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PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — As children across Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast spend increasing amounts of time online, CBS12 News is looking at the risks of online predators.
CBS12’s Amber Raub sat down with the director of a special task force dedicated to taking down online predators and safeguarding our children from these dangers before it’s too late.
The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) works to tackle this issue daily.
The force is part of a national network with 61 teams across the country,with one location in South Florida.
The force’s mission is to investigate, prosecute, and respond effectively to these heinous crimes.
“All our kids are online these days, and these predators know where to find them. Back in the day, used to be the scary guy at the park or the van, we say no to strangers. But now the playground is online, so they know where to go to find these children, and they start enticing them there,” said Sgt. McInerney.
Sergeant Thomas McInerney heads South Florida’s division based out of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
The force spans from the Keys to Indian River County and is made up of 63 agencies with about 380 law enforcement officers. They largely work off cyber tips.
“On average, we’re somewhere around 15 to 2000 tips a month just for the South Florida ICAC task force,” said Sgt. McInerney. “Most of it is child exploitation materials. So child pornography images and videos”
“It’s extremely concerning. Overwhelming. We’ve always seen an increase, like a 20 percent increase, a 25 percent increase a year. I think just general use of the internet’s getting more and more and more- more platforms out there. The platform’s getting better at looking at it and paying more attention,” saidSgt. McInerney.
These numbers don’t include the calls for service that police and sheriff’s departments receive.
“They’re old. They’re young, they’re black, they’re white, they’re different religious backgrounds, different socioeconomic status.,” said Sgt. McInerney. “There’s really no common factor, you know, so we get doctors and lawyers, we get janitors and mechanics we get everything. The one common thing is most of them are males.”
Every day, the agency works to take down these predators and make our communities safer.
“We’re averaging here just at our county sheriff’s office here about two search warrants a week, enforcement action,” saidSgt. McInerney. “You never know how many victims you save by putting one predator or pedophile behind bars and outing them.”
Sgt. Mcinerney says they also rely on the community’s help to keep kids safe. So if you see something off, say something.
And he says it’s especially important for parents to keep a close eye on their children when it comes to electronics– but to also have conversations about what’s okay and what isn’t, and that no matter what happens, they can always come to you for help.