U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R, FL-16) says he is introducing federal legislation to ban the sale of sex dolls that look like children after a "grotesque incident involving a Florida girl."
Thursday's announcement comes after television station WTVJ reported a lifelike doll resembling a real girl from the Miami area was being sold online.
"The mother said a photo of her child was stolen and her likeness was turned into a sex doll that was legally for sale on Amazon and other websites," Congressman Buchanan's office explained. "The girl’s mother was horrified and expressed concern for her daughter’s safety."
That's why Buchanan, who co-chairs the Florida congressional delegation, says he's re-introducing the “CREEPER Act." The bill passed the U.S. House in 2018 but died in the Senate.
“This is sickening and cannot be allowed to continue,” Buchanan wrote in a statement. “We need to enact a national ban on these obscene products that are known to encourage pedophilia and the exploitation of children.”
The "CREEPER Act" would ban the importation and transportation of child sex dolls, which Buchanan's office says would effectively ban their sale. If it doesn't pass this year, Buchanan has vowed to re-introduce it again in the 2021 Congressional session.
Florida, Kentucky and Tennesse are the only three states with current bans on such dolls.
Elizabeth Fisher, president of Sarasota-based nonprofit Selah Freedom -- which raises awareness for human trafficking, was quoted in a news release from Buchanan's office.
“Allowing for the manufacturing or possession of child-like sex dolls not only encourages pedophilia, but it creates an opportunity for the predator to exercise sexually violent and exploitative actions on a prototype, which lowers their inhibitions and grows their desire to abuse a real child,” Fisher said.
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