CHILD SEX ABUSE Cops arm selves for Net offenders

A Valley police chief hopes area law enforcement will form a cybercrime task force.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- From Portland, Ore., to Portland, Maine, those who prey on children have found a gold mine on the Internet, twisting technology's latest wonder tool into a pervasive medium for the perverse.
"It's here. I'd be kidding myself if I thought it wasn't," Leetonia Police Chief John Soldano said of the use of the Internet to exploit children. "Parents need to closely monitor what their kids are doing. Seemingly innocent communication can lead to things far more dangerous."
Article: Newsweek magazine's latest cover story is a special report, "The Darkest Corner of the Internet: How the Web Has Fed a Shocking Increase in the Sexual Exploitation of Children." It's an international, problem, Newsweek says, and recounts the story of a priest in a small coastal town in Sicily who helped authorities crack a child abuse and pornography ring based in Russia.
The magazine also reported that analysts at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Arlington, Va., expect to be overwhelmed soon when a new law takes effect requiring that electronic communication and computing services report child pornography law violations.
Tip line: Center officials urge people to report child abuse and exploitation via its toll-free number, (800) 843-5678 or e-mail, cybertipline.com, said Soldano. Soldano just returned from a weekend seminar on Internet crime at the Center, and recommends every law enforcement agency send at least one officer to the free presentation, offered monthly.
Center officials have analyzed some 37,000 tips since they launched CyberTipline in 1998, and told Newsweek they now receive about 450 tips each week.
Statistics: "We need to do whatever we can to combat a huge problem that's getting worse," Soldano said. He said the seminar "was a real eye-opener.
"They told us the percentage of violent crimes against girls 12 to 15, for example, is 84 percent higher than against the general public," Soldano said.
"Children are most vulnerable to sexual abuse between 7 and 13, and 40 percent of imprisoned sex offenders said their victims were 12 and under."
Soldano believes law enforcement agencies, especially those in smaller communities, should form a cybercrime task force. Techniques in combating child abuse and exploitation via the Internet will be more effective if small agencies pool their resources, he said.
Soldano, Salem Township Constable Dan Valentine, Beaver Township Lt. Ken Frost and Springfield Township Chief Matt Mohn attended the recent seminar. Sgt. Alan Young, a Columbiana County Sheriff's Department detective, plans to attend in April, Soldano said.