Feds Aim to Tighten Net Around Online Predators

Michael Mukasey, speaking to more than 1,400 people in the Hyatt Regency Ballroom, announced the signing of an agreement between four federal agencies to share criminal intelligence on child predators.

"Our goal is to weave more tightly the web of enforcement to detect and respond to these crimes," Mukasey said. "The Internet child predator does not stand on the street corner like a drug dealer. He can't be chased down by a cop on the beat. Catching him requires sophisticated tools, technical know-how, and the partnership and expertise of law enforcement at all levels."

He said the information-sharing agreement covers the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Marshals Service. He also announced that the Justice Department will award US$800,000 to support cooperative efforts to investigate online predators.

No Safe Haven

Mukasey did not elaborate on the agreement, but Carolyn Nelson, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, said the effort will "improve coordination of cyber investigations ... and reduce overlapping investigations."

James M. Wahlrab, U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Ohio, said better information-sharing between agencies investigating child predators will prevent those agencies from "spinning their wheels investigating the same people."

The Project Safe Childhood National Conference is the third annual gathering of law enforcement officials who deal with Internet crimes against children, many as members of regional task forces. Cooperation among federal, state and local authorities was the centerpiece of Project Safe Childhood when the Justice Department launched it in 2006.

"In days past, when parents thought about threats to their children's safety, they feared what might happen on the walk home from school or at the playground," Mukasey said, "but home is no longer the sanctuary that it used to be. By simply logging on to the Internet, children open themselves to new and hidden threats."

More Indictments Expected

Mukasey, confirmed by the U.S. Senate as attorney general in November, said U.S. attorneys throughout the nation filed more than 2,100 indictments under the Project Safe Childhood program in fiscal 2007, representing a 28 percent increase over the previous year.

He said the number of indictments is on pace for another increase in 2008.

"We must make sure that every partner, every police department, no matter how large or small, knows how to handle these crimes," he said.