April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. During this time the Nebraska Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force is drawing attention to the need to keep our children safe online.

In 1998, the United States Department of Justice began an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force to help deal with the growing problem of Internet-related exploitation of children. 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 2,000 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 almost 30,000 individuals.

“The Nebraska ICAC Task Force is a collaborative effort under the direction of the Patrol,” said Colonel David Sankey, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “Through their involvement in this task force, officers and prosecutors across the state work to combat the growing problem of the online abuse of our children.”

The Nebraska ICAC Task Force is comprised of 54 federal, state and local enforcement agencies and prosecutorial offices. In 2012, the Nebraska ICAC task force initiated 343 investigations, resulting in 60 arrests across the state. That compares with 565 investigations in 2011 resulting in 86 arrests.

In addition to conducting investigations the Nebraska ICAC Task Force provides training for law enforcement and performs educational presentations on internet safety.