Alabama is seeing more child porn cases
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The ease with which the Internet can be accessed from a smart phone is like unlocking the door and allowing a child sex offender into your home, said Lt. Brooke Walker.
Walker, commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for the State of Alabama, spoke Tuesday on the dangers of child pornography and how easy today's technology has made it for predators to reach out to children.
"I've been doing this for 11 years and I've never walked into a home where the parent said, 'I knew you were coming. I knew my child was being victimized,'" Walker said.
"The smart phone these days is a silent entry for a predator to come into your home and victimize your child.
"You could be sitting with your child watching a movie and they could be communicating with a violent, abusive, sexual criminal on the other side of the device."
Internet child pornography can come in many forms. The number of cases involving the possession, manufacturing or dissemination of child pornography - or the online enticement of children for sexual acts over the internet - has continued to grow.
Predators can take seemingly innocent child graduation photos and pervert them for sexual gratification, Walker said. Often, offenders will reach out to a child online posing as someone else, gain their trust through weeks of communication - called a "grooming" process - before meeting them in person and assaulting them.
During the course of communication, the offender may also ask the child to take inappropriate photos of themselves.
"The youngest victim in Alabama was 6 years old," Walker said. "She had no problem sending naked photos of herself to a man out of state and that's scary.
"We've seen more and more young children getting smart phones and having unfettered access to the internet and this has caused a huge increase in victimization. It comes back to the parents. They must be very vigilant and know what their child is doing online."
Over the last several years, the trends of child victimization have spiked throughout the state, she said.
Just last month an Autauga County man was charged in connection to 40 counts of possession of child pornography. Nicholas Clement Snow, 22, was allegedly found with "obscene matter" stored on electronic devices depicting children under 17.
In 2016, more than 1,200 reports of child sexual exploitation were given to the SVU, according to data provided by ALEA.
Of those reports Walker said the highest level of concentration comes out of the state's larger cities like Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville and Mobile.
In 2016 Walker's unit arrested 49 child predators and issued 663 subpoenas.
Compare that to the 43 arrests that have already been made this year from January through April and 462 subpoenas issued. Since 2014, the task force has rescued 177 children from being victimized, including eight so far this year.
In May, Walker and her team were recognized in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Attorney General's Special Commendation Award for their partnership with Georgia's ICAC Task Force in Operation Southern Impact.
A joint operation to bust sexual predators, the partnership led to 11 arrests and 21 charged, 168 digital devices seized and the recovery of one stolen gun.
Although the internet has made it easier to hide predators, it has also made it easier to track them. There is always a cyber trail left behind. Walker and her task force partners with popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Kik and Snapchat to find and follow that trail back to the source.
Her agents will often use specialized software or go undercover as a child to draw a predator out. They have also formed partnerships with the Montgomery Police Department, the Wetumpka Police Department and the Autauga County Sheriff's Office to help.
Those who are found and arrested may face anywhere from five to 15 years in prison.
The other part of her job is bringing awareness to schools and parents.
"The task force is working. If we can rescue one child, that's a success to us," Walker said. "We're rescuing children, the most innocent among us. There's nothing better."