The Pasadena ISD Police Department has made a positive impact when it comes to cracking down on internet crimes against children, making over 20 arrests in the past year. And now, its impact will be even greater.

The department was recently awarded a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to establish an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force responsible for responding to online child exploitation in Texas. Pasadena ISD is the only school district police force in the nation that has been awarded the grant.

“This grant will give us the additional resources we need in fighting this ongoing problem and bring these offenders to justice,” said Pasadena ISD Detective Matthew Gray.

Gray has led the efforts behind the many internet crime stings conducted by the department over the past year, in addition to performing various other duties for the department. The grant will now enable him to exclusively focus all of his attention on investigating internet crimes against children, as he serves as the lead investigator for the Southern Texas ICAC unit. Pasadena ISD will work with other Harris County agencies and the National Center for Exploited Children as they investigate those who prey on children using technology and the internet.

The ICAC task force program is a national network of 59 multi-agency law enforcement organizations that investigate such crimes. The program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the proliferation of child pornography and the heightened online activity by sexual predators searching for illicit contact with underage victims.

“When investigating online child predators, the one thing that I always keep in mind is that there is always a ‘live’ victim somewhere,” Gray said. “We then use the information we have to capture their offender and take them offline and off the streets.”

Gray said one of the main tools in combating these internet crimes is education. “Information is a powerful tool,” he said. “One of the goals of this task force is to give presentations to principals, students, parents and community members. By knowing the dangers and how these predators attempt to manipulate the system, it is an extra resource to ensure the safety of our young people.”

In addition, Gray stressed that anyone who suspects internet crimes taking place against children are encouraged to use “cybertip.com” which is linked to law enforcement agencies, who will then investigate the alleged activity.

“We want to make sure the public is well-informed about these crimes,” Gray said. “We will aggressively investigate these cases to the fullest extent of the law.”

July 10, 2008

Memorandum Of Understanding have been completed with Harris County District Attorney's Office, Harris County Constables Office Precinct 4, Houston Metro, LaPorte Police Department, Tomball Police Department, and the Houston Police Department.  Nine other agencies have expressed interest in participation in ICAC.