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Every year, millions of children and teenagers go online to research homework assignments, play games, and chat with friends. Unfortunately, these young people are also at risk of victimization by sexual predators who use the Internet to exchange child pornography or engage youth in sexual activity.
Recognizing that victimization in cyberspace poses a unique threat to the health and safety of children and a formidable challenge to law enforcement, OJJDP created the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program in 1998. The purpose of the program is to help law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to online sexual victimization of children. Today, the ICAC Program has an established network of 45 regional task forces that coordinate the efforts of more than 2,700 affiliated federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in all 50 states.
Supporting State and Local Efforts
ICAC's national network of multiagency, multijurisdictional task forces engage in proactive investigations, forensic examinations, and effective prosecutions. The task forces also provide forensic, prevention, and investigation assistance to parents, educators, prosecutors, law enforcement, and others concerned with child victimization issues. By helping state and local law enforcement agencies develop effective and sustainable responses to online child victimization and child pornography, the ICAC Program delivers national resources at the local level.
Training and Technical Assistance
The ICAC Training and Technical Assistance Program was established to help state and local law enforcement agencies enhance their response to online victimization of children. Under the OJJDP-funded program, Fox Valley Technical College offers a variety of courses, such as:
- Investigative Techniques. A 5-day program designed to provide state and local law enforcement investigators with a basic understanding of investigative techniques in the area of Internet crimes against children.
- Child Sex Offender Accountability. A 4-day technology training program for law enforcement investigators, probation/parole officers, and prosecutors responsible for monitoring or investigating the activities of convicted child sex offenders.
- Undercover Chat Investigations. A 5-day program for experienced ICAC investigators, covering the latest tools and techniques for combating online child exploitation.
| NCMEC's CyberTipline
 Since 1998, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has operated the CyberTipline, a one-stop reporting point for citizens concerned about suspicious activity on the Internet. Reports may be made 24-hours per day, 7 days per week, online at www.cybertipline.com or by calling 1-800-843-5678. As of yearend 2004, the CyberTipline had received more than 300,000 reports.
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The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) offers a comprehensive, week-long course for law enforcement officers who investigate cases of online child pornography and enticement. "Protecting Children Online" covers investigative techniques, interview strategies, offender behavioral characteristics, and resources. NCMEC also offers a 3-day course for law enforcement managers and executives that focuses on liability issues and model policies and procedures. SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, provides detailed technical courses on investigation of online child exploitation.
ICAC partners with the Annual Crimes Against Children Conference, a national child maltreatment training symposium held in Dallas, TX. Each year, more than 200 ICAC Task Force investigators participate in this conference. The 2005 conference featured an ICAC mock trial and increased Internet training for all conference attendees. The next conference is scheduled for August 21-24, 2006.
National Oversight
The ICAC Task Force Board of Directors, composed of law enforcement managers and prosecutors appointed by participating regional task forces, meets quarterly to review ICAC activities, make policy recommendations, and assess training and technical assistance needs for OJJDP. Serving as technical advisors to the board are the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and NCMEC. The board's legal advisor is the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division.
For Additional Information
To learn more about ICAC, including funding, resources, and contacts, visit the ICAC program summary on OJJDP's Web site. In 2006, OJJDP will publish a new bulletin with the latest information on ICAC activities; availability will be announced on the OJJDP Web site and through the JUVJUST listserv. For information on ICAC training and technical assistance, visit www.icactraining.org
| ICAC Task Force Program in Action
These examples are from the 2002 OJJDP Bulletin Protecting Children in Cyberspace: The ICAC Task Force Program.
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A citizen contacts NCMEC's CyberTipline to report that a man is using the Internet to locate minors for sex. CyberTipline analysts forward the information to ICAC Task Force officers, who begin an inquiry. The subject schedules a meeting with undercover officers and sends them nude photographs. Upon arresting the offender, the officers learn that he had victimized four children ages 8-11.
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A middle-aged man sends child pornographic photos and a video to an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old boy. The subject invites this boy to his house to watch other child pornographic videos and later admits his sexual intent. A search of the subject's house reveals a large collection of child pornography.
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Task Force members execute a search warrant at the residence of a registered sex offender and seize his computer. An examination of the computer locates three additional victims, living more than 2,500 miles away, whom the suspect had abused for years.
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Parents notify Task Force investigators of their concerns about a chatroom relationship their 14-year-old son has developed with a stranger. Officers assume the boy's online identity. Within 2 days, the suspect makes arrangements for a sexual encounter with the boy.
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