You are here: Home Programs Archives Catalyst Newsletter 2008 Volume 28, Number 10 New Justice Initiative Successful In Tackling Internet Child Abuse
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New Justice Initiative Successful In Tackling Internet Child Abuse

Project Safe Childhood to keep the predators off the Internet as well as the streets

By Martin King, NCPC Senior Multimedia Editor and Writer

Project Safe Childhood, launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006, has become a pivotal program in the fight to keep America’s children safe from sexual abuse and exploitation initiated or committed over the Internet. Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales emphasized the importance of Project Safe Childhood (PSC) when, in one of his last acts in office, he addressed the Project Safe Childhood Roundtable in Des Moines, IA, on September 13.
  
Gonzales told the roundtable that, both professionally “and as a dad,” the initiative was dear to his heart. “We are in the midst of an epidemic of sexual abuse and exploitation of our kids,” he said. “My personal goal as attorney general has been to chase down these people who hunt our children like prey and to bring them to justice.”
 
In the first half of FY2007, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces—which play the lead role in Project Safe Childhood (PSC)—made 1,139 arrests for online child exploitation crimes, an increase of 20 percent over the same period in 2006.  At the current rate for FY2007, arrests should increase by nearly 25 percent over FY2006, he said.

Project Safe Childhood is modeled after the successful, anti-gun Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, in which NCPC took part. It depends on ICAC task forces (which consist of state and local law enforcement personnel supported by Justice Department funding) that work under the leadership of U.S. attorneys to investigate and prosecute Internet-based crimes against children. The task forces rely on participation with other federal and state agencies and local and tribal law enforcement entities in each federal judicial district. Cooperation with community groups, nonprofits, and private organizations is also extremely important.

Project Safe Childhood has its roots in federal law, not state law. One good reason for apprehending child abusers and pornographers under federal law is that federal law has more far-reaching subpoena powers than state law, an important consideration in investigations. Second, federal laws are often tougher and more frequently enforced. Under federal law all relevant child exploitation offenses are felonies and carry severe minimum mandatory sentences. Third, some state criminal justice systems have too few prosecutorial or custodial resources to seek or execute meaningful sentences, with the result that predators are sometimes released back into the community.
 
In his speech to the roundtable, Gonzales termed the Internet “perhaps the greatest invention of our times.” That, of course, is why it is so hard to police—and hard to police those who would take advantage of its youngest users. Gonzales made a point of saying that “Prevention is one of the highest goals of PSC . . . . As a society we already share a revulsion for what pedophiles and predator criminals do to our children. The crimes are so terrible that people are uncomfortable talking about them. . . . . [But] we need to move our country past revulsion and on to action by parents, community organizations, law enforcement, and victims’ groups.” Law enforcement, he said, is critical, but prevention is best accomplished through education and partnerships.

Parents are the first line of defense in keeping their children safe while they are on the Internet. However, children are often more savvy about computers than their parents, making monitoring and understanding their online activities difficult for parents. For information on how to maintain a safe home Internet environment, go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) NetSmartz site (www.netsmartz.org), i-Safe (www.isafe.org), or Web Wise Kids (www.webwisekids.org). All of these sites receive some of their funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. You can also go to www.NCPC.org and www.mcgruff.org (for children) for information on keeping children safe on the Internet.

               

Complementing the role of parents, PSC coalitions can host forums for parents and community groups, inviting representatives of ICAC task forces or other involved groups to attend and present related prevention and safety information.
 
Youth groups can also play an important role. They can educate children, help them recognize the signs of abuse and exploitation, and get law enforcement involved. In addition, teens are frequently more likely to share their experiences with other peers and accept peer advice.

Schools can play a critical role, too. The ICAC task force program and NetSmartz have collaborated to produce a set of two educational CDs that target various age groups. The CDs include lesson plans, discussion cards, and all of the information needed to carry out an educational program with no additional instructor training. More than 10,000 of the sets have now been circulated to schools by ICAC task forces or through NCMEC training sessions.
 
Many schools have adopted education programs focusing on Internet safety for their students. A number of states have enacted laws requiring that that Internet safety be taught in schools, and some local education departments have adopted the NetSmartz or i-Safe Internet safety curricula. In Georgia, the state’s Bureau of Investigation has joined with the Department of Education to establish an Internet and computer user standards and policy for all schools in the state.

Schools should also consider using their school resource officers (SROs) as points of training on Internet safety, particularly as the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Service provides funding to local law enforcement to help establish SRO programs across the country. In addition, the Office of Justice Programs offers training programs to support that initiative.
 
NCPC President and CEO Al Lenhardt praised the program. “Whether at home or at school, kids need to know that when they go online, they will be safe from the predators who would exploit them,” he said. “They need to be taught the rules of safety in no uncertain terms. That’s the job of Project Safe Childhood and all its constituent parts. And it’s the particular responsibility of Project Safe Childhood to keep the predators off the Internet as well as the streets, a job it’s already doing well.”

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