CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Internet crimes against children have been on the rise, but a West Virginia State Police task force has been working to safeguard the state's kids.

Internet Crimes Against Children has a concentrated effort to combat child exploitation nationwide by using the Internet as a nexus to search for possession or distribution of child pornography. 

The ICAC task force of West Virginia was formed in December 2005 in conjunction with the Southern Virginia ICAC unit. They have brought on 36 city, county and federal affiliates since their full inception within the state in September 2007.

The Kanawha County Sheriff's Department is an affiliate that works with the ICAC when Internet child exploitation cases arise in their jurisdiction.

"Lots of people think these crimes don't have real victims, but every time a child pornography photo is passed around, that child is being re-victimized by everyone who sees it," said Greg Young, chief of detectives with the sheriff's department.

Eighty percent of the cases that the ICAC sees in West Virginia are related to manufacturing, distribution and possession of child pornography.

Officers who work with the ICAC receive special training because of the sensitive nature of the crimes involved. One of the techniques they learn is how to pose as minors in chat rooms. This enables them to speak to suspects who eventually will solicit them for sex, under the assumption that they are speaking to a minor, said State Police Sgt. Christopher Casto, head of the ICAC in West Virginia.

"We can trace the IP address back to the offender and charge them with intent to solicit sex from a minor," he said.

Upon conviction, a person who solicits a minor for sex over the Internet can be charged with a felony arrest and sentenced to two to 10 years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.

"If someone merely mentions sex on the Internet, knowing that the person they are talking to is a minor, then we can charge them," Casto said.

When someone is caught in possession of child pornography, they can be sentenced to up to two years in prison for each image they posses, he said.

The task force has taken action against suspects in child exploitation cases and has operated stings to take down multiple suspects at the same time. 

"We base these on proactive investigations involving file-sharing networks that we monitor for possession and distribution of known child pornography," Casto said. "We try to group these cases by region and then conduct a sting on several suspects at once in that area."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Internet crimes against children have been on the rise, but a West Virginia State Police task force has been working to safeguard the state's kids.

Internet Crimes Against Children has a concentrated effort to combat child exploitation nationwide by using the Internet as a nexus to search for possession or distribution of child pornography. 

The ICAC task force of West Virginia was formed in December 2005 in conjunction with the Southern Virginia ICAC unit. They have brought on 36 city, county and federal affiliates since their full inception within the state in September 2007.

The Kanawha County Sheriff's Department is an affiliate that works with the ICAC when Internet child exploitation cases arise in their jurisdiction.

"Lots of people think these crimes don't have real victims, but every time a child pornography photo is passed around, that child is being re-victimized by everyone who sees it," said Greg Young, chief of detectives with the sheriff's department.

Eighty percent of the cases that the ICAC sees in West Virginia are related to manufacturing, distribution and possession of child pornography.

Officers who work with the ICAC receive special training because of the sensitive nature of the crimes involved. One of the techniques they learn is how to pose as minors in chat rooms. This enables them to speak to suspects who eventually will solicit them for sex, under the assumption that they are speaking to a minor, said State Police Sgt. Christopher Casto, head of the ICAC in West Virginia.

"We can trace the IP address back to the offender and charge them with intent to solicit sex from a minor," he said.

Upon conviction, a person who solicits a minor for sex over the Internet can be charged with a felony arrest and sentenced to two to 10 years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.

"If someone merely mentions sex on the Internet, knowing that the person they are talking to is a minor, then we can charge them," Casto said.

When someone is caught in possession of child pornography, they can be sentenced to up to two years in prison for each image they posses, he said.

The task force has taken action against suspects in child exploitation cases and has operated stings to take down multiple suspects at the same time. 

"We base these on proactive investigations involving file-sharing networks that we monitor for possession and distribution of known child pornography," Casto said. "We try to group these cases by region and then conduct a sting on several suspects at once in that area."

Law enforcement officials will confirm the possession of known child pornography and then trace this crime back to a suspect through the Internet by the trail that is left through these file-sharing networks, Casto said.

A search warrant is obtained based on the probable cause through Internet access records and served on the suspect's residence, Casto said.

"Of the 161 cases under investigation this year, 40 of them were generated proactively through this monitoring process. Fifteen arrests were generated by these investigations, and many more are pending indictment in state and federal courts," Casto said.

"This is why monitoring the various file-sharing networks is so important," he said. "File-sharing networks are the single largest distribution point for child pornography."

To help make minors, and others, aware of these issues, the ICAC also has a very aggressive community outreach program.

"We will go out and solicit education opportunities and teach Internet safety in the community and schools," Casto said. "We can teach from the kindergarten level all the way to high school. We also teach parents and the community what to look for and how to prevent their child from becoming a victim of child solicitation on the Internet."

Since December 2005, they've reached more than 23,000 people through presentations, public events and public awareness efforts.

"I feel this is one of the most important parts of the ICAC program, because it makes the public aware of the dangers encountered on the Internet by our children, and it makes children think twice when confronted with these situations online," Casto said. "Ultimately, it helps to prevent our children from becoming victims to online predators."

Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.

ICAC contact:

Sgt. Christopher Casto, W.Va. State Police ICAC task force

PHONE: 304-293-6401

E-MAIL: cmca...@wvsp.state.wv.us