ICAC Task Force honored for protecting children online

Each year, the United States Department of Justice gives three awards recognizing excellence in investigating internet crimes against children. The South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force went 2-for-3 this year.

“This task force has become something to fear for internet predators who target children,” Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti said. “I am extraordinarily proud of all of the men and women who fight for these young victims everyday.”

The recipients will receive their awards at this year’s Missing Children’s Day ceremony, which will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. May 21 at the Department of Justice’s Great Hall in Washington DC. Attorney General Eric Holder will provide the keynote address.

BSO Detective Jennifer Montgomery, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Mike Bentolila, FBI Special Agent Alexis Carpentieri and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Tantillo have been selected as the recipients of the 2009 Internet Crimes Against Children Attorney General’s Award. In addition, Detective Neil Spector of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office has been selected as the recipient of the Child Protection award.

The South Florida ICAC is a federally-funded task force. BSO is the administrator and fiscal manager of the funding and was one of the original members in 1998 when congress recognized that the exploitation of children through the internet was becoming a nationwide problem. Back then, there were only 10 such task forces nationwide. Now, there are 59. The South Florida task force includes 45 local, state and federal agencies from the southern portion of the state.

“I am humbled by the awards, given the fact that there are so many dedicated law enforcement officials working hard to protect children from internet crimes,” said BSO Lt. Robert Cates, commander of ICAC. “This has been the most gratifying job I’ve had in 21 years of law enforcement. These horrendous crimes can plague the victims for their entire lives.”

Related posts:

1. BSO radio show going on the air Sundays
2. Night out against crime events on Aug. 4

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Posted by admin on May 20 2009. Filed under Crime, Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry