The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction

B. A Review of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force ProgramIn the Act, Congress requested that the Department thoroughly review all aspects of the ICACTask Force Program. 82 Specifically, Congress requested information on the number of taskforces, the number of trained personnel, the amount of grants that fund the program, the numberof arrests by each task force, the number of criminal referrals, the number of prosecutions, thelevel of coordination of the task forces, an assessment of training conducted, and a review oftechnical tools available to the task forces. Below, the Department provides this information.This review, and the data contained herein, show the robust efforts underway at the state andlocal level, funded by the Department, in fighting child exploitation. Since 1998, ICACs havearrested more than 17,000 people suspected of sexually exploiting children.The data in this report come from monthly and quarterly required data submissions from theState and local Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces and other ICAC programgrantees to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Data arepresented for the FY 2008, and for the first six months of calendar 2009, as these are the mostcurrent data available at the time of writing. Other sources, including the National Center forMissing & Exploited Children, also contributed data to this report.The PROTECT our Children Act calls for a number of variables to be included in the review ofthe ICAC program. Some of the variables outlined in the Act were not available for FY 2009, asthey were not required ICAC program data submissions prior to the passage of the Act.Beginning in January 2009, OJJDP implemented new data collection requirements for the (then59) ICAC Task Forces. These data will be available for reporting in 2011. 831. Background on the ICAC ProgramThe ICAC Task Force Program has been protecting American children since 1998. The ICACprogram is a national network of 61 coordinated Task Forces representing over 2,000 federal,state, local and tribal law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. These agencies are engagedin investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions related to Internet crimes againstchildren. Additionally, the Task Forces provide forensic and investigative technical assistance tolaw enforcement and prosecutorial officials, as well as community education information toparents, educators, prosecutors, law enforcement, and others concerned with child victimization.By helping state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies develop effective and sustainableresponses to online child victimization and child pornography, OJJDP and the ICAC programhave built capacity at the local level to address ICAC related offenses. Programaccomplishments include:82See the Act, Sec. 101 (c)(8). 83 The data elements to be reported for the first time in 2011 include the number of prosecutions and convictionsfrom the criminal referrals to United States Attorneys and the number of local prosecutions and convictions based onICAC Task Force task force investigations. 58