Sheriff joins Internet child crime task force

The Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office has joined the Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

As part of this affiliation, the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office is eligible for:

2 Reimbursement to help fund ICAC related expenses, including computer hardware and software;

3 Notification of and priority for sought-after ICAC related training, offered both nationally and in Wisconsin;

4 Investigative assistance from highly trained ICAC investigators and forensic computer analysts throughout the state;

5 Access to national ICAC email group; and

6 Recognition on both the Sheboygan County Sheriff Office’s Web site, and on the Wisconsin Department of Justice Web site.

“With the proliferation of computers and the internet in our society the illegal use of a computer can bring the criminal right into your home. We must protect our children from those that would want to take advantage of their vulnerability and exploit them for illegal and immoral purposes,” said Sheboygan County Sheriff Michael Helmke in a press release announcing the collaboration.

“This collaboration will help bring the Sheriff’s department the technology and professional resources needed to effectively investigate, apprehend and prosecute Internet crimes against children. It will also help position us to be more proactive in the sense of early detection and quicker resolution to these types of criminal activities,” said Helmke.

To learn more about the ICAC Task Force program at the Sheboygan County Sheriff Office, contact the program coordinator, Lt. James Risseeuw, at (920) 459-3157.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Wisconsin Department of Justice Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

The number of local law enforcement partners to the Department of Justice’s ICAC Task Force has quadrupled to 94 in the past year. A list of affiliates is available at http://www.doj.state.wi.us/dci/icac/afflist.asp.

For more information on how your community can become an affiliate of the Wisconsin ICAC Task Force contact Craig Klyve at (608) 266-1221, klyvecs@doj.state.wi.us or Kris Midthun at (715) 839-3831, midthunkm@doj.state.wi.us.