By Erin Johnson
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff concluded his day-long Internet Safety Tour of Utah with a public meeting Tuesday night, Oct. 2, addressing concerns about child pornography and sexual predators on the internet.
'The danger is real,' Shurtleff said. 'The consequences are enormous. We need parents to be vigilant to protect their children.'
Shurtleff stressed that the purpose of his tour is to educate parents on what their children are being exposed to and how to prevent children from being hurt by on-line predators.
'The main purpose of all of this is to educate,' he said. 'The first, the best defense is at home.'
Shurtleff told parents that Internet use should be monitored and not taken lightly.
'It''s not a babysitting tool, it''s a great instrument, but there are some dangers,' he said.
In the public meeting, Detective Ryan Atack of the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force presented information on the task force, as well as statistics on how many children are using the internet and have been approached inappropriately in chartrooms or via email.
The ICAC was established Jan. 2000 by a federal grant. Since its start, the ICAC has investigated over 300 suspected predators and made 75 arrests, more than any other such task force in the nation.
'This task force is the most successful, most productive task force in the country,' Shurtleff said 'We know we''re still hitting the tip of the iceberg. It horrifies us to know how many predators there still are.'
The ICAC is a multi-jurisdictional task force that includes the FBI, the Salt Lake Police Department, Sheriff''s Office, Attorney General''s Office and the Utah Department of Corrections. The Utah task force works with federal officials to combat internet predators and is able to cross state and country lines in order to investigate and arrest criminals.
'The Internet does not have jurisdiction,' Atack said. 'It''s a global community.'
The ICAC is charged with protecting children, apprehending and convicting criminals that distribute, manufacture or possess child pornography.
According to a TIME/CNN poll from last year, 44% of children polled have visited x-rated sites or sites with sexual content. Moreover, 43% of children said they do not have rules about Internet use in their homes.
'This is an area that was long overlooked by law enforcement, and the types of crimes we''re seeing and the numbers far exceed by imagination,' Atack said.
Atack warned audience members that sexual predators on the Internet will do anything to get into children''s homes though the computer and will try to get children hooked on pornography at a young age.
Dave Rose from the Salt Lake Department of Public Safety demonstrated how easy it is for Internet predators to get information about children and manipulate children online. In just 45 minutes, Rose showed how a real predator used the Internet to obtain the name, family''s names, address, school name and interests of a 13-year-old girl who talked with the predator in a chartroom.
'The best advice I can give you about chartrooms is to stay out of them,' he said.
Rose further stressed that the key to keeping children safe is parental involvement. He said that parents should avoid letting children have a computer in their room where Internet surfing cannot be monitored.
Many child predators commit crimes in Utah because of the relative feeling of safety that many residents share, and the fact that many children in Utah will feel less inclined to disclose sexual abuse because it is a taboo subject, Atack said.
'I''m proud to say that our guys are making the most arrests in the country, but I''m embarrassed to say that our guys are making the most arrests in the country,' Rose said.
The Internet Safety Tour has already visited eight cities and will visit three more by Nov. 1. More information about the tour and about internet safety can be obtained at www.attoneygeneral.utah.gov.