NCJ Number
187802
Date Published
January 2001
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This report explains the deliberations and recommendations of the focus group that was organized by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and that convened in November 2000, determined eight broad areas of needs, and recommended actions to address online child exploitation and victimization.
Abstract
The focus group consisted of members of various Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force units nationwide, plus other experts from information systems technology, law enforcement, prosecution, and advocacy areas with experience in efforts to investigate, prosecute, and prevent online crimes against children. The group concluded that capacity building was the highest priority area for OJJDP to address with the ICAC Task Force Program. Other areas included public education, prevention, and victim issues; legislation; prosecutor guidelines; data collection and reporting guidelines; child victim identification; interagency and international protocols and standards; and ICAC Task Force grant compliance. Recommended priority actions for capacity building include continuing to promulgate investigative guidelines, conducting a survey of police agencies to determine present forensic capability, training of trainers, and development of a national listserv to provide current technical and legal update material. Recommended priority actions for public education, prevention, and victim issues included establishing school outreach efforts to promote child and parental awareness and education of online safety and working with the United States Department of Education to provide computer safety training material and information to educators nationwide. The group’s recommendations represented a consensus on a 5-year ICAC Task Force Program plan to provide guidance to OJJDP to address online exploitation of children. OJJDP’s current efforts and the focus group’s efforts are expected to help carry the program forward for the next 5 years. Chart, map, photographs, and appended background information and list of participants