The reauthorization will support the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program
Washington, DC – This week, Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) and Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) introduced the bipartisan PROTECT Our Children Act of 2024. John Pizzuro, CEO of Raven and former Commander of the NJ Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, issued the following statement:
“The PROTECT Our Children Act is integral for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program to function and continue to protect children, but it is only one part of the solution. ICAC Task Forces need more resources so they can make technical improvements and focus on proactive investigations, not just reactive. In the 2023 fiscal year, ICAC Task Forces conducted approximately 184,700 investigations and arrested more than 10,800 offenders. But in the last 90 days, nearly 100,000 IP addresses in the United States have traded known images and videos of abuse of extremely young children. There are too many perpetrators who are not being investigated because Task Forces do not have adequate resources.
“Congress must pass this bill urgently so that ICAC Task Forces across the country can get the resources they need to equip and train officers to fight against bad actors.”