Kentucky police agencies investigating crimes against children face a daunting task. It’s partly seen in the release of information through the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Kentucky’s Operation Broken Heart III saw 73 investigations and 17 arrests during April and May of this year. The majority of arrests stemmed from proactive investigations of online networks.
Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Commander Jeremy Murrell says the challenge looms large.
“It’s safe to say that every day there’s thousands of people in the commonwealth downloading child pornography or sharing it on the internet, either sharing or downloading it to their computers," Murrell said.
Murrell says a national study indicated 85 percent of people who download child pornography are currently or will become hands-on offenders. Regarding the efforts of 30 law enforcement agencies working in this area, Murrell says he can’t think of a better resource to protect than the children of the commonwealth.
