Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Targets Online Predators

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office is touting its agreement with the Washington State Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which acts through the Seattle Police Department. It's one of 61 task force groups nationwide with backing from the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

(Click here and here to watch a couple of animated PSAs about young women ensnared by online predators. The ICAC says these are dramatizations of actual events.)

As in other jurisdictions, cyber abuse and exploitation of children is a persistent problem in Chelan County. The Sheriff's Office launched a standalone operation in early February. The months-long endeavor "culminated in a significant crackdown on offenders," according to the Sheriff's Office. This was followed in late July by Operation Net Nanny, a larger, more coordinated effort involving the Washington State Patrol's Missing and Exploited Children Task Force (MECTF).

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Net Nanny resulted in a dozen arrests - most of them concentrated in Wenatchee and East Wenatchee.

On one level, the operations were an unmitigated success, but it was clear that additional resources were needed - hence this sweeping new interagency agreement. The Sheriff's Office has been promised support in "digital forensics, investigative techniques and specialized training."

This is hardly a new phenomenon. In response to skyrocketing web usage and its attendant ills, the Clinton-era DOJ developed the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The task force seeks to equip state and local law enforcement with tools to combat "technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children. This help encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, and community education."