Program/Project
Description
|
Department of Justice, NCMEC provides "Protecting Children Online Unit Commander Training." The purpose of the training program is to provide law enforcement unit commanders with an understanding of the key management issues for the effective investigation, prosecution, intervention, and prevention of computer crimes against children.
CyberTipline: Computer users can access the CyberTipline through NCMEC's Web site (www.missingkids.com). From there, users can access a report form to send information to NCMEC about sexually exploited children. The CyberTipline covers cases of child pornography, child prostitution, child sex tourism, child sexual molestation not in the family, and online enticement of children for sexual acts. The CyberTipline also accepts reports of sexual exploitation that do not involve the Internet. Reported information is analyzed by NCMEC staff and then forwarded to federal and local law enforcement as appropriate. Since its inception on March 9, 1998, the CyberTipline has received 10,847 reports. CyberTipline PSAs are currently being broadcast throughout the top 20 media markets.
Internet Safety Content on Web Site: In addition to its popular brochures, Child Safety on the Information Highway and Teen Safety on the Information Highway, NCMEC has added additional content to its Web site to help families learn about Internet safety. This includes an interactive Internet safety quiz and related stories in Frontline, NCMEC's newsletter.
Mousepads: NCMEC partners with organizations to provide mousepads imprinted with selected tips from its brochure, Child Safety on the Information Highway. Mousepads have been distributed in schools in California, Alabama, Arizona, and
Illinois, among others. Law enforcement personnel also use them at child safety fairs and speaking engagements.
Corporate Partnerships: NCMEC is fortunate to have the generous assistance of many online companies to help promote its Internet safety content along with NCMEC's other initiatives and database of missing children. These companies donate ad space, engineering, and development support by hosting NCMEC banners and content. Companies include AOL, Digital City, Lycos, Alta Vista, ZD-Net, SurfWatch, and Yahoo! By developing relationships with these highly trafficked sites, NCMEC is able to promote Internet safety and other issues to a much larger audience.
|
Key Highlights/
Milestones
|
CyberTipline Success: Since its March 9, 1998 unveiling, NCMEC's CyberTipline has received 10,847 leads. Those leads break down as follows:
Child Pornography (general) 8,308
Child Prostitution 257
Child Sex Tourism 177
Child Sexual Exploitation (not in the family) 652
Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts 1,453
One of NCMEC's many CyberTipline success stories:
In August 1998, a concerned citizen reported through the CyberTipline that he saw child pornography on the Internet. NCMEC's Exploited Child Unit staff confirmed the fact that the site contained more than 500 child-pornography images and conducted a query on "ALLWHOIS" to determine if the site was registered.
The report was referred by the U.S. Postal Service to local law enforcement in Minnesota. On Sept. 2, 1998, the Postal Service reported that the person administering the site was arrested. Not only was the suspect hosting the site, but he also had an area designed for the trading of images. The FBI was called in to assist in recovering forensic computer evidence, and there may be additional arrests based on the information seized during the search.
|
