TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Campaign Targets Web Crimes Against Kids

Campaign Targets Web Crimes Against Kids

Jamie Stengle, AP (ap@telecom-digest.org)
Mon, 21 Aug 2006 13:27:25 -0500

By JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press Writer

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced a new public service
campaign Monday that will warn teenage girls against posting
information on the Internet that could put them at risk of attack by
child predators.

"Every day, these predators are looking for someone to hurt," Gonzales
said at the 18th annual Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas.
"Every day, we must educate parents and children about the threat."

About 2,700 law enforcement officials from around the world are
attending the conference, which runs through Thursday.

"We want the front line professionals to be able to go back to their
communities to protect the children in their communities," Gonzales
said. "This conference brings folks together from all parts of the
world and gets them talking with each other."

A third of this year's 180 workshops are focusing on Internet crime,
said Lynn Davis, president and CEO of the Dallas Children's Advocacy
Center, which is hosting the conference with the Dallas Police
Department.

The ad campaign by the Department of Justice, in partnership with the
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the Ad Council,
will begin running early next year.

"It's all part of the ongoing effort to educate the public about this
very serious threat," Gonzales said.

According to a Justice Department study, one in seven children using
the Internet has been sexually solicited and one in three has been
exposed to unwanted sexual material. One in 11 has been harassed.

The ad campaign is the latest in a series from the Justice Department.

One that warned about the dangers online was developed in 2004, giving
advice to parents on how to protect their children from Internet
predators. A second series of ads released in 2005 warned teen girls
about forming online relationships with people they don't know.

On the Net:

Dallas Children's Advocacy Center: http://www.dcac.org/
Nat'l Center for Missing & Exploited Children : http://www.missingkids.com/

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

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