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Computer-Facilitated Child Exploitation

Efforts to protect children from computer-facilitated exploitation were described by Ron Laney, Associate Administrator of OJJDP's Child Protection Division, in a presentation to participants in the Institute for Governors' Criminal Justice Policy Advisors meeting in Seattle, WA, on March 9, 2007.

The meeting, sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices, was supported by funds from the National Institute of Justice, a component of the Office of Justice Programs. Justice policy advisors gathered to learn state-of-the-art approaches in areas such as gangs, guns, and youth crime; cost-benefit tradeoffs of different crime-fighting strategies; and effective reentry strategies for high-risk populations such as sex offenders.

In a session examining the growing number of computer-facilitated sexual exploitation crimes committed against children, Mr. Laney outlined OJJDP's program goals:

Assist State and local law enforcement in effectively responding to the exploitation of children through the Internet.
Develop forensic and investigative capabilities.
Provide training and technical assistance.
Create and support prevention and community education initiatives.

In the nearly 10 years since ICAC was created, much has been done to increase State and local law enforcement's ability to respond to computer-facilitated child sexual exploitation. The ICACs, now numbering 46 and representing more than 1,200 affiliated law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies nationwide, have reviewed hundreds of thousands of complaints, leading to tens of thousands of investigations. Investigations have resulted in the arrest and prosecutions of more than 8,000 individuals who have either sexually exploited or were intent on sexually exploiting children. Additionally, OJJDP has developed a comprehensive training and technical assistance program delivering dozens of specialized training courses to hundreds of investigators, prosecutors, and computer forensic experts each year.

—Ron Laney
Associate Administrator
OJJDP Child Protective Division

Mr. Laney also described the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program established by OJJDP in 1998 to help State and local law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to cyberenticement and child pornography cases. In addition, he discussed the Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood, a multipartner, collaborative initiative to investigate and prosecute crimes against children facilitated through the Internet or other electronic media and communications devices.

Mr. Laney concluded with the message that State and other government officials and policymakers can build on the framework of the ICAC program to promote cross-jurisdictional coordination, remove regulatory and statutory impediments to effective law enforcement, and strengthen resources (including trained investigators, computer forensic experts, and prosecutors).

For an article on the December 2006 Project Safe Childhood National conference, see the January/February 2007 issue of News @ a Glance.