Jim Rosica
A new bill would criminalize the use of drones by sexual predators to take photos or videos of children.
State Sen. Dorothy Hukill filed her bill (SB 510) on Monday.
The latest bill adds to a long line of legislation aimed at reining in the remotely-controlled and usually miniature aircraft.
Generally, Florida lawmakers have been concerned about invasions of privacy.
In 2013, the Legislature passed a bill limiting Florida law enforcement agencies’ use of the technology, requiring a search warrant or some imminent danger.
Still more bills were filed just last session, including one by Hukill that prohibited drones from snapping photos of someone else’s property. That bill also became law.
Now, the Port Orange Republican’s newest legislation would create a new third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
To violate state law, a sexual predator would have to “use or operate a drone … to view or record an image of a minor who is on or at the minor’s domicile or on or at a business, school, child care facility, park, playground, or other place where children regularly congregate.”
It wasn’t clear whether a specific incident was behind the legislation; Hukill couldn’t be immediately reached on her mobile phone for comment.
