Investigating online predators and cyber crimes

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The sheriff says since January, the department has been investigating 30+ internet crimes.

RELATED: Several cyber crime arrests made in Lowndes County

Investigators say online predators have computers on their side, making internet crimes challenging to investigate.

Lowndes County Sheriff Mike Arledge says you could work on cyber crime cases around the clock, if you had the manpower.

“We’ve got a population of about 60,000 people in Lowndes County, where we might be investigating other types of crimes like burglaries, etc., but in this, you’ve got millions that are online that can be violating the law or being sexual predators.”

Lt. Tony Cooper is a member of the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Task Force.

He says chasing internet predators starts out as a ghost hunt, all you have is somebody sitting behind a computer.

“You just have a profile that you’re working on. You have to develop that profile and get subpoenas and things like that to get the internet provider records. Then, you’re starting to get a fingerprint that’s added to that device and that profile.”

He says sometimes they can identify an offender pretty quick, but other times, it can take anywhere from months to years.

“You get closer and closer every time, up until the point to where you’re finally able to apprehend the person and put a face with that name and that IP address.”

Investigating cyber crimes doesn’t come at the click of a button. It takes a lot of working hours and resources.

“We’re able, again with the training and with the equipment that we get from the Attorney General’s Office, to stay up to date, so that when we do get a case like this, we have the equipment that we need to process the evidence.”

One thing Arledge and Cooper want to stress to parents is to know what your children are doing online and set rules for them.

“Watch them to see what they’re doing on the internet because this is alarming. This is very dangerous and I’d rather be tough on the kids, than something happen and a kid has been kidnapped because they’ve been lured out with one of these sexual predators.”