BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana State Police have awarded the Bloomington Police Department as the 2023 Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Affiliate of the Year.
The ICAC Task Force is a multiagency task force that investigates and prosecutes persons who use the internet to sexually exploit or entice children, according to the task force website.
BPD said that in 2023, Bloomington detectives investigated 168 complaints of cybercrimes involving children.
Most of the investigations stemmed from cyber tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
There were 13 arrests made in 2023, with suspects facing both state and federal charges.
BPD said that the investigations frequently occur outside the Bloomington city limits and include Monroe County and all surrounding counties.
“The work that these investigators do on a daily basis is extremely important, as they are protecting the children of our community,” said Bloomington Police Chief Michael Diekhoff.
The ICAC Task Force is a multi-agency task force that investigates and prosecutes online child sex crimes, according to its website.
In 2023, there were more than 16-thousand cyber tips submitted, up from 14-thousand the year before, according to statistics provided by the task force. In 2019, which was the first year included in the statistics, there were a total of 4-thousand reports.
Anyone with information on exploitation, solicitation, and enticement-type crimes against children are encouraged to submit a tip to NCMEC.
