Virginia's two Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces are making their best case to lawmakers, and their emphasis is on child rescue.

Last year the Virginia legislature appropriated $1.5 million to the state's two ICACs as part of "Alicia's Law." The law was named for Alicia Kozakiewicz, the young woman who was kidnapped at age 13 by an Internet predator and held captive in Virginia. Alicia's message to the Virginia legislature was simple and effective: investigating child pornography trafficking leads to the door of child victims.

The Virginia ICACs have by all accounts scrambled to put Alicia's Law funds to use quickly, focusing efforts on prioritizing cases with a high likelihood of leading to victim identification. Mike Harmony of the Bedford County Sheriff's Department told legislators last week that his Southern Virginia ICAC has identified over 20 Virginia children during the course of child exploitation investigations over the last year, and they are just getting started.

Harmony also announced the SOVA ICAC has created a mobile computer training and investigation lab using Macintosh computers. The lab is part of the ICAC's outreach to law enforcement agencies throughout the Southern Virginia region.

Links:
Southern Virginia ICAC (Bedford County Sheriff's Department)
Northern Virginia-DC ICAC (Virginia State Police)

Cross posted in Virginia Rescue Wire