Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Internet Sex Crimes Against Minors: The Response Of Law Enforcement., Janis Wolak, Kimberly J. Mitchell, David Finkelhor

Crimes Against Children Research Center

The Internet1 and computers have come to play a growing role in sex crimes that are committed against children and youth.2 Since the mid-1990s these developing technologies have posed challenges for law enforcement requiring them to confront situations not anticipated in criminal statutes, master technical advances, develop new investigative techniques, and handle criminal cases that often span multiple jurisdictions. To assist, legislators have acted on a number of fronts creating new statutes that encompass Internet offenses, stiffening penalties, and creating a national clearinghouse for reports of Internet-related crimes against children and the CyberTipline® operated by the National Center for Missing …