Late Tuesday, August 22nd, U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25) and Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) took a behind-the-scenes look at the latest in child exploitation investigation protocols and assessed the work and needs of a front-line Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which protects our children from internet predators.
Schultz, Moskowitz and a staff member for U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20) joined various Florida ICAC commanders and frontline investigators on site to see how predator investigations unfold and the types of technologies and resources that are deployed.
The ICAC task forces aid local and state law enforcement in the creation and implementation of effective responses to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children. ICAC Task Forces were originally authorized in the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008, and this legislation was first introduced in the House of Representatives by Wasserman Schultz and Lamar Smith (TX-21), and co-led by then Senator Joe Biden. It was re-authorized in 2022, and that bill also reauthorized the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction.
Today, ICAC is comprised of a national network of 61 coordinated task forces, from over 5,400 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. They are dedicated to investigating, prosecuting, and developing effective responses to internet crimes against children. At least one ICAC task force exists in all 50 states, with three of them in Florida.
You can read the full press release here.
