How police in Knoxville, Tennessee are protecting kids online
April 5, 2006, Melissa DiPane, 6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Posing as a 13-year-old girl, investigator Tom Evans has been in a chat room for less than five minutes. He's already been asked for pictures and was sent pornographic images.
"The Internet makes it much more easy. They have a ready made pool of victims," Evans says. He's part of the Knoxville Police Department's Internet Crimes against Children Task Force. The wildly successful program has nabbed a lot of predators.
"The number of prosecutions increased over six years since the ICAC task force has been formed," Evans says. Tuesday's arrest of a homeland security employee should serve as an eye opener for parents.
"The interesting and frightening thing about a crime is that you can't look at an individual and determine if that's someone you need to be concerned about as far as your children go," Evans says. Investigators often pose as children in order to catch someone trying to seduce a minor.
Predators encountered by police are from all over the country, and even overseas. The person Evans is typing to on Wednesday is from a neighboring state. "We know that we save children. I mean literally save kids from further abuse on some cases we've worked. That's always a good feeling," he says.
Knoxville's Internet Crimes against Children Task Force has been so successful that even Gov. Bredesen gave them a thumbs up last week for their efforts.
Parents, you can keep you kids safe by keeping the computer in a central location. Also, it's not a good idea for kids to use a web cam. If your child is solicited online, save the email or the listing and contact police.
From WorldNow and WATE.
Retrieved June 11, 2006 from http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=4731605&ClientType=Printable