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Associate Attorney General Kevin J. O'Connor

Associate Attorney General Kevin J. O'Connor praised the use of the Internet as a resource for prosecutors and investigators in his keynote address at the ninth National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention in New Orleans. The conference, which was held August 26–28, is sponsored annually by the National Children's Advocacy Center (NCAC).

O'Connor highlighted the Department of Justice's longstanding partnership with NCAC, which provides direct services, training, and national leadership in the fight against child abuse and exploitation. Over the past 25 years, NCAC has provided training to more than 50,000 child abuse prevention professionals.

A major focus of O'Connor's speech was the impact of Internet technology on child sexual abuse. "In the past, when parents thought about threats to their children's safety, they feared what might happen on the walk home from school, or at the playground," said O'Connor. "But the reality has shifted; home is no longer the sanctuary that it used to be. By simply logging on to the Internet, children open themselves up to hidden threats."

Although the Internet makes it easier for predators to target children, it also is a valuable tool for identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting child predators, O'Connor said. The Internet creates historical records of conversations between predators and their victims, and with an electronic record of a conversation, law enforcement can prosecute cases without needing to involve the victim in testimony. The vast majority of these cases result in guilty pleas.

The need to intensely target child predators, particularly those who use the Internet to prey on children, led to the creation of the Department's Project Safe Childhood (PSC) Initiative. PSC's primary focus is the investigation and prosecution of online predators. PSC also funds and supports public service announcements and other outreach efforts to educate children, parents, and teachers about the potential dangers posed by the Internet.

PSC is a partnership made up of Federal agencies, advocacy organizations, and State and local law enforcement agencies, including OJJDP's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program. ICAC Task Forces help State and local law enforcement agencies develop an effective response to cyber enticement and child pornography cases by providing assistance with investigations, training and technical assistance, victim services, and community education. There are 59 ICAC Task Forces located in all 50 States.

"Federal law enforcement authorities across the country are working closer than ever with their State and local counterparts to ensure that these cases are given the highest priority and that those convicted receive the strongest possible sentences," O'Connor said.

O'Connor cautioned that the need to be vigilant against predators continues after the predators leave prison. "Keeping offenders away from kids is a big part of why we work so hard to prosecute predators," O'Connor said. "But the fact remains that there will come a time when those sex offenders are released from prison and return to their communities."

In an effort to address this problem, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey recently announced the final National Guidelines for implementing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act provisions of the 2006 Adam Walsh Act.

"We have an obligation to kids and parents to do everything we can to make sure sex offenders don't strike again," O'Connor said.

For more information about the NCAC conference, please check the Web site. Additional information about the ICAC Task Force Program and the PSC Initiative is available online.

See also "Conferences Focus Attention on Child Safety" in this News @ a Glance for information on the PSC National Conference and the National AMBER Alert Conference.