In 1998, the United States Department of Justice began an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, tasked with the ever growing problem involving the sexual exploitation of children via the internet. The ICAC Task Force laid the foundation for what would become a nationwide partnership of law enforcement agencies with the mission of protecting children online. Currently there are 61 ICAC Task Forces located across the United States representing over 3,000 federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies.  Since its inception, the ICAC Task Force program has investigated over 280,000 complaints of alleged child sexual exploitation and arrested over 30,000 individuals. 

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office serves as the lead agency for the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.  Central California ICAC is comprised of fifty-eight affiliated Federal, State and Local law enforcement agencies serving over three (3) million citizens in a nine county area of Central California.  The nine counties include Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Mariposa, Inyo and San Luis Obispo Counties.  Central California ICAC is responsible for conducting both reactive and proactive investigations.

One of the primary missions of each ICAC task force involves reaching out to other agencies in our respective parts of the country to help establish an internet presence and to build capacity and expertise in this area. In so doing, we create an even larger network of law enforcement agencies capable of dealing with online threats and exploitation.

The lead agency for each task force works in conjunction with the law enforcement agencies within its own jurisdiction, but also works cooperatively with the other task forces across the country when a particular offense, such as the transmission of child pornography for example, crosses traditional jurisdictional boundaries.  Because each task force is permanently established and task force members meet regularly at national working group conferences, we are able to combine resources quickly when a case demands it.  For more information regarding OJJDP ICAC Task Forces, please visit www.icactaskforce.org.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) interacts regularly with ICAC offices, providing assistance during investigations where the suspect has solicited young victims from throughout the United States and other countries.   The partnership between NCMEC and all ICAC Task Forces nationwide is essential to protecting society’s most innocent victims, our children.  Anyone having information regarding online sexual exploitation of children should report this information to NCMEC via the CyberTip Hotline at www.cybertipline.com.   For more information regarding NCMEC, please visit www.missingkids.com.