WASHINGTON, DC – Adults who were raped as children during the production of child pornography distributed on the internet will have the right to sue for damages, if a bipartisan bill submitted for consideration this week in the Senate passes. Dubbed “Masha’s Law,” in honor of a Russian orphan who was sexually exploited by her adoptive American father, possible damages would increase from $50,000 to $150,000.Masha, who was abused for five years, during which time hundreds of images of her were uploaded online. The 13-year-old is safe now, but as Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, a co-sponsor for the bill, pointed out, images of “her horrific ordeal remain posted on the Internet for all to see every day.”
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, child pornography is a multi-billion dollar business. The bill’s author, Democratic Senator John Kerry finds it ironic that “we have tougher penalties for downloading music than for downloading sick images of infants and children.”

Matthew Mancuso, Masha’s adoptive father, was eventually convicted and imprisoned for child sexual abuse and for producing and possessing child pornography. Masha now lives with another family and has begun speaking out about her experiences in the hopes of protecting other children from similar harm. Her story was covered anonymously by CNN in June and earlier this month she was interviewed for ABC’s “Primetime,” which told her story in greater detail

The Kerry-Isakson bill would allow victims of child sexual exploitation to sue for damages experienced after they reach adulthood, up to a maximum of $150,000, which is equivalent to copyright infringement payments.

“We felt that a strong civil penalty would carry equally as much weight as a strong criminal penalty, and at the same time provide some kind of justice and some kind of equity for the victims of these crimes,” said Maureen Flatley, a Boston-area adoption advocate who has been working on Masha’s legal case.