J.B. VAN HOLLEN
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force

One of the highest priorities of my administration is continuing to battle the ever-growing problem of Internet crimes against children. Like most technology that provides a net social good, the Internet carries with it evils as well. These include the ability for online child sex offenders to find, download, and share sexual images of children and the ability of online predators to seek out vulnerable children on the Internet for the purpose of engaging in illegal acts. In the process, countless children are victimized.

The Department of Justice’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task (ICAC) Force has been very successful at identifying predators as well as possessors and distributors of child pornography. Investigative efforts of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force include undercover peer to peer investigations where shared file drives are investigated, online undercover stings, and acting on Cyber tips from citizens and Internet Service Providers.

Staff psychologists at the Federal Bureau of Prisons have shown what we all believe: there is a strong correlation between possessing child pornography – abuse in its own right by creating the demand for recorded sexual abuse – and acting out by physically sexually abusing children. In Walworth County, for example, a Department of Justice DCI peer-to-peer investigation led to a man who was not only receiving child pornography, but later discovered to be molesting his granddaughter and her school friend. Thanks to the DCI investigations, this man has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing. Without peer-to-peer investigations, it is likely that the abuse would have continued and never have been uncovered.

As successful as these efforts have been, we know that there is much more illegal activity that we do not have the resources to investigate and prosecute. This past year, 55 peer to peer cases were initiated resulting in the arrest of offenders. Yet over 15,000 unique Wisconsin IP addresses have had known child pornography images possessed by the user. We can and should do better to protect the children and families of Wisconsin.

With my staff, I am currently studying methods to further strengthen the ICAC Task Force. Some improvements will come at the state level, whether through management initiatives within DOJ, legislation, or other means. Local law enforcement, too, is an important part of a more successful Wisconsin ICAC task force. Currently, the Wisconsin ICAC Task Force consists of 23 affiliated local law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement officers from those affiliated agencies have been trained by or through the Wisconsin ICAC Task Force to conduct investigations into computer facilitated exploitation of children. Some of those affiliated agencies also employ officers with training in computer forensic analysis. It is my goal to develop new affiliations with local law enforcement and for the Department of Justice to improve the investigative and forensic capabilities of our existing affiliates through training, expertise, and, where possible, resources.

A combination of agents, local law enforcement, and forensic analysts is the most efficient way to attack this growing problem. Working together, we can—and will—do more to protect Wisconsin’s children.

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