State Gets Funds To Protect Kids On Internet

Jackson, Miss.- Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that $292,281 in federal funding has been awarded to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force from the U.S. Department of Justice to support the development of strategies that protect children from commercial and sexual exploitation.

The Attorney General’s Office formed the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force in 2007 assisted by the ICAC Continuation Grant which was issued by the Department of Justice. The task force is dedicated to proactive and reactive investigations, the forensic analyses of electronic evidence, prosecutions of technological crimes against children and the education of law enforcement and the public. The Mississippi unit now has 60 local, state and federal law enforcement affiliate agencies and multi-disciplinary partners.

“The task force provides critical administrative and computer forensic support to strengthen our fight against online exploitation of our children,” said Attorney General Hood. “This grant award will significantly benefit the Mississippi’s ICAC task force primarily by continued funding of ICAC investigator positions, an educational specialist, trainings and equipment for law enforcement affiliates, and support for the ICAC forensic labs.”

For more information about the Mississippi Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Attorney General Jim Hood’s continuing efforts to crack down on sexual predators, visit www.agjimhood.com.

Attorney General Hood concludes, “As a father, I worry about the dramatic increase in the numbers of our vulnerable children and teenagers who use the internet to share personal information on social networking sites. We must continue to provide our law enforcement officers with the funds they need to ensure that the Internet is not a refuge for pedophiles and child pornographers targeting our young people.”