By Joe Killian
Staff Writer

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// < ![CDATA[ OAS_AD('Middle'); // ]]> North Carolina’s top prosecutor wants tougher state laws to combat online child predators, and Piedmont Triad officials tasked with hunting down violators say the changes are long overdue.

Suggestions that Attorney General Roy Cooper made to the General Assembly include increasing sentences for adults soliciting minors and requiring computer technicians to tip police if they find child pornography on a customer’s hard drive.

Greensboro police Cpl. C.E. Williams said he likes the proposals. He said catching child predators is often easier than seeing that they do time.

"Most of the frustration is that these guys who are preying on children aren’t getting the punishment they deserve," said Williams, who gets at least two solicitations an hour from area men who want to meet for sex when he poses online as a 14-year-old girl.

Cooper put forth his proposals this month to help police address rising concerns among parents about their children’s safety online.

A number of high-profile predator arrests in the Piedmont Triad — including employees at local colleges, a public relations official for NASCAR drivers, a soldier and a fire chief — have added an urgency to the attorney general’s suggestions. (more…)