The Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, otherwise known as SOVA-ICAC, was founded in 1998 with funding from Department of Justice through the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention. Originally the task force name was Operation Blue Ridge Thunder. The task force designation is through the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office. Initial investigative responsibilities were investigating child sexual exploitation crimes perpetrated against children through the use of the Internet but was later changed to include most all child sexual exploitation crimes perpetrated against children to include, but not limited to, child trafficking and child prostitution.

The SOVA-ICAC is comprised of 145 affiliate agencies from all areas of Law Enforcement, the private sector and Non-Government Organizations. Law Enforcement support comes from Federal, State, County City/Local, Tribal and Military agencies. An (*) denotes an agency that joined the Task Force this past year. Two new agencies signed MOU’s, with several others renewed by new chiefs or sheriffs.