Town hall meeting will address internet crimes against children

Clothing, shoes and other items for children are shown at Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection in Ocala. The center is part of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force that will host a town hall meeting on Sept. 16 in Ocala. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocala Police Department have established an Internet Crimes Against Children task force to take proactive steps to combat and respond to internet crimes against Marion County children and teens.

The ICAC group will host a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, at the College of Central Florida Webber Center at 3001 SW College Road, Ocala. The event is free and open to the public.

Attendees will hear from detectives who work on cases involving online crimes involving children and will be informed about strategies for keeping children safe while they navigate the online world.

“Having an established partnership with Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection with our ICAC task force is crucial in taking proactive steps to safeguard our children from the dangers of the digital world. This partnership helps strengthen our ability to investigate and prevent online exploitation. We invite our citizens to join us at our upcoming town hall meeting, where we’ll share insights on parenting in the digital age and how to keep our kids safe online,” said Sheriff Billy Woods in the news release issued by Kimberly’s Center for Child Protection.

ICAC is a task force started by the United States Department of Justice‘s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 1998. According to the OJJDP website, the ICAC program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 5,400 federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies to prevent internet crimes against children. ICAC task forces focus on catching distributors of child sexual abuse material on the internet, whether delivered or solicited online and distributed through other channels, and catching sexual predators who solicit victims on the internet through chat rooms, forums and other methods, the release noted.

Ocala/Marion County is part of the ICAC North Florida Task Force Program. The local ICAC delivers education and training opportunities to empower law enforcement, parents, educators and youth. Kimberly’s Center plays a pivotal role in funding the program. During this year’s Give4Marion, on Sept. 17 and 18, donations to the Kimberly’s Center campaign will be designated to the ICAC collaborative.

To learn more, go to kimberlyscenter.org or call (352) 873-4739.