Recent media attention on child sexual exploitation and pornography cases has magnified the need for the Indiana State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
The ISP announced the new statewide task force Monday morning in a press release.
The task force has been in the works for some time, ICAC youth educator Stephanie Nancarrow said.
“The media and schools and such see a need for it because you have people, such as Jared Fogle, that you look at and essentially trusted because of who they are and what they did,” Nancarrow said. “Then it comes out that they’re not such a trusting person, who is easily accessible to the kids around him.”
Nancarrow is one of three educators who will be providing hour-long presentations on a range of Internet crimes, including child sexual solicitation, exploitation, pornography and cyberbullying, according to the press release.
These presentations are aimed at students ages eight to 18 and will be given in all 92 Indiana counties, according to the press release.
The ISP is aiming to provide at least 300 training programs by the end of 2016, according to the press release.
“It’s happening at schools, it’s happening at home, it’s happening everywhere in the world,” Nancarrow said.
The presentations vary in length based on school size, and can range from one day to one week depending on the need expressed from school administration, she said.
The educators will also reach out to parents and social groups, such as Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, within the counties, Nancarrow said.
Although threats present on the Internet are not necessarily new, the increased accessibility to them is, Nancarrow said.
The combination of increased technology and decreased security has made it difficult to keep up on the modes of communication younger generations are using, she said.
“They’re changing everyday,” she said. “So for the next year and a half I can’t just say, ‘Oh, Kik is the issue,’ when it’s constantly changing because people are making thousands of apps that do the same thing.”
To remedy this, the educators ask kids in their training programs what apps they’re using, as well as work alongside detectives dealing with Internet crime cases, Nancarrow said.
During a presentation to parents, Nancarrow used her own Instagram account as an example of easily overlooked privacy settings.
She showed parents how simple it is to track an Instagram user when their location services are on.
“Now it’s just so easy,” Nanacarrow said. “You carry the Internet everywhere you go. It is always around every single person, no matter where you are.”
