RD111 - Bedford County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Annual Report - July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009


Executive Summary:
The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for the administration of Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) grant funds awarded by The Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Programs (OJJDP). The Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (SOVA ICAC), under the code name, Operation Blue Ridge Thunder is a regional task force staffed by six full time Investigators and one Staff Analyst from the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office. The task force is a multi-agency collaboration established by the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office to combat crimes against children. Investigators and supervisory personnel assigned to the SOVA ICAC task force by BCSO work only ICAC related cased with ICAC funding. During the first half of the semi annual reporting period the SOVA ICAC was fully staffed. The positions within the SOVA ICAC include a working Lieutenant, working Sergeant, four investigators, and one full time administrative analyst. The term “working” indicates that these positions are not only supervisory positions but they also carry active investigations and handle complaints. Currently the work load is broken up in that the Lieutenant handles a limited number of active investigations, a limited number of forensic exams and the majority of the day to day supervision. The Sergeant of the unit handles a limited number of proactive investigations, reviews all of the Cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and assists with the day to day supervision. The investigators work all online enticements both proactive and reactive. The investigators also handle all peer to peer investigations and proactive and reactive social networking investigations, gaming investigations and cybertips. All personnel take daily complaints from citizens as they are reported (reactive). The Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is responsible for the ICAC investigations in the Commonwealth of Virginia with the exception of the geographic area assigned to the Virginia State police in Northern Virginia. The SOVA ICAC continues to work with the West Virginia State Police who have a signed Memorandum of Agreement to assist with ICAC investigations. The following pages summarize the activities of the SOVA ICAC and the agencies affiliated with the SOVA ICAC. The Memorandum of Understanding program with affiliate agencies continues to show an increase in the number of active members.