SNOW HILL — The proliferation of the Internet and social networking has created challenges in protecting the most vulnerable in the community, but local law enforcement officials this week announced a new initiative aimed at combating crimes against children.
Worcester County Sheriff Reggie Mason this week announced a new initiative to combat crimes against children by partnering with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). The ICAC Task Force was created to help federal, state and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders to use the Internet, online communications systems or computer technology to sexually exploit children. The program, which has been in place nationwide for over a decade, is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice and its Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
“The ICAC program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing over 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies,” said Mason this week. “We join these agencies who are actively engaged in proactive, forensic investigations and criminal prosecutions.”
The new system employs a meta data crawler to search for potential child pornography being disseminated in Worcester County and the surrounding area. Once computer evidence is located, further investigation is required to identify violators and make criminal arrests. Mason and Worcester County State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby are looking for their partnership with the ICAC Task Force to further strengthen the fight against child exploiters and abusers in Worcester.
“This new tool furthers the mission of the Worcester County Child Advocacy Center,” said Oglesby this week. “It allows law enforcement to take a proactive stand against those who prey on our most vulnerable population, our children.”
The partnership with the ICAC Task Force is expected to help strengthen the mission of the Child Advocacy Center, or Cricket Center, in Worcester and across the Lower Shore. In 2009, the first-ever Child Advocacy Center was opened in Worcester and was staffed originally by a Worcester County Sheriff’s Deputy, an assistant state’s attorney and members of the Maryland Department of Social Services. In the years since, it has provided a safe environment for the victims of child abuse and exploitation and a coordinated effort to minimize the potential trauma to young victims.
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