

The 46th Legislative District includes South Fayette Township and McDonald and Oakdale boroughs in Allegheny County. It also encompasses Cecil, Chartiers, Mt. Pleasant and North Strabane (Districts 6,7,8 and 9) townships and Canonsburg, Houston and McDonald boroughs in Washington County.

Representative Jason Ortitay
46th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Tracy Polovick
717.260.6358
tpolovick@pahousegop.com
RepOrtitay.com / Facebook.com/RepOrtitay