ICYMI: House Passes Rep. Laurel Lee’s Combating Online Predators Act to Criminalize Sextortion

Washington, D.C. -The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 6719, the Combating Online Predators Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Congresswoman Laurel Lee to close a dangerous loophole in federal law and strengthen protections for children targeted by online sextortion.

The bill explicitly criminalizes intentional threats to distribute child sexual abuse material (CSAM), a coercive tactic increasingly used by online predators to exploit and silence children. Under current law, sextortion has fallen outside existing CSAM statutes, forcing prosecutors to rely on patchwork charging theories that fail to reflect the gravity of these crimes.

Rep. Lee delivered her floor speech in support of the legislation on January 12, 2025 during National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, underscoring the urgent need for Congress to act as reports of sextortion continue to surge nationwide.

"Predators are exploiting gaps in our laws to terrorize children online," Rep. Lee said during floor debate. "By passing the Combating Online Predators Act, Congress is making clear that these threats will be prosecuted with the seriousness they deserve."

In recent years, reported sextortion cases in the United States rose sharply-from 13,842 in the first half of 2024 to 23,593 during the same period in 2025. Children are particularly vulnerable, with boys ages 14 to 17 most often targeted. In tragic cases, sextortion has led young victims to take their own lives.

During her remarks, Rep. Lee honored the lives of children lost to sextortion, including Gavin Guffey of South Carolina and Bryce Tate of West Virginia, and shared the story of a Florida mother whose son committed suicide after being targeted online.

The Combating Online Predators Act builds on Rep. Lee's prior work to combat online exploitation, including the REPORT Act, which strengthened reporting requirements for online service providers and was signed into law in the previous Congress.

With House passage secured, Rep. Lee emphasized that protecting children from online exploitation must remain a bipartisan priority and that predators must be held fully accountable under federal law.

The bill now awaits consideration in the Senate.

Watch her full remarks here.