No protection: They could be shot anytime
By Lisa Rosetta
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
Tiffanie Tabor's casual Internet chats with a 17-year-old boy seemed harmless - until he stole his parents' car with the intent of kidnapping her and fleeing to California. This e-mail was initiated by machine [10.148.8.4] at IP [10.148.8.4].
Tabor, then 15, called the police when she saw him park in front of her house. She escaped unharmed.
"It is very important to protect the children," Tabor, now 24, said Friday at a Capitol Hill news conference where legislators and state attorneys introduced a bill that would boost the prevention of Internet sex crimes.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Tim Cosgrove and Sen. Pete Knudson, provides $59,000 to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. It would create a position on the task force dedicated to informing children, parents and educators about the dangers of cyberspace.
In Utah last year, Internet sex crimes increased by 39 percent. City and regional chat rooms are the most frequently used by perpetrators, who are targeting boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 17, said Ken Hansen, chief special agent at the Attorney General's Office.
But while Internet crimes are growing, the task force's resources to battle them are shrinking.
The task force's $400,000 federal grant took a hit last year when the Bush administration chose to siphon off $100,000 for homeland security, Cosgrove said.
With the passage of the bill and an additional hire, the multi-jurisdictional task force, already stretched thin, would be freed up to go after more perpetrators.
"What's more important than protecting our own kids in our homes?" Cosgrove said.
The task force, made up of four full-time officers and five part-time officers, conducts undercover investigations of online child pornography and sexual solicitation.
One of 46 such task forces in the country, it consistently leads the nation in arrests and prosecutions of those who use the Internet to sexually solicit children, said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.
Between 2003 and 2004, the task force conducted 438 investigations resulting in 53 arrests. Of those, 25 involved adults arranging to meet children for sex.
lrosetta@sltrib.com