    [House Hearing, 109 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                     SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN OVER THE
                     INTERNET: HOW THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY IS
                     COMBATING CHILD PREDATORS ON THE INTERNET

                                      HEARING

                                     BEFORE THE

                    SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS

                                       OF THE

                               COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND
                                      COMMERCE
                               HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

                                    SECOND SESSION

                                     JULY 10, 2006

                                  Serial No. 109-122

             Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce

    Available via the World Wide Web:  http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
    30-531                      WASHINGTON : 2006
    _____________________________________________________________________________
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                        COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
                           JOE BARTON, Texas, Chairman
    RALPH M. HALL, Texas                      JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan
    MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida                  Ranking Member
      Vice Chairman                           HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
    FRED UPTON, Michigan                      EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts
    CLIFF STEARNS, Florida                    RICK BOUCHER, Virginia
    PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio                     EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York
    NATHAN DEAL, Georgia                      FRANK PALLONE, JR., New Jersey
    ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky                    SHERROD BROWN, Ohio
    CHARLIE NORWOOD, Georgia                  BART GORDON, Tennessee
    BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming                    BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois
    JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois                    ANNA G. ESHOO, California
    HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico                BART STUPAK, Michigan
    JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona                  ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
    CHARLES W. "CHIP" PICKERING,  Mississippi ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland
      Vice Chairman                           GENE GREEN, Texas
    VITO FOSSELLA, New York                   TED STRICKLAND, Ohio
    ROY BLUNT, Missouri                       DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado
    STEVE BUYER, Indiana                      LOIS CAPPS, California
    GEORGE RADANOVICH, California             MIKE DOYLE, Pennsylvania
    CHARLES F. BASS, New Hampshire            TOM ALLEN, Maine
    JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania             JIM DAVIS, Florida
    MARY BONO, California                     JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
    GREG WALDEN, Oregon                       HILDA L. SOLIS, California
    LEE TERRY, Nebraska                       CHARLES A. GONZALEZ, Texas
    MIKE FERGUSON, New Jersey                 JAY INSLEE, Washington
    MIKE ROGERS, Michigan                     TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
    C.L. "BUTCH" OTTER, Idaho                 MIKE ROSS, Arkansas
    SUE MYRICK, North Carolina
    JOHN SULLIVAN, Oklahoma
    TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania
    MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas
    MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee

                         BUD ALBRIGHT, Staff Director
                        DAVID CAVICKE, General Counsel
         REID P. F. STUNTZ, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel

                  SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS
                         ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky, Chairman
    CLIFF STEARNS, Florida                    BART STUPAK, Michigan
    CHARLES W. "CHIP"                           Ranking Member
    PICKERING,  Mississippi                   DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado
    CHARLES F. BASS, New Hampshire            JAN SCHAKOWSKY, Illinois
    GREG WALDEN, Oregon                       JAY INSLEE, Washington
    MIKE FERGUSON, New Jersey                 TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
    MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas                 HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
    MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee               JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan
    JOE BARTON, Texas                           (EX OFFICIO)
      (EX OFFICIO)

                                  CONTENTS

                                                                            Page
    Testimony of:
            Christie, Hon. Christopher J., United States Attorney,
                    District of New Jersey, U.S. Department of Justice	  8
            Fitzpatrick, Hon. Michael, Member, U.S. House of
                    Representatives	                                         27
            Rodgers, Frank, Lieutenant Colonel, New Jersey State
                    Police	                                                 35
            Ritter, Anthony, Lieutenant, New Jersey State Police	         40
            Forrest, Esq., Wayne J., Somerset County Prosecutor,
                    Office  of the Somerset County Prosecutor, State of
                    New Jersey	                                         47
            Banks, Sergeant, Office of the Prosecutor, Union
                    County, State of New Jersey	                         55
            Livingston, David S., Superintendent of Schools,
                    Somerset County, New Jersey	                         75
            Aftab, Parry, Executive Director, WiredSafety	                 81
            Sullivan, Shannon, Teen Angel, WiredSafety	                116
            Hahn, Samantha, i-Mentor, i-Safe America	                134

                     SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN OVER THE
                     INTERNET: HOW THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY IS
                     COMBATING CHILD PREDATORS ON THE INTERNET

                               MONDAY, JULY 10, 2006

                              HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
                          COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE,
                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS,
                                                                 Washington, DC.

    	The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m., in
    Conference Center Room A of the Raritan Valley Community
    College, Hon. Ed Whitfield (Chairman) presiding.
    	Members present: Representatives Whitfield and Ferguson.
    	Staff present:  Mark Paoletta, Chief Counsel for Oversight and
    Investigations; Kelli Andrews, Counsel; Karen Christian, Counsel;
    Ryan Ambrose, Legislative Clerk; and David Nelson, Minority
    Investigator.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  I would like to call this hearing to order and I
    certainly want to thank all of you for attending today.  The Energy
    and Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Oversight
    and Investigation are convening this hearing in New Jersey on the
    Sexual Exploitation of Children over the Internet.  The
    subcommittee has held four hearings on this subject.  We have
    heard testimony from victims of Internet child pornography, State
    and Federal law enforcement agents, safety and Internet education
    experts and Internet service providers about the dangers the
    Internet can pose to children.
    	While Federal law enforcement agents actively investigate and
    pursue online predators, 70 percent of the investigations take place
    at the State and local level through the efforts of the State Internet
    Crimes Against Children Task Force and local police officers and
    investigators and prosecutors.  For this reason, the subcommittee
    thought it would be important to have a hearing where we would
    focus on local efforts to deal with this significant problem.  Like
    every other State, New Jersey is not immune from the dangers that
    the Internet presents to children.  Today we will hear testimony
    from witnesses who work each day to combat child pornography
    and to keep New Jersey's children safe from predators who seek to
    use the Internet to exploit them.
    	These hearings that we have had have been quite startling to all
    of us, to recognize and be aware of the dangers that are lurking out
    there for our young people who are on the Internet and come in
    contact with some very unsavory characters.  Today we are going
    to hear from the United States Attorney for the District of New
    Jersey, Chris Christie, about the cases brought by his office against
    child predators.  Particularly, we will be interested in his RegPay
    case, which was a real breakthrough; I guess the first international
    breakthrough in this area.  We will also hear from the New Jersey
    State and local police officers about how they developed their
    investigations against individuals who exploit children on the
    Internet and the challenges they face when they attempt to bring
    these criminals to justice.
    	Our subcommittee's hearings have shown that every effort
    must be made to support law enforcement efforts in the war against
    child pornography, but they also have shown that we will not win
    this war unless we educate parents, teachers and children about
    Internet safety.  Witnesses have repeatedly told our subcommittee
    that children often are not able and do not appreciate the risk posed
    to them when they meet and communicate over the Internet with
    strangers.
    	Two of our witnesses today, i-Safe Mentor, Samantha Hahn,
    and WiredSafety Teen Angel, Shannon Sullivan, have been trained
    to talk to their friends and fellow students about Internet safety.
    We look forward to learning what they believe is the most
    effective way to teach children to protect themselves against online
    predators.  Samantha and Shannon are joined by Superintendent
    David Livingston of the Somerset County Schools, who will testify
    about how schools in his district are addressing Internet safety
    issues, as well as problems related to social networking sites, cyber
    bullying and online predators.
    	We will also be joined today by Congressman Michael
    Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.  Congressman Fitzpatrick has
    introduced a bill, H.R. 5319, entitled "The Deleting Online
    Predators Act," which requires schools and libraries to use
    technology on their computers that prevent students from accessing
    social networking sites, and we look forward to Mr. Fitzpatrick's
    testimony when he arrives.
    	And finally, I want to thank my colleague, Mike Ferguson,
    who is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and
    certainly a member of the Oversight and Investigations
    Subcommittee.  He has been a real leader in this effort to address
    the dangers facing our children on the Internet and I know that he
    shares our interest in this issue.  He has been dedicated to doing
    whatever can be done to keep the Internet safe for children and to
    ensure that criminals who use the Internet to prey on our children
    are found and prosecuted.  And I want to thank him for arranging
    for this hearing today and convincing us to come to New Jersey to
    learn what, specifically, law enforcement prosecutors and others
    are doing in this area about this important issue.
    	So I want to thank all of you for being here and at this time I
    will recognize Mr. Ferguson for his opening statement.
    	[The prepared statement of Hon. Ed Whitfield follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HON. ED WHITFIELD, CHAIRMAN,
    SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS

            Today, the Committee on Energy and Commerce,
    Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, is convening a
    hearing in New Jersey on the sexual exploitation of children over
    the Internet.
    	Already, this subcommittee has held four hearings on this
    subject.  We have heard testimony from victims of Internet child
    pornography, state and federal law enforcement agents, safety and
    Internet education experts, and Internet Service Providers about the
    dangers the Internet can pose to children.
            From these hearings, this subcommittee has learned that while
    federal law enforcement agents actively investigate and pursue
    online predators, seventy percent of the investigations of these
    criminals take place at the state and local level through the efforts
    of the state Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces, or
    "ICACs," and local police officers.  For this reason, the
    subcommittee thought it was important to dedicate a hearing to
    how the war against child pornography and the online exploitation
    of children is being fought on the ground, by state and local law
    enforcement agents.
            Like every other state in the nation, New Jersey is not immune
    from the dangers the Internet presents to children.  Today we will
    hear testimony from witnesses who work each day to combat child
    pornography and to keep New Jersey's children safe from
    predators who seek to use the Internet to exploit them.  We will
    hear from the United States Attorney for the District of New
    Jersey, Chris Christie, about the cases brought by his office against
    child predators.  We will also hear from New Jersey state and local
    police officers about how they develop their investigations against
    individuals who exploit children over the Internet, and the
    challenges they face when they attempt to bring these criminals to
    justice.  I look forward to learning whether the witnesses believe
    they have the resources they need to not only fight the war against
    child pornography on the Internet, but to win it.  As this
    subcommittee held a hearing only two weeks ago with Internet
    Service Providers and social networking sites, I also look forward
    to learning your thoughts about the industry's efforts to combat
    online child pornography and whether you believe more should be
    required of them.  Finally, because the vast majority of cases
    against online predators are prosecuted at the state and local level,
    I am interested to learn if additional federal resources would help
    facilitate your investigations and prosecutions.
            Just as our subcommittee's hearings have shown that every
    effort must be made to support law enforcement's efforts in the
    war against child pornography, they have also shown that we will
    not win this war unless we educate parents, teachers, and children
    about Internet safety.  Witnesses have repeatedly told this
    subcommittee that children often are not able to appreciate the risk
    posed to them when they meet and communicate over the Internet
    with a stranger.  Two of our witnesses today, i-Safe mentor
    Samantha Hahn and Wired Safety Teen Angel Shannon Sullivan,
    have been trained to talk to their friends and fellow students about
    Internet safety.  I look forward to learning what they believe is the
    most effective way to teach children to protect themselves against
    online predators.  Samantha and Shannon are joined by
    Superintendent David Livingston of the Somerset County Schools,
    who will testify about how schools in his district are addressing
    Internet safety issues as well as problems related to social
    networking sites, cyber bullying, and online predators.
            We are also joined today by Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick
    of Pennsylvania.  Congressman Fitzpatrick has introduced a bill,
    H.R. 5319, the Deleting Online Predators Act.  H.R. 5319 requires
    schools and libraries to use technology on their computers that
    prevents students from accessing social networking sites.  Thank
    you, Congressman Fitzpatrick, for making the trip to appear before
    us this morning to discuss your efforts to combat online predators.
            Finally, I would like to thank my colleague, Mike Ferguson,
    for welcoming us to his district.  I know that Congressman
    Ferguson shares my interest in this issue, and that he is dedicated
    to doing whatever he can to keep the Internet safe for children and
    to ensure that the criminals who use the Internet to prey on
    children are found and prosecuted.
            Thank you.

    	MR. FERGUSON.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  Thank you for
    being here, very much for your welcome here in New Jersey.  I am
    delighted to have you here and really pleased that we could do this
    hearing here in New Jersey.  I also want to thank--we have several
    panels of really excellent witnesses.  I am delighted that they are
    all here.  I particularly appreciate the U.S. Attorney being here
    today and our Somerset County Prosecutor, Wayne Forrest.  I
    appreciate you and all the other panelists who are going to join us
    here today.  I think this is going to prove to be an excellent line-up
    for shedding some light on how we can combat this problem here
    in New Jersey.
    	I appreciate very much and want to personally commend some
    of our other panelists for the work that they are doing every day to
    combat this issue in our families and in our communities.
    Throughout the course of the past few months, we in Congress
    have held several hearings on this topic.  We have heard from law
    enforcement, from Internet service providers, from social
    networking sites, from Internet education groups, Federal officials
    from the Department of Justice and other Federal agencies, as well
    as some of the victims themselves.  But no matter how many
    hearings we have on this topic, it never gets any easier to hear
    about and it still shocks and sickens every one of us.
    	The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
    reports that 39 percent of persons caught with images of child
    sexual abuse had images of children younger than 6 years old, and
    19 percent of these people caught had images of children under 3
    years old.  In all of my years, as a Member of Congress, as an
    educator and most importantly, as a parent, I have never been so
    disturbed by a topic that we have considered.  It is beyond
    comprehension that we, as a society, have allowed this industry to
    flourish, sometimes even within the confines and protection of our
    own homes.  And it is our responsibility, as lawmakers, as parents,
    as educators, and law enforcement, to do everything possible to let
    our children know that they are safe and that they will be protected
    at all costs.
    	I am not just a Member of Congress and a public servant; I am
    also a parent with four young kids.  Like millions of other families,
    my wife and I talk to our kids about the great opportunities for fun
    and learning that the Internet has to offer, but we also need to
    protect our children from those who use the Internet to try and
    harm them.  The private sector and government and law
    enforcement must work together to ensure that we all have the
    necessary tools to keep our children safe.
    	 This issue is gruesome, it is heart wrenching, and it is
    disturbing, but it is not one that we can ignore.  The Internet can be
    an extraordinary tool for our children, but it also harbors dangers
    that we must be aware of.  The predators that lurk on the Internet
    take advantage of children in the cruelest of ways; by earning their
    trust and stealing their innocence, and this leaves a pain that no
    child should ever have to endure.  I am proud to say that New
    Jersey has strong law enforcement programs directed toward,
    dedicated to rooting out Internet predators.
    	 Today we will hear some of the success stories of the New
    Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, as well as the
    collaborative efforts with other ICACs across the country.  Our
    educators have also made an effort to teach our children about the
    dangers of the Internet.  Law enforcement and local schools have
    been teaming up to educate both children and parents on how to
    safely use the World Wide Web.  Organizations such as i-Safe and
    WiredSafety have made it their mission to educate children about
    how to use the Internet safely and what warning signs to look out
    for.
    	Specifically, i-Safe has educated over 43,000 students on
    Internet safety and implemented 30 parent education programs in
    New Jersey alone.  I commend these organizations for their
    programs and sincerely hope they can continue in the future.  I
    look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and I hope this
    hearing serves to further draw attention to this issue, especially in a
    State where we have so many good people working on behalf of
    our children.
    	Again, I want to thank you, Chairman Whitfield, for allowing
    us to bring the Congress to New Jersey today.  I want to thank our
    witnesses for coming to the committee today and I particularly
    want to thank Raritan Valley Community College for so graciously
    hosting this field hearing today.  I appreciate all of the efforts on
    their behalf and on behalf of the committee and the subcommittee
    staff for their work in pulling this hearing together.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Mike, thank you very much and I will say
    that the interim president of Raritan Community College was here
    to greet us this morning and took us on a tour and we are all ready
    to move to New Jersey.  But I appreciate your opening statement.
    At this time, we have four panels of witnesses today and at this
    time we will start with our second panelist and that is the
    Honorable Christopher Christie, who is the U.S. Attorney for the
    District of New Jersey, U.S. Department of Justice.  So if you
    wouldn't mind coming forward, Mr. Christie.  I would mention to
    you that Oversight and Investigation, when we take testimony, we
    do it under oath and under the rules of the House and certainly the
    rules of the committee, you are entitled to legal counsel, but since
    you are a U.S. attorney, I assume you don't need legal counsel.
    But if you don't have any difficulty testifying under oath, would
    you stand up and I would like to swear you in.
    	[Witness sworn.]
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you, Mr. Christie.  You are now under
    oath and you are recognized for your 5-minute opening statement.

    STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER J. CHRISTIE, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, DISTRICT
    OF NEW JERSEY

    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Mr. Chairman, thank you for coming to New
    Jersey, Congressman Ferguson.  Thank you for inviting me here
    today to speak about this very important topic.  Let me say, first,
    that here in New Jersey we have enormously fruitful cooperative
    efforts that are going on between Federal, State, and local law
    enforcement.  I am sure you will hear from my law enforcement
    partners on the State and local level a lot about that in the
    testimony that will follow mine.  We have great cooperation, cases
    being done federally and on the State level, and they are decided
    on whether or not to do them federally or State based upon where
    we can get the best sentence, where we can get the best possible
    result.  There are no egos involved, there are no turf battles over
    this and I am proud to say that in this State, everyone is
    cooperating very well because they see how important the problem
    is.
    	One particular investigation, which I think deserves note this
    morning, is the one you referred to in your opening remarks, Mr.
    Chairman, the RegPay investigation.  That remains the first and I
    think, most successful international attack on child pornography
    here from the Department of Justice.  And let me tell you how that
    began.  It literally began by an assistant United States Attorney, in
    my office, coming into my office one day and saying to me I have
    a new idea about how to go after this child porn problem.  And I
    think it is important to note how it began because it is just one
    dedicated assistant United States Attorney who had an idea, came
    to my office, sold me on the idea and we, then, went about getting
    Federal law enforcement involved and selling them on the idea.  It
    was a very resource-intense investigation, as you can imagine.
    	But the premise of the investigation was different than it had
    ever been done before.  Our idea was to follow the money, using
    that old phrase.  But follow the money is very, very important.
    This is a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry.  So the first thing
    we did was to approach MasterCard, Visa and American Express.
    Since almost all this Internet child pornography is processed
    through credit cards, we wanted to have real time access to the
    transactions that were occurring on these child pornography
    websites.  After negotiation with MasterCard, Visa, and American
    Express, I think, for the first time they gave us that real time
    access.  From there, we were able to trace it to what were in
    essence the money launderers here in the United States, a place
    called Connections USA, which operated out of the State of
    Florida.  They were processing millions of dollars a month in
    transactions from these child pornography websites.
    	Once we were able to establish that they were getting illegal
    money from these websites, we approached them, were able to
    arrest them and then turn them to cooperate for us, and they, then,
    turned us to RegPay, which was their client in Belarus.  This is
    where the child pornography was being created, this is where it
    was being put up onto the Internet websites.  And there were
    principals that operated out of Belarus that were interacting on a
    regular basis with these folks in Florida.  And as I said, the folks in
    Florida were laundering millions of dollars a month for these
    people through American banks, American credit card companies,
    back over to Belarus.
    	We were able to execute, with the help of these cooperating
    witnesses in the United States, a successful lure, and that is to lure
    these folks from Belarus to a place where we would be able to
    arrest and successfully extradite them to the United States.  The
    lure occurred in Paris.  We were able to tape record very
    incriminating conversations with these people from Belarus in
    Paris.  Once all the incriminating conversations were taped by the
    cooperating witness, they were arrested, put in jail in Paris and
    extradited to the United States.
    	We have obtained guilty pleas from all the principals of the
    RegPay company in addition to the guilty pleas we got from
    Connections USA.  Those people are about to be sentenced, Mr.
    Chairman, and they have presumptive sentences somewhere
    between 25 and 30 years.  That, given the recent Supreme Court
    decision in Booker, the guidelines are no longer, as you know,
    mandatory but advisory, but we are confident that we will get very
    significant sentences and we will argue for 30-year sentences for
    these folks.
    	This case is significant, in essence, because following the
    money gets you to the people who are creating this child
    pornography, exploiting these children and putting these images up
    on the Internet and we were also able to get those people in
    between who are profiting from the money laundering for these
    folks.  So this is something that can be done; the template is out
    there now for other U.S. Attorneys' offices.  We have worked with
    a lot of them in an attempt to show them how we did what we did.
    We are enormously proud of the efforts that started with that one
    assistant United States Attorney who had a different idea about
    how to go after this problem.
    	I thank you for the time.
    	[The prepared statement of Hon. Christopher J. Christie
    follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HON. CHRISTOPHER J. CHRISTIE, UNITED STATES
    ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

            Chairman Whitfield, Ranking Member Stupak, and
    distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for
    inviting me to testify before you today about my office's
    prosecutions of cases involving the sexual exploitation of children
    on the Internet, including the RegPay case, in which we prosecuted
    both producers and consumers of child pornography.

    Introduction
    	As this Subcommittee is already no doubt aware, the advent of
    the Internet has led to a vast proliferation in the availability and
    prevalence of child pornography in today's society.  The
    possession and distribution of child pornography ware once
    relatively rare crimes relegated to those who would frequent
    certain underground adult bookstores or attempt to order obscure
    magazines from overseas.  The Internet has dramatically changed
    that by making child pornography easy to produce and distribute,
    while also making it readily available to those inclined to seek out
    this material from their own home.  Sadly, thousands of individuals
    who are sexually attracted to children now have ready access to
    images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation and
    molestation of children.  Moreover, unscrupulous and
    opportunistic individuals both here and especially abroad have
    seized the opportunity to market access to child pornography in an
    industry that provides huge profits and relatively low overhead
    costs.  It is probably accurate to say that the number of individuals
    in this county who have intentionally obtained access to or traded
    images of child pornography within the last six-month period
    outstrips the number for a similar six-month period from 15 years
    ago by at least a hundredfold.  In addition, the Internet has also
    become an avenue for child predators to seek out and communicate
    with children in the seeming anonymity of chat rooms.
    	Needless to say, this sea change has created a tremendous
    challenge for law enforcement -- one that requires law enforcement
    to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing landscape and to search for
    innovative ways to identify and apprehend offenders.  It has also
    put a premium on law enforcement officers with technological and
    computer expertise.
    	Law enforcement efforts to interdict Internet-based child
    exploitation crimes are largely dictated by the nature of the
    offense, which can be loosely grouped into two categories: child
    pornography offenses and child exploitation cases.  The former
    type of investigation is more heavily dependent on technological
    expertise and forensic investigation, while the latter is typically
    dependent on the capacity of an individual agent to convincingly
    portray himself or herself as a minor who is susceptible to
    advances by on-line predators.
    	To understand child pornography offenses and the efforts of
    law enforcement to effectively investigate them, it is necessary to
    understand the nature of child pornography on the Internet.  Much
    of the proliferation of child pornography can be traced to the
    existence of numerous commercial websites that offer access to
    child pornography for a monthly fee.  During the past ten years,
    hundreds of websites, many based in Eastern Europe, have
    appeared on the Internet.  These sites typically require a subscriber
    to submit various information including billing information,
    whether it be via credit card or some other on-line payment service
    such as E-Gold.  Law enforcement efforts to interdict these
    websites and to apprehend both those who operate them and those
    who subscribe to these sites has proven a formidable task, but there
    have been notable successes.  Foremost among these successes has
    been the RegPay investigation which represented the collaboration
    of a number of federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of
    Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security's
    Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Internal
    Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and the Postal Inspection
    Service, in conjunction with the United States Attorney's Office
    for the District of New Jersey and the Child Exploitation and
    Obscenity Section in the Department's Criminal Division (CEOS).
    It is also illustrative of how the federal government can
    successfully target the commercial child pornography industry at
    both the level of the producer and the consumer.

    The RegPay Case
    	The RegPay investigation, which began in early 2003,
    represented the first large-scale effort to target the operators of
    commercial websites offering access to child pornography over the
    Internet and to track the financial trail created by those who profit
    from this industry.  In the early part of that year, federal agents
    made undercover purchases of monthly subscriptions to numerous
    child pornography websites in an effort to track down the
    producers of the material and the operators of the sites.  The
    investigation revealed that a company based in Belarus, which
    called itself RegPay, operated several commercial child
    pornography websites and processed credit card fees for more than
    50 other similar sites.  The investigation also determined that credit
    card payments for access to these sites were being processed
    through a company based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida known as
    Connections, USA.  Agents also executed search warrants on
    computer servers based in Texas and Virginia that RegPay had
    leased, and recovered extensive databases documenting credit card
    transactions involving approximately 90,000 customers worldwide.
    Armed with this informatio,n the investigation pursued two paths,
    aimed at, on the one hand, the operators of RegPay and those who
    processed their transactions, and, on the other hand, the consumers
    who purchased access to the site.
    	To pursue the operators of RegPay, agents first executed a
    search warrant at Connections, USA in Ft. Lauderdale.  Upon
    executing the search warrant, agents learned of an ongoing
    financial dispute between Connections, USA and the operators of
    RegPay relating to an outstanding debt of more than one million
    dollars supposedly owed to RegPay.  Agents were able to assume
    the role of Connections, USA to broker a meeting in Paris between
    the operators of RegPay and Connections, USA, ostensibly to
    resolve the ongoing dispute and to set the groundwork for future
    financial cooperation between the companies.  This ruse led to the
    arrest of two Belarussians in Paris while a third individual was
    apprehended while vacationing in Spain at the same time.  All
    three were extradited to New Jersey to face charges relating to the
    production and distribution of child pornography.  All three pled
    guilty on the eve of trial in February of 2005 before the Honorable
    Dennis M. Cavanaugh of the United States District Court of New
    Jersey.  The two principals of RegPay, Yahor Zalatarou and
    Aliaksandr Boika, are expected to be sentenced later this month.
    They face presumptive sentences in the range of 25 to 30 years.  In
    total, 9 individuals pled guilty in the District of New Jersey for
    their involvement in operating or supporting RegPay's business
    operations, including three individuals from Connections, USA as
    well as three California-based individuals involved in the
    laundering of RegPay's proceeds.  One of these latter individuals,
    Yaroslav Grebenschikov, admitted that in late June 2003, he
    assisted individuals associated with Regpay in the formation of LB
    Systems - a company created to assist Regpay and others in
    Belarus to process credit card sales for previously approved
    transactions involving child pornography - as well as the opening
    of a bank account, both of which he used to transfer more than
    $200,000 in funds associated with RegPay to banks in Latvia.
    	Simultaneously, in what was dubbed Operation Falcon, agents
    pursued the consumers of child pornography by following the
    transaction history of those who had gained access to the RegPay-
    supported child pornography websites.  By comparing the
    transaction data obtained via the search warrants conducted on the
    servers in Texas and Virginia with credit card records, agents were
    able to seek search warrants for numerous individuals throughout
    the United States.  Leads were also distributed worldwide to
    pursue those who knowingly received and possessed child
    pornography.  Through February of 2006, the RegPay investigation
    had resulted in 341 federal, state and local arrests in the United
    States and approximately 703 additional international arrests.  In
    the District of New Jersey alone, more than 50 individuals were
    charged federally with possession of child pornography.  The New
    Jersey defendants included teachers, a pediatrician, a psychologist,
    a retired minister and, perhaps least surprisingly, several
    individuals who had been convicted of sex offenses against minors,
    including a former school principal.

    Recidivist Offenders
    	This latter category illustrates the importance of pursuing the
    consumers of child pornography because, among other reasons, the
    link between those who seek out child pornography and those who
    molest children is substantial and disturbing.  Of the approximately
    52 New Jersey targets charged federally in New Jersey, 5 had prior
    convictions for sexual offenses against minors.  In addition, 3 other
    defendants, when confronted by ICE agents conducting searches
    on their computers, admitted to molesting a total of at least 14
    children, while two defendants, including one of the convicted sex
    offenders, admitted to attempting to meet minors in on-line chat
    rooms.  What cannot be known is how many others of those who
    were arrested had molested in the past but chose not to reveal this
    to authorities.  While it is uncertain what percentage of those who
    gain access to child pornography act out upon their impulses, it is
    clear that a significant percentage do and common sense dictates
    that the exposure to child pornography encourages this behavior.
    For example, a study completed in 2000 by the Director of the Sex
    Offender Treatment Program at the Butner Federal Correctional
    Complex in North Carolina revealed that of 54 inmates convicted
    of child pornography offenses, 79.6% of them admitted that they
    had also molested significant numbers of children.

    Harm to Exploited Children
    	Furthermore, the proliferation of child pornography websites
    and the great profits reaped by their operators fuels a market for
    the production of new and often hard-core child pornography.  In
    short, the market in child pornography directly leads to the
    exploitation and molestation of children from all over the globe,
    often for the purpose of commercial gain.  Many of the victims are
    from Eastern Europe where a substantial percentage of child
    pornography is produced.  Images and videos of American children
    are encountered with great frequency, however, because once a
    photograph of child pornography makes its way on to the Internet -
    something that can be accomplished with ease in the era of digital
    photography - control of that image is essentially lost, and
    commercial websites may include such images in the collections
    they offer on their sites.  Sadly, the victimization of children forced
    to become the subjects of child pornography thus continues as the
    image travels throughout the Internet.  As Attorney General
    Gonzales noted recently, "[child pornography] is not a victimless
    crime.  Most images today of child pornography depict actual
    sexual abuse of children.  Each image literally documents a crime
    scene."

    The Evolving Landscape and Law Enforcement's Challenge
    	As with most sophisticated criminal enterprises, the purveyors
    of child pornography adapt to law enforcement techniques, thus
    forcing investigators to adjust to an ever-changing landscape.  The
    commercial child pornography industry has evolved even since the
    RegPay investigation.  For instance, child pornography websites
    are not as easily located on the Internet by the uninitiated as was
    the case three to four years ago.  While this may reduce the number
    of individuals subscribing to these sites, it also makes them harder
    for law enforcement to locate and identify.  Moreover, the
    operators of these sites are increasingly sophisticated in hiding
    their own identities and whereabouts.  They accomplish this both
    technologically - by making their operations more difficult to trace
    through the use of such software as anonymizers - and by
    insulating themselves through the use of sham Internet-based
    companies and other third parties through which they funnel their
    profits from the child pornography websites.  Moreover, they lease
    server space typically through the use of stolen identities, and the
    companies that lease the space to them frequently do not realize
    the true content of the website they are helping to host.  Perhaps
    the greatest challenge to bringing these individuals to justice,
    however, stems from the concentration of such operations in
    Eastern Europe, typically in the break-away Soviet republics such
    as Belarus.  Most of these countries do not have extradition
    policies with the United States, and the knowledge of the fate of
    the RegPay defendants makes the likelihood that operators of
    similar sites will venture outside the relative safety provided by the
    borders of their home country remote at best.  Widespread
    corruption amongst Government officials in some of these
    countries significantly reduces the chances that they will face
    meaningful prosecution in their homeland.
    	These obstacles mean that curbing demand for child
    pornography will be increasingly important in combating the
    proliferation of this material.  Techniques including electronic
    surveillance and the execution of search warrants on servers both
    domestically and abroad provide a deterrence effect for those who
    might seek child pornography through online commercial websites.
    Law enforcement needs to send a clear message that individuals
    who subscribe to these websites and contribute to the molestation
    of children across the globe run a substantial risk of facing
    significant jail time any time they hit the "JOIN NOW" button for
    one of these sites.  As I speak here today, even though child
    pornography websites are harder to locate than before, there are
    still thousands of Americans who attempt to subscribe to child
    pornography websites every month.  Law enforcement can and will
    play a significant role in bringing such individuals to justice.

    Alternative Distribution Methods
    	While I have spoken so far primarily about the role of
    commercial websites in the proliferation of child pornography, it is
    important to realize that a great deal of child pornography gets
    distributed on the Internet through individuals who trade such
    material with one another.  Additionally, peer-to-peer software
    such as Kazaa and Limewire may be abused by those with a
    mutual interest in child pornography to share their respective
    collections with one another if they belong to the same network of
    computers.  Child pornography may also be distributed through
    attachments to e-mail.  Individuals with an interest in child
    pornography may frequent certain chat rooms from which they will
    exchange collections.  In addition, certain individuals may
    establish on their home computer what is known as an F-Serve on
    which they establish a collection of child pornography that can
    only be accessed by those who upload images of child
    pornography to the F-Serve first - thereby preventing law
    enforcement from gaining access while expanding the F-Serve
    operator's own collection.
    	All of these methods for distributing child pornography cause
    many of the same harms as posed by commercial child
    pornography websites, namely, the continued victimization of the
    children depicted and the encouragement of those with pedophilic
    impulses to act upon them.  Law enforcement can identify many of
    the individuals involved in these forms of distribution through a
    variety of techniques.  For instance, certain programs can be run
    which search computers that are connected through the same
    network for a particular image as defined by its hash value.  This
    enables law enforcement to identify individuals who have
    particular images of child pornography on their computers and
    may establish sufficient probable cause for search warrants.  In
    addition, forensic examination of an individual's computer that has
    been seized may reveal e-mail communications with other
    individuals who have sent and received child pornography from
    the seized computer.  In this regard, traditional cooperation from a
    defendant who has distributed child pornography through these
    means may lead to the identification and arrest of numerous others.

    Interstate Traveler Cases
    	In addition to investigations involving child pornography, the
    FBI plays a vital role in preventing and even interdicting child
    exploitation crimes so long as there is some interstate nexus to
    provide federal jurisdiction.  The best known example of this type
    of investigation is the so-called enticement or "traveler case,"
    which has been recently well documented on a series of "Dateline
    NBC" episodes.  Across the country, too many of our children
    have been lured by child abusers through contacts in chat rooms
    that are allegedly closed to adults.  Some of these interstate
    travelers also take pictures of the minors they molest and
    sometimes abduct, and then post the child pornography online.
    This type of investigation requires an undercover agent to enter an
    Internet chat room where older men are likely to be interacting
    with  minors.  The undercover agent will engage in a series of
    chats to determine if the other individual is an adult seeking sexual
    contact with the undercover whom he believes to be a young
    teenager.  As the chats progress, the older male may decide to
    travel to the location of the minor in the hopes of renting a nearby
    motel room or making similar arrangements.  If the older male
    travels across state lines to meet the minor, the case may be taken
    federally.  While many "traveler cases" may be prosecuted at the
    state level, federal traveler cases are not uncommon.  For instance,
    the District of New Jersey is currently prosecuting a case where a
    doctor from a prominent Philadelphia hospital traveled to
    Hackensack, New Jersey expecting to meet a 14-year old girl with
    whom he intended to have sexual relations.  Such "traveler cases"
    often involve actual minors whom the traveler intends to sexually
    abuse.  For example, the District of New Jersey recently secured a
    conviction of a Florida man who traveled to New Jersey to have
    sex with a 13-year old girl.  ICE agents, who did not initially know
    the identity of the intended victim, trailed the defendant and
    observed him following a school bus in an effort to find the girl
    whom he had met over the Internet.  The agents were able to
    interdict this crime before the defendant, who was in possession of
    a stun gun and alcohol, contacted the victim.  It is likely that such
    crimes, however, are greatly under reported by the young and
    confused victims.

    Sex Tourism Cases
            Another, albeit less common type of child exploitation case
    that may involve the Internet arises out of sex tourism
    investigations wherein the defendants are individuals who travel
    overseas to have sex with minors, or who organize such trips.
    These trips frequently involve travel to southeast Asia.  Sex tour
    operators catering to pedophiles tend to be discreet and are difficult
    to infiltrate because they are usually extremely wary of law
    enforcement.  If successful, however, these cases may not only
    lead to the apprehension of the tour operator, but his prior clients
    as well.  Because of the international nexus of these violations,
    ICE often acts as the primary federal law enforcement agency
    responsible for conducting such investigations.  ICE has conducted
    many successful child sex tourism investigations and works closely
    with CEOS, the U.S. Attorney's Offices, as well as federal, state
    and local law enforcement agencies.
            The District of New Jersey is currently prosecuting one such
    case where the defendant operated a website advertising sex
    tourism.  The website did not specifically advertise that its tours
    were catered toward minors, but it included pictures of girls in
    various states of undress, some of whom clearly appeared to be
    underage.  The investigation involved undercover Internet chats
    followed by meets wherein undercover agents posed as customers
    seeking to have sex with underage girls upon arrival in the
    Philippines.  The defendant initially indicated that he would not
    talk about minors until the group arrived in the Philippines, but he
    gradually opened up to the point where he admitted to having sex
    with minors himself.

    Project Safe Childhood
    	All of the investigations that I have described so far will be
    bolstered by the Department of Justice's recently launched Project
    Safe Childhood initiative designed to coordinate the efforts of
    federal agencies and U.S. Attorneys' Offices with state and local
    law enforcement.  This initiative is designed to help coordinate
    national child pornography investigations, train additional federal,
    state and local law enforcement in pursuing computer-based
    investigations and raise community awareness of the dangers of
    the Internet for children.  The initiative is also designed to increase
    federal involvement in many of these investigations, especially
    where state laws provide little deterrence for offenders.  This latter
    point is clearly evident in New Jersey where possession of child
    pornography regularly results in sentences of 2 to 3 years if
    prosecuted federally but carries with it a presumption of a
    probationary sentence under state law.
    	I am proud that the District of New Jersey has been a leader in
    pursuing child exploitation offenses on a national level, as
    evidenced by the RegPay case, which represents one of the most
    successful child pornography investigations in the nation's history.
    Most importantly, Project Safe Childhood will ensure that every
    state and every district has properly trained law enforcement
    officials who can vigorously pursue predators and similar
    offenders, when supplied with appropriate leads, and that these
    investigations will realize even greater success in the future.
    	I should also note that the District of New Jersey's experience
    in pursuing RegPay and other similar investigations demonstrates
    that the number of child pornography and other child exploitation
    offenders is quite simply staggering, and that it behooves law
    enforcement offices - whether they be the prosecuting authority or
    the investigative agency - to devote greater resources and
    personnel to these investigations.  The RegPay investigation
    demonstrates that a few well-trained and dedicated law
    enforcement officials can make a major impact and provide
    prosecutors and agents in their own and other districts with large
    numbers of dangerous offenders to pursue and bring to justice.
    Unfortunately, sometimes our own American youth are the victims
    of traffickers in this country who lure youth from their
    communities and sell them for prostitution in other jurisdictions,
    offering them for sex at truck stops, conventions, and on the streets
    of our cities.

    Human Trafficking
    	I would be remiss if I did not mention that the impact of federal
    law enforcement's efforts to protect children is not limited to
    investigations focused on the Internet.  One type of crime that
    frequently entails the exploitation of minors are those involving
    human trafficking, whether they involve forced labor or sex
    trafficking.  Many of the victims of this type of deplorable crime
    are minors, and they are often sexually exploited on a commercial
    basis.  Human trafficking is a crime that has been with us for many
    years, but continued largely unnoticed until the passage of the
    Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, authored by a strong,
    committed group of legislators including Representative
    Christopher Smith, from my home state of New Jersey.  That
    legislation recognized that many individuals, typically young
    female immigrants, were being smuggled into the United States
    and forced to work in demeaning conditions or in prostitution.
    Since the passage of that legislation, numerous trafficking cases
    have been brought throughout the United States, and the District of
    New Jersey has once again been one of the leaders in pursuing
    these types of cases.
    	In 2002, for example, this Office brought the case of United
    States. v. Jimenez-Calderon which led to the convictions of two
    women for their role in forcing several juvenile Mexican girls to
    work as prostitutes in Plainfield, New Jersey.  The defendants
    received sentences of approximately 17� years each.  In 2005, this
    office indicted the case of United States. v. Luisa Medrano, et al.,
    which involved the smuggling into the United States of young
    Honduran females, some as young as fourteen, after they had been
    promised legitimate waitressing jobs to lure them into the country.
    Upon arrival in Union City, New Jersey, these girls were forced to
    work six or seven days per week at bars catering to male
    immigrants where they were pressured to perform sexually
    provocative dances for the customers and ply them with alcohol.
    The victims were also required to live at specific residences and
    had their movement greatly restricted until their smuggling debts
    were paid off in full.  Many of these juveniles were sexually
    exploited during the smuggling process that brought them to New
    Jersey.
    	Even more recently, the District of New Jersey has brought
    various charges against a number of defendants for their
    involvement in prostitution activities in Hudson County and
    elsewhere.  These defendants are primarily members of the Notario
    family from San Miguel Tenancingo, the trafficking capital of
    Mexico.  The investigation has identified numerous trafficking
    victims who were put to work as prostitutes in various brothels
    along the East Coast after having been smuggled in from Mexico.
    Among these identified victims are at least three juveniles.  Thus,
    the pursuit of human trafficking cases often represent yet another
    means by which law enforcement identifies and dramatically
    assists sexually exploited minors.

    Conclusion
    	In conclusion, the dangers of the Internet in the proliferation of
    child exploitation crimes cannot be underestimated.  The Attorney
    General has recognized that "we are in the midst of an epidemic in
    the production and trafficking of movies and images depicting the
    sexual abuse of children," and the need for law enforcement to
    respond rapidly and forcefully cannot be more clear.  With proper
    coordination and the cooperation of federal, state and local
    authorities, the Internet can be made far safer for the children of
    this country.  Law enforcement must create an environment in
    which sexual predators fear the Internet as a dangerous place that
    may likely land them in prison for a significant period of time.
    The RegPay investigation - especially with the advent of Project
    Safe Childhood - provides a model for law enforcement agencies
    throughout the country to pursue child exploitation cases with the
    knowledge that the offenders who are identified will be vigorously
    investigated and prosecuted.
            Mr. Chairman, I again thank you and the Subcommittee for the
    opportunity to speak to you today, and I would be pleased to
    answer any questions the Subcommittee might have.

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, Mr. Christie, thank you very much and
    we certainly appreciate the great work you are doing here and I
    know there has been national attention on the prosecution in the
    RegPay case and I mentioned this in my opening statement, that
    those of us on the committee have really been shocked about
    exactly how widespread this problem of child pornography is and
    then those people whose sole goal is to meet young people and
    meet them physically and molest them in some way.  I know we
    had this case in Texas where a couple, a married couple, had a 5-
    year-old child and they had 7,000 subscribers, 70,000 subscribers
    that were paying $30 a month and they would molest their child
    sexually on demand and their income was around $2 million a
    month and through law enforcement and the techniques that you
    are using, that couple was arrested, prosecuted and both of them
    are now in prison serving between 40 and 50 years in a
    penitentiary.
    	But once again, I do want to commend you on the RegPay case
    and I would like you to elaborate, if you wouldn't mind, just a little
    bit about, in some cases and some jurisdictions, there is a lack of
    cooperation between Federal and State and local officials:  Do you
    feel comfortable that on this issue that you are getting cooperation
    at all levels?
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  As I said, Mr. Chairman, in my remarks, I
    think in this jurisdiction I can speak to this one with the most
    knowledge.  There is a great deal of cooperation.  I think part of
    that is led by the fact that there is so much of this crime going on,
    that there is so much to go around, that people aren't arguing over
    who gets what case.  It is more trying to figure out how do we
    cover everything we need to cover.  The breadth of the problem is
    extraordinary.  As I said, it is a multibillion dollar industry and it
    branches off in a number of different directions.
    	You have the exploitation of the children, as you mentioned,
    who are in the images.  And in our office, we have had cases with
    children as young as 6 months old who are being exploited
    sexually on these images, which I will tell you, I was not in law
    enforcement before I became the United States Attorney, and when
    I saw these images of children as young as 6 months old being
    exploited, it is the most sickening thing I have seen in this job, so I
    think the cooperation is driven by the depravity of the crime and
    also by, unfortunately, the volume of it.  We all need to work
    together and there is plenty for all of us to do.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Right.  Now, what about Attorney General
    Gonzalez's Project Safe Childhood initiative?  What is your view
    on that and are you pleased with that?
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  I think it is a very important initiative, but one
    in New Jersey that, quite frankly, we were ahead of.  When you
    look at what Project Safe Childhood is asking U.S. Attorneys
    offices to do, is ordering the U.S. Attorneys offices to do, we have
    already done that 4 years ago.  When I became U.S. Attorney, we
    set up a separate stand-alone unit on that which was called our
    Public Protection Unit that deals almost exclusively with crimes
    against children.  We have seven assistant United States Attorneys
    who are working almost exclusively on that, also with violence
    against women and human trafficking, so the initiatives that the
    Attorney General is calling for in terms of the focus there, is
    something that we have been doing for the last 4 years.  In fact, the
    chief of my Public Protection Unit is here with me today, Mark
    McCarren, and Mark has been working on these problems with me
    now for nearly the last 4 years, so I think the focus is very
    important.
    	In addition, I think it helps to focus the other investigative
    agencies, both inside DOJ and outside the Department on making
    sure they make these investigations a priority, so I mentioned in
    my remarks they are very resource intensive.  You will have
    hundreds and hundreds of targets that you need to go after across
    the country and sometimes around the world, so you need the
    cooperation of the FBI, you need the cooperation of Immigration
    and Customs Enforcement out of Homeland Security to make sure
    that they put the resources on it.  So I think the Attorney General
    putting a focus on it will help to make sure those other resources
    come, as well.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  What was the length of time from the
    beginning of the RegPay case until you did get a conviction?
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  It was about 2 years.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Two years?
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  About 2 years.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  You know, we also had, in one of our
    hearings, there was a young girl from Russia who was adopted by
    a gentleman here in Pennsylvania.  She was 6 years old, and it
    came through a child adoption agency in New Jersey and this child
    was placed with this man who was not married and for a period of
    6 years he sexually molested her, kept her chained in the basement
    for periods of time, taking obscene pictures, and putting it all over
    the Internet, which he was paid for that, as well.  And through
    some very innovative work by law enforcement, he was also
    arrested and is serving a prison term now.  We are going to have a
    hearing about some of these child adoption agencies, in which this
    agency received a fee of $25,000 and did not do any due diligence
    in placing this child.  It also appears, we are going to be looking
    into that aspect, which is a little bit different than we normally
    think, in these cases.
    	At this time, I would like to recognize Mr. Ferguson for any
    questions he may have.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Mr. Chairman, I need to say just one thing
    before Mr. Ferguson, on that point; there are many branches of this
    problem and you have just raised one of them and human
    trafficking is also a part of this problem.  You can identify these
    people as people who exploit children sexually from a child
    pornography perspective, but also, a lot of these organizations are
    involved, especially in Eastern Europe and in Central America, in
    highly coordinated trafficking of individuals into the United States
    for children for this very purpose.  And so I would urge the
    committee, as they go forward, to not lose sight of that aspect of
    this, as well, because the profits being made there are not as
    significant as in the pure child pornography industry, but they are
    significant and it is a growing problem here, especially in a State
    like New Jersey, where you have a real melting pot and so people
    can come from very different parts of the world and fit in here
    seamlessly and not be noticed.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Thanks, Mr. Chairman.  Thank you again for
    being here with us today, Mr. Christie.  We have had a number of
    these hearings.  We have heard from lots of different folks,
    including victims.  You talked about the volume as being a
    challenge, an issue that you have to deal with.  One of the victims
    that we heard from in one of our first hearings who actually turned
    this into a business for himself when he was, himself, a minor;
    ended up making a lot of money.
    	He finally decided to turn over all of his information to legal
    authorities and he testified that he was--this is another part of the
    country--was very, very dissatisfied, disappointed with the pace of
    the law enforcement investigation.  To his knowledge, this is some
    months or a couple of years, I think, after he had turned all this
    information over to the Department of Justice, that they hadn't, as
    far as we know, hadn't brought a prosecution or hadn't had a
    conviction of, I don't know, some 1,500, I think, IP addresses and
    credit card information and there clearly are a lot of challenges for
    law enforcement, for folks like yourself, to try and get to the root
    of this problem and to prosecute and hold accountable those who
    need to be held accountable.
    	We are trying to address that from a legislation point of view,
    if that is necessary.  What insights can you share with us?  What
    challenges, what problems do you see, from a Federal law
    enforcement perspective?  What challenges do you have in terms
    of trying to go after these folks?  You have obviously had success,
    so you have overcome some challenges, but what other, what
    insights can you share with us?  What can we be doing from our
    end to help work with law enforcement, particularly Federal law
    enforcement?
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Well, we have had--I don't want to lead
    anybody astray.  We have had our frustrations, too, and they
    surround, essentially, resource-type of frustrations where you
    really need to get people focused.  This work is difficult work and
    quite frankly, Congressman, it is distasteful work.  When you have
    assistant United States Attorneys and agents who are working day
    after day amidst these images, at times it can be inspirational
    because you want to try to save these children, but it can be very
    emotionally taxing and so part of what we have done is try to
    rotate the people that we have doing this work to try to ease the
    burden from them because it is an extraordinary burden.
    	If you sit and leaf through, as I have, notebooks of these
    images, it is extraordinarily disturbing.  And as a parent, you can't
    but have your mind wander to how horrible the reality is for these
    children.  I think in terms of what can be done, I think the Attorney
    General's step is a good one.  I think we need to just make sure
    that law enforcement understands that this is a priority, that this is
    important work that we need to do, and that is about providing
    leadership and that is why I think the Attorney General's initiative
    in Project Safe Childhood is so important.
    	We saw, in the first term of the Bush Administration, the focus
    on Project Safe Neighborhood and on violent crime and we had
    enormous results from that initiative.  I think we can have similar
    type of results in this initiative just by the Attorney General telling
    every U.S. Attorney this now must be a priority in your office.  In
    some offices, like mine, it already has been, but in others it hasn't
    and so in those offices they now know, from the number one guy
    in our department, that this is a priority and I think anything that
    Congress can do to encourage and supplement that leadership is
    going to be very important because they need to know from the
    Congress that they think this is important, as well.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  You talked about, sort of, this fatigue that can
    set in when dealing with a topic which is so distasteful and so
    horrible.  I spent a day over at the National Center for Missing and
    Exploited Children, meeting with the folks there who are doing
    this every day.  They do lots of things there; as you know, they
    train law enforcement from all around the country, they bring them
    in for free and train folks, which is an incredible service, but they
    also have this Federal kind of a task force with all different folks
    from FBI and DOJ and all different folks trying to work together
    and one of the things they do is monitor all of this material and try
    and get their hands on this material and figure where it came from,
    who created it and whatnot.  And it has got to be a tremendous
    strain and a mental and psychological strain for just a human
    being; these are just people that are doing this investigative work.
    So that sort of having to rotate folks through opportunities like that
    has got to be very difficult because, I mean, just thinking about it
    from our perspective and listening to testimony, it is horrible.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Yes.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  And for folks who are doing this every day, it
    must be really, really difficult.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  It is, and I think one of the things that have
    escalated that, too, through the Internet in particular, is not only the
    availability of it in everybody's home now, but the fact that there
    are really two ways to pay for this material that are being used
    now.  It is not only just paying through credit card, but you can pay
    by uploading your own images.  So you can pay in kind,
    essentially, so that if you are willing to upload 30, 60, 90, 120, they
    usually do it in lots of 30, original images of child pornography,
    that can help to pay for your membership to these type of sites,
    instead of paying cash.
    	We have had cases where you have people who are exploiting
    their own children in order to have access to this information, in
    order to make a profit.  You have people out there, we have had
    cases of people adopting children, as you mentioned, and not just
    foreign adoptions, but domestic adoptions, where they then trade
    their children with other pedophiles and allow them to abuse their
    children in return for abusing someone else's children.
    	The breadth of these crimes and what I am really trying to get
    across is, the focus on the Internet is important because of its
    availability and its ability to exploit our children in our own living
    rooms.  But we need to make sure that we follow all the branches
    of what runs off of this vein and it is an enormous problem and one
    that we are spending a lot of time, you know, seven--I have 130
    AUSAs in my office, seven of them are working just exclusively
    on this type of work, so that is a large commitment of resources,
    from a percentage perspective, on crimes against children and we
    include human trafficking in that, as well, since most of the people
    trafficked are children, so it is a fatigue area and so I try to move
    my people out of there, except for Mark, who is, unfortunately,
    stuck there because he does it so well.  But he has shown real
    leadership in that area and he has gotten a lot of new young people
    in there now that we have just put in that are really bringing an
    enormous energy to the task.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I happen to know Mark.  He and I went to
    high school together many moons ago and you are fortunate, as
    you know, to have such a talented person leading the charge on
    that.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Absolutely.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Mr. Chairman, I have one more topic I would
    like to cover with the U.S. Attorney.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Sure.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  You talked about following the money.  You
    talked about how this is paid for, largely through credit card
    companies and using that technology.  How can we work with, in
    your opinion, with your experience, how can we work with the
    credit card companies to make them a full partner in this effort?  It
    just seems to me, and this is another thing that has become obvious
    to us in other hearings, is that without the money, a lot of this
    problem, not all of it, but a lot of this problem is driven by money
    and by the ability for people to make money and the commerce of
    the issue is really, I think, perhaps at the heart of this, other than
    just a sickness.  How did you work with the credit card companies
    in the RegPay case and how might that be a model and what things
    have we learned from that?  Or what things do we need to do to
    help them to be a more active partner with us in this effort, as
    well?  Because I have got to believe they have got to be a huge part
    of it.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Well, they are an enormous part of it and this
    former AUSA identified that very early on and was his first foray
    into trying to set this up was meeting with the credit card
    companies.  And I will be candid that initially we met with some
    resistance from them in terms of them giving us real time access to
    the transactions coming off these sites, but eventually, we were
    able to persuade them that this was in their interest.
    	And I think that anything that Congress can do to encourage
    both transparency on this topic from the credit card companies and
    real time access for law enforcement to these records, because
    listen, we know that if they are processing transactions from a
    child pornography website, that is illegal.  So you have already met
    the threshold.  This is not a free speech question.  It is not a
    privacy question.  These are people who we know are engaged in
    illegal conduct and they are using those credit cards to engage in
    that illegal conduct.
    	So I think to the extent that Congress can continue to prod the
    credit card companies to have transparency on this issue and give
    real time access, because the hundreds of thousands of transactions
    that are done, just in New Jersey every day on these websites, it is
    staggering.  When you go across the country, you are talking about
    millions.  So for law enforcement to follow those transactions, both
    to the people who are purchasing and then back to the people who
    are benefiting from this money, we need to get on top of it right
    away.  People change credit cards, drop credit cards the same way
    that drug dealers change and drop cell phones, so we need to be on
    top of that and get that in a real time way because the money
    launderers here in the United States are also profiting from this,
    these middlemen companies who don't have any direct--they are
    not owned by the credit card companies, but they work as affiliates
    who are processing this money.
    	They are the key, after the credit card companies.  Once you
    get to them, they know who they are making these deals with
    around the world and how much they are getting paid to process
    this money and get it to foreign banks where we would have a
    more difficult time seizing the assets.  So I think the credit card
    companies are the gateway into this industry and so to the extent
    they can continue to be held accountable for transparency and
    giving us real time access, the Congress would be making an
    enormous contribution in that regard for law enforcement, to make
    our job easier and make us more effective.
    	And I will tell you, these guys in the RegPay case were stunned
    that we were able to catch them, we found in debriefings
    afterwards, because no one had ever followed the money before.
    The traditional way law enforcement had done this was to just go
    after the purchasers.  It is the easier way to go.  And a lot of time it
    is important, because in this case, we had purchasers who were
    pediatricians, purchasers who were school bus drivers, purchasers
    who were athletic coaches for children.
    	You need to go after those people to get them out of circulation
    because the statistic, Congressman, you mentioned, about how apt
    these people are to be able to then act out on the abuse is they own
    this material.  So both sides are important, but there had been an
    emphasis in law enforcement previously just on the purchaser side
    and not on the side of the people who are profiting from this
    monetarily.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Actually, I have another question.  Do you
    mind?
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  No, go ahead.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I have one more question.  When it comes to
    ISPs, we have also been in conversations and heard testimony from
    ISPs, these Internet Service Providers who--there is no real
    industry standard right now for the length of time that they keep
    information and we have heard from law enforcement, the
    Department of Justice, and others who would like there to be a
    standard where ISPs would keep information about traffic and
    personal information from folks for up to 2 years.  ISPs and other
    privacy organizations, frankly, have raised concerns with that.  Do
    you have any particular personal or professional recommendation
    on where we--I mean, ideally we will come to some consensus on
    this and bring everybody together, but in the case that we may end
    up having to legislate this at some point, do you have any insights
    for us on how that might affect your ability to go after the bad
    guys?
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Well, without talking specifically about
    legislation, it seems to me that from a law enforcement
    perspective, having that historical information is the only way that
    we are going to be able to follow these people unless you are in a
    situation where you are real time following it in the midst of an
    investigation.  If you want to try to do one of these things
    historically, which is most of the time the way it is going to be
    done, the RegPay case is an anomaly.  Most of the time you are
    going to wind up kind of backing into one of these investigations
    and so having that historical information available to us is
    important, and I understand the privacy concerns of gathering and
    holding onto--for the ISPs, holding onto this personal information.
    	But again, it seems to me that law enforcement, in this
    instance, is only going after folks and only requesting information
    on folks who are on child pornography websites.  Per se, that is
    illegal.  I mean, we are not talking about people who are going on
    adult pornography websites, which you may or may not necessarily
    be illegal.  We are not talking about obscenity in the adult
    obscenity sense, which some people may argue have some First
    Amendment protection.  We are talking about children who are
    being exploited sexually for profit on the Internet.  There can't be
    any argument from anyone that there is a privacy protection, in my
    view, here.  What is the privacy protection of people profiting
    illegally from exploiting children, both in the United States and
    around the world.
    	And so I have less sympathy for the privacy position in this
    particular context, because the underlying conduct is, per se,
    illegal.  And once you have established that, it seems to me that if
    we establish probable cause to get the information and have a
    judge who is willing, a Federal judge, lifetime tenure, who is
    willing to sign off on a search warrant for us to be able to get those
    materials, it seems to me that the privacy issue is much less
    important and so I would be hopeful that Congress can help in
    forging a consensus among all the parties on this, but if not, I think
    it is a very important tool if we are really serious about going after
    these folks because I will tell you, they believe--when they sit in
    their living rooms--we have spoken to people who are purchasers
    of this material.  When they sit in their living rooms, they believe
    they are anonymous.  They believe no one knows who they are and
    they don't grasp the fact yet that law enforcement can come and
    get them for doing this and that they are part of the problem.  And I
    think we need to send very strong messages about that and that is
    why, in our office, we have been as aggressive as we have been,
    not only on the RegPay supplier side, but on the purchaser side, as
    well.  And it is important that if Congress sends that type of
    message, I think the Federal judges will hear it, too, and will make
    sure that in this era where they now have a lot more discretion, will
    give out stiff sentences to these folks, because these are serious
    crimes.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  I think Congressman Ferguson did hit on an
    important part and that is relating to data retention and we have
    had a number of meetings with the Internet service providers and
    maybe not surprisingly, they haven't talked a lot about privacy
    with us; they talk about cost with us.  But we have told them that
    we think it is essential that they start retaining this data and I think
    the Chairman of our full committee and with Mr. Ferguson's help
    and others, are probably going to come forward with legislation to
    deal with this in a broader sense, as well.  I am also glad you
    mentioned the credit card things because, as I mentioned in my
    opening statement, this is our fifth hearing on this subject matter
    and we are going to have another one and we are bringing in the
    credit card companies to see what we can do with them to assist in
    a more effective way, also.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  I will say it is really important, Mr. Chairman,
    and I have to give MasterCard, Visa, and American Express credit
    on the RegPay case.  After negotiations with them, that were good
    faith negotiations, they came forward and gave us the access and
    the information we needed to make that case, so it is available and
    they can do it if they want to do it, and in the RegPay case, they
    did it and they were enormous partners in bringing that case to a
    conclusion.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And I know Congressman Ferguson had also
    mentioned this young man who first got involved in this because
    an older gentleman convinced him that if he would take off his
    shirt with a webcam showing and everything, that he would send
    him a check for $50, so that was his first step down the road to
    being sexually exploited in person--by taking off his shirt and
    getting a check for $50.  But thank you very much for your
    testimony and great leadership you are providing here in this area
    and we look forward to working with you as we continue down the
    road to take steps to reduce the exploitation of children on the
    Internet.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  Thank you.  Thank you for inviting me, thank
    you for being here.  I thank you for your focus on this problem.  It
    is an enormous problem that really, quite frankly, when I go
    around our State, frightens more parents than almost anything
    because they really feel as if they have lost a sense of control over
    their children and so your committee's focus, subcommittee's
    focus on this is really important and I think gratifying.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And so many parents are way behind their
    children about the way the Internet operates, too, which makes it
    more difficult.
    	MR. CHRISTIE.  I count myself among them, absolutely.  Thank
    you.  Thank you, Congressman.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  At this time, I would like to call our second
    witness, and that is Congressman Michael Fitzpatrick, who
    represents the Eight Congressional District in Pennsylvania.
    Congressman Fitzpatrick, it is great to see you here today.  As I
    mentioned, before you came in, Congressman Fitzpatrick, you
    have introduced a bill, H.R. 5319, entitled "The Deleting Online
    Predators Act," and I know you have been at the forefront on
    trying to deal with this issue, so we are quite excited about your
    being here today to testify.  As you probably know, in Oversight
    and Investigations, we do like to take testimony under oath and I
    am assuming you have no difficulty in testifying under oath.
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  Sure.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  So if you would stand up and let me just
    swear you in, raise your right hand.
    	[Witness sworn.]
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you very much and you are
    recognized now for 5 minutes, Congressman Fitzpatrick.

    STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL FITZPATRICK, MEMBER,
    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  Mr. Chairman, Congressman Ferguson,
    thank you for permitting me to participate in your Oversight
    hearing this morning, allowing me to give testimony on what I feel
    is a new and emerging problem confronting our Nation's children
    and their safety while using the Internet.  Mr. Christie correctly
    testified, indicated that this is a, virtually a multibillion dollar
    industry where the sole product is the exploitation of our Nation's
    children.  And Chairman, you talked about the particular case,
    international adoption of a young girl, I believe she was from
    Russia, passed through an adoption agency here in New Jersey and
    ended up ultimately adopted by a single male in the western part of
    my State, I think it was Pittsburgh or Plum, Pennsylvania.  His
    name is Mancuso.
    	And I remember her story, her name is Masha, and while she
    has been placed now with a real family, her innocent images,
    which were essentially stolen from her, continue widely available
    on the World Wide Web, and while Mr. Mancuso is in jail, there is
    legislation that has been introduced in the Senate, hopefully it will
    be introduced into the House soon that will give Masha private
    right of action against those Internet service providers and the
    providers of Internet e-mails who continue to profit from her
    innocence in her images, as I said, both were stolen from her, so I
    look forward to the introduction of that legislation, as well.
    	I want to thank the Subcommittee on Oversight and
    Investigations, Chairman Whitfield and Congressman Ferguson,
    for holding this, the committee's--I think you said it is the fifth
    hearing in addressing the dangers that online predators pose to our
    Nation's children.  Your work in this area is helping to shed light
    on the difficult challenges to both law enforcement and to
    American families, as well, and I appreciate the committee's
    dedication to this issue.
    	As the father of six children, I know the challenges that
    technology poses to our families.  In a world that moves at a
    dizzying pace, being a father gets harder all the time.  Monitoring
    our children's use of emerging technology is a huge task and the
    Internet remains the focus of many parents' concerns.  The
    technological breakthrough of the World Wide Web has been
    enormously beneficial to our society.  The Internet has brought
    communities across the globe closer together through instant
    communication.  It has enabled an unfiltered free flow of thought,
    ideas, and opinion.  The Internet has opened a window to the world
    right at our fingertips.
    	However, this window opens both ways.  The freedom to
    connect to the world anywhere, at any time brings with it the threat
    of unscrupulous predators and criminals who mask their activities
    with the anonymity the Internet provides to its users.  And among
    its many applications, one of the most worrying developments of
    late has been the growth of what are known as social networking
    sites.  Social networking sites like Myspace.com is one of the more
    famous--Friendster and Facebook are some of the others--have
    literally exploded in popularity in just a few short years.  MySpace
    alone has just over 80 million users and ranks as the sixth most
    popular English language website and the eighth most popular in
    the world.
    	Anyone can use these sites.  Companies and colleges, teachers
    and students, young and old all make use of social networking sites
    to connect with people electronically, to share pictures,
    information, course work, and common interests.  These sites have
    torn down the geographical divide that once prevented long
    distance social relationships from forming, allowing instant
    communication and connections to take place and a virtual second
    life to take hold for its users.  For adults, these sites have been
    fairly benign.  For children, they open the door to many dangers,
    including online bullying and exposure to child predators that have
    turned the Internet into their own virtual hunting ground.
    	I became personally aware of the danger of the Internet and
    what it can pose after my 16-year-old daughter began using the
    social networking site in MySpace.com.  I quickly realized that
    while my daughter thought she was only chatting with her friends,
    other people, some with criminal intent, could be looking in.
    Although age limits exist on many of these sites, there is almost no
    enforcement of these rules.  Frequently, children under the age of
    14, which is the cutoff age for profiles on MySpace, simply lie
    about their age and fake being 16 or 18 or even older.  Predators
    also use this anonymity to their advantage by profiling themselves
    as teenagers to more easily identify and navigate the profiles of
    their prey.
    	The dangers our children are exposed to by these sites is clear
    and is compelling.  According to a study conducted by the National
    Center for Missing and Exploited Children, in 1998 there were
    3,267 tips regarding child pornography.  Since then, the number
    has risen by over 3,000 percent to an astounding 106,119 tips in
    2004.  The Department of Justice recognizes child pornography as
    a precursor for pedophiles and is often linked to online predators.
    According to Attorney General Gonzalez, one in five children has
    been approached sexually on the Internet, one in five children.
    	Worse still, a survey conducted by the Crimes Against
    Children Research Center found that less than one in four children
    told their parents about the sexual solicitation that they received.
    MySpace, which is self-regulated, has removed an estimated
    200,000 objectionable profiles since it began to operate in 2003.
    And while it is difficult to predict the exact number of total
    predators on the Internet at any one time, the FBI estimates that
    there are more than 2,400 active sexual, child sexual exploitation
    investigations under investigation at any one given time.
    	This problem is finally gaining the public's attention.  Look
    closely at local and national news stories and you will undoubtedly
    see a story of a crime linked to a social networking site.  Recently,
    national news reports have focused on the case of Katherine R.
    Lester, a 16-year-old Michigan honor student who fled to Israel
    with hopes of meeting a 25-year-old man she met on MySpace.
    Two months ago, in my own congressional district, right across the
    Delaware River in Bucks County, a 25-year-old man, Shawn Little,
    was arrested for posing as a teenager online to solicit a 14-year-old
    boy.  Little's communications with the child resulted in a sexual
    encounter.  And NBC's Dateline program has brought the threat of
    online predators to the televisions of millions of Americans
    through their acclaimed by disturbing "To Catch a Predator" series.
    While these high-profile cases make a splash in the headlines, how
    many other less-publicized cases of child exploitation go
    unnoticed?
    	While these stories have pressured many social networking
    sites to take action to improve their safety protocols, like MySpace
    recently has done, these changes, in my view, fall short of real
    reform and that is why I did introduce the bill, the Deleting Online
    Predators Act.  Parents have the ability to screen their children's
    Internet access at home, but this protection ends when their child
    leaves for school or the library.  My legislation would require
    schools and libraries in New Jersey and throughout our Nation to
    monitor the Internet activities of minors and implement technology
    to protect their children from accessing, number one, social
    networking sites like MySpace.com and chat rooms which allow
    children to be preyed upon by individuals that seek to do our
    children harm and also protect them from visual depictions that are
    obscene.
    	Preventing access to social networking sites in these situations
    is not designed to underestimate the importance of parental
    supervision.  Internet safety begins at home and that is why my
    legislation would require the FTC to design and publish a unique
    website to serve as a clearinghouse and resource for parents,
    teachers, and children for information on the dangers of surfing the
    Internet.  The website would include detailed information about
    commercial networking sites.  The FTC would also be responsible
    for issuing consumer alerts to parents, teachers, school officials,
    and others regarding the potential dangers of Internet child
    predators and their ability to contact children through
    MySpace.com and other sites.
    	In addition, the bill would require the FCC to establish an
    advisory board to review and report commercial sites and chat
    rooms that have been shown to allow sexual predators easy access
    to personal information of and contact with children.  Make no
    mistake, child predators are on the Internet and they are a growing
    problem.  Predators will look for any way to talk to children
    online, whether through sites like MySpace, instant messaging, or
    even online games.  The best defense against these people is to
    educate parents and children of the dangers that come along with
    the Internet and by limiting access to certain sites during the school
    day.
    	And this is not all.  Congress and State legislatures must also
    act to dedicate funds to law enforcement programs designed to
    combat child predators.  Last month we fought for and in Congress
    we passed legislation to increase funding to the FBI's Internet
    Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Innocent Images
    National Initiative, which serves as a hub for all the FBI's child
    predator initiatives.
    	Mr. Chairman, Congressman Ferguson, there is no silver bullet
    solution to the problem of online predators.  It will take the
    combined efforts of parents, children, law enforcement officials,
    and the legislature, Federal and State, to take action against these
    crimes.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for permitting me to address
    the committee and Congressman Ferguson, for permitting me to
    remark on my efforts to address this issue together with each of
    you and the United States Congress.
    	[The prepared statement of Hon. Michael Fitzpatrick follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HON. MICHAEL FITZPATRICK, MEMBER, U.S. HOUSE OF
    REPRESENTATIVES

            Mr. Chairman,
            Thank you for inviting me to participate in today's hearing and
    for allowing me to give testimony on what I feel is a new and
    emerging problem confronting our nation's children and their
    safety while using the Internet.  I am speaking of the rapid increase
    in popularity of Internet social networking sites and their use by
    child predators to hunt and harass our children at home, in schools
    and in our libraries.
            As the father of six children, I know very well the challenges
    technology poses to our families.  In a world that moves at a
    dizzying pace, being a father gets harder all the time.    Monitoring
    our children's use of emerging technologies is a huge task and the
    Internet remains the focus of many parent's concerns.
            The technological breakthrough of the World Wide Web has
    been enormously beneficial to society.  The Internet has brought
    communities across the globe closer together through instant
    communication.  It has enabled an unfiltered free-flow of thought,
    ideas and opinion.  The Internet has opened a window to the world
    right at our fingertips.  However, this window opens both ways.
    The freedom to connect to the world anywhere at anytime brings
    with it the threat of unscrupulous predators and criminals who
    mask their activities with the anonymity the Internet provides to its
    users.  And among its many applications, one of the most worrying
    developments of late has been the growth in what are known as
    "social networking sites."
            Social networking sites like Myspace, Friendster, and
    Facebook have literally exploded in popularity in just a few short
    years.  Myspace alone has almost 90 million users and ranks as the
    sixth most popular English language website and the eighth most
    popular site in the world.
            Anyone can use these sites - companies and colleges, teachers
    and students, young and old all make use of networking sites to
    connect with people electronically to share pictures, information,
    course work, and common interests.  These sites have torn down
    the geographical divide that once prevented long distance social
    relationships from forming, allowing instant communication and
    connections to take place and a virtual second life to take hold for
    its users.
            For adults, these sites are fairly benign.  For children, they
    open the door to many dangers including online bullying and
    exposure to child predators that have turned the Internet into their
    own virtual hunting ground.  I became personally aware of the
    danger the Internet can pose after my 16 year old daughter began
    using the social networking site Myspace.com.  I quickly realized
    that while my daughter thought she was only chatting with her
    friends, other people, some with criminal intent, could be looking
    in.
            Although age limits exist on many of these sites, there is
    almost no enforcement of these rules.  Frequently, children under
    the age of 16 - the cut off age for a profile on Myspace - simply
    lie about their age and fake being 16, 18 or even older.  Predators
    also use this anonymity to their advantage by profiling themselves
    as teenagers to more easily identify and navigate the profiles of
    their prey.
            The dangers our children are exposed to by these sites is clear
    and compelling.  According to a study conducted by the National
    Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), in 1998
    there were 3,267 tips reporting child pornography.  Since then, the
    number has risen by over 3,000 percent to an astounding 106,119
    tips in 2004. The Department of Justice recognizes child
    pornography as a precursor for pedophiles and is often linked to
    online predators.  According to Attorney General Gonzales, one in
    five children has been approached sexually on the internet. One in
    five.  Worse still, a survey conducted by the Crimes Against
    Children Research Center found that less than one in four children
    told their parents about the sexual solicitation they received.
    Myspace, which is self regulated, has removed an estimated
    200,000 objectionable profiles since it began operating in 2003.
    And while it is difficult to predict the exact number of total
    predators on the Internet at any one time, the Federal Bureau of
    Investigation (FBI) estimates that there are more than 2,400 active
    child sexual exploitation investigations under way at any given
    time.
            This problem is finally gaining the public's attention.  Look
    closely at local and national news stories and you will undoubtedly
    see a story of a crime linked to social networking sites.  Recently,
    national news reports have focused on the case of Katherine R.
    Lester, a 16 year old Michigan honors student who fled to Israel
    with hopes of meeting a 25 year old man she met on Myspace.
    Two months ago, in my own congressional district, a 25 year old
    man, Shawn Little, was arrested for posing as a teenager online to
    solicit a 14 year old boy.  Little's communications with the child
    resulted in a sexual encounter.  And NBC's Dateline program has
    brought the threat of online predators to the televisions of millions
    of Americans through their acclaimed, but disturbing, "To Catch a
    Predator" series.  While these high-profile cases make a splash on
    the headlines, how many other, less publicized cases of child
    exploitation go unnoticed?
            While these stories have pressured many social networking
    sites to take action to improve their safety protocols, like Myspace
    recently has done, these changes fall short of real reform. That is
    why I introduced the Deleting Online Predators Act.
            Parents have the ability to screen their children's Internet
    access at home.  But this protection ends when their child leaves
    for school or the library.  My legislation would require schools and
    libraries to monitor the internet activities of minors and implement
    technology to protect children from accessing:
            1. Commercial networking sites like MySpace.com and chat
    rooms which allow children to be preyed upon by
    individuals seeking to do harm to our children; and
            2. Visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography.

            Preventing access to social networking sites in these situations
    is not designed to underestimate the importance of parental
    supervision. Internet safety begins at home and that is why my
    legislation would require the Federal Trade Commission to design
    and publish a unique website to serve as a clearinghouse and
    resource for parents, teachers and children for information on the
    dangers of surfing the Internet.  The website would include
    detailed information about commercial networking sites.  The FTC
    would also be responsible for issuing consumer alerts to parents,
    teachers, school officials and others regarding the potential dangers
    of internet child predators and their ability to contact children
    through MySpace.com and other social networking sites.
            In addition, my Bill would require the Federal
    Communications Commission to establish an advisory board to
    review and report commercial social networking sites like
    MySpace.com and chat rooms that have been shown to allow
    sexual predators easy access to personal information of, and
    contact with, children.
            Make no mistake; child predation on the Internet is a growing
    problem.  Predators will look for any way to talk to children online
    whether through sites like Myspace, instant messaging, or even
    online games.  The best defense against these people is to educate
    parents and children of the dangers that come along with the
    Internet and by limiting access to certain sites during the school
    day.
            This is not all.  Congress and state legislatures must also act to
    dedicate funds to law enforcement programs designed to combat
    child predators.  Last month, I actively fought for and Congress
    passed legislation to increase funding to the FBI's Internet Crimes
    Against Children Task Forces and the Innocent Images National
    Initiative, which serves as the hub for all of the FBI's child
    predator initiatives.  Supporting these programs will send a clear
    signal to child predators and pedophiles that the hunters have
    become the hunted and law enforcement will not relent until these
    criminals are apprehended.
            There is no "silver bullet" solution to the problem of online
    predators.  It will take the combined effort of parents, children, law
    enforcement and the legislature to take action against these crimes.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me to address this
    committee and remark on my efforts to address this important
    issue.
            I yield back the balance of my time.

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Congressman Fitzpatrick, thank you for your
    testimony and for your leadership.  Speaking of MySpace, with 85
    to 90 million registrants on that program, I guess, Rupert Murdoch
    purchased MySpace about 6 months ago for $568 million and I
    know they are expecting some great advertising revenues, but I am
    glad you brought up this whole issue of social networking.  I look
    forward to seeing what the law enforcement people say about it,
    but we do know that a lot of crimes have been committed because
    of information obtained through the social networking sites.  And
    as you very correctly pointed out, there is no way to determine the
    age of a person that may be on that site and there is no way that
    can be verified.
    	But on your legislation that has been introduced, which
    committee is that?  Has that been referred to Energy and
    Commerce?
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  It has been referred to the Energy and
    Commerce Committee and there is actually a hearing scheduled
    tomorrow morning for the Subcommittee on Telecommunications
    and the Internet.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Okay.  Okay, good.  And under your
    legislation, what are the responsibilities that would be placed upon
    the libraries and the schools, so I can have a little bit better
    understanding of it?
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  In 2000 a law was passed by Congress and
    signed by President Clinton.  I believe it is called the Children's
    Internet Protection Act.  And the Children's Internet Protection Act
    required schools and libraries that are recipients of Federal funds
    for those institutions, to implement screening technology, software
    that would prohibit children from, while in school and in the
    library, accessing pornography sites.  And so those schools and
    institutions, probably most of them in this district here, the 7th
    District of New Jersey, already have that technology, that software
    in place.
    	What this bill would do is require those institutions to expand
    the existing software, use that existing software and expand, sort
    of, the net to prohibit children from accessing social networking
    sites in these virtual chat rooms while in school or in the library,
    and so the technology is there.  The social networking sites are a
    recent phenomenon, just exploding in terms of the number of
    users.
    	If you walk down the streets of this district, I am sure you
    would have a difficult time finding a teenager that doesn't have a
    profile registered and as I have spoken to parents and spoken to
    teachers in my district, they are as aggravated as anybody else that
    kids go into the computer lab, they are working on a project; they
    know how to access one of these networking sites or an instant
    messaging system and they are talking to friends in other schools,
    in other communities, in other States while they are in school.  And
    so the technology is there.  But essentially to answer your question,
    what the bill would do is take the existing technology, expand it to
    preclude access to social networking sites like MySpace while kids
    are in school.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And what would be the enforcement
    mechanism in the bill or is there one?
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  Well, first, it was a question of what a
    social networking site is, so the bill lays out what a social
    networking site is and the requirement really is on the school and
    the library to issue a certification to the Federal government as a
    condition to proceed in receiving any Federal funds.  And so the
    mechanism would be the same as what currently exists under the
    Child Internet Protection Act.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, thank you, Congressman Fitzpatrick,
    and I recognize Mr. Ferguson.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  Thanks again for
    being here and I appreciate you making the long trek across the
    river to join us here in New Jersey.  And I also appreciate your
    leadership on this issue.  I know your concern and passion for this
    issue extends beyond your experience as a Member of Congress; it
    is as a father, as you said, and it is a concern that many of us share.
    	Your bill is focused on schools and libraries and we know, any
    of us who are parents know it is tough enough to manage or be
    aware of your kids' Internet use when they are at home.  But of
    course, much of that control, much of that oversight kind of goes
    out the window when your kids are not in your own home.  If they
    are at school or if they are at the library or at a friend's house--
    what, as you worked your bill and developed your bill, do we have
    any sort of statistics or evidence of how much of a problem this is
    in schools and libraries?
    	I mean, certainly we know, anecdotally, any parent will tell
    you their level of concern goes up when their child is not right
    there with them in their home.  Parents have a lot of control in their
    own homes, but less, a lot less outside of their own home.  Do we
    have a lot of evidence or is it mostly, is it just a sense?  Is this just
    a, really a proactive measure to take?
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  Much of the evidence is anecdotal.  First of
    all, as you point out, in the home, it is difficult enough.  I mean, as
    a parent--we have one computer in our home that is hooked up to
    the Internet and it is in plain view and it kind of perplexes me and I
    saw a story on NBC recently with a mother shocked that her
    daughter was on MySpace and the content of what was on
    MySpace and the report was from the daughter's bedroom, so the
    computer was in the child's bedroom, the child goes to the
    bedroom, locks the door, and that is where the problem begins.
    But, as I testified, for purposes of my bill, it is the issue of the
    parents' oversight over the child while the child is at home.
    	But the evidence is essentially anecdotal.  It is stories that we
    have received, it is the criminal investigations, the affidavits and
    probable cause that further our public record and it is a growing
    body of evidence that, both from law enforcement but also from
    school officials, the children who used to have inappropriate
    material accessed at school, that is not precluded on the Children's
    Internet Protection Act, who now have access to social networking
    sites while at school and in the library.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Well, I serve on the Telecommunications and
    Internet Subcommittee of this committee.
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  You will be there tomorrow.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  We will be having a hearing on your bill
    tomorrow and I look forward to learning more about it and asking
    further questions at that time.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  Thanks for your support, Congressman,
    appreciate it.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And I am also on that Telecommunications
    subcommittee, so we look forward to hearing more about it
    tomorrow, as well.
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  Okay.  Thank you.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you for being with us.
    	MR. FITZPATRICK.  Thanks for the chance, Chairman.  I
    appreciate it.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  At this time, I would like to call up the third
    panel which includes Mr. Frank Rodgers, who is the Lieutenant
    Colonel with the New Jersey State Police; Mr. Wayne Forrest, who
    is the Somerset County Prosecutor, Somerville, New Jersey; Mr.
    Anthony Ritter, who is a lieutenant with the New Jersey State
    Police Division Headquarters; and Mr. Andre Banks, who is a
    sergeant, Office of the Prosecutor for Union County in Elizabeth,
    New Jersey.  I certainly do thank you gentlemen involved in law
    enforcement for being with us because you are the fellows out
    there on the front line and are the ones that can be most helpful to
    us who are trying to adopt policy in making sure we maximize our
    opportunity to come up with the right solutions.  We recognize,
    also, that sometimes we interfere with the right solution, so
    hopefully you can lead us in the right direction, but as you have
    already heard, we do take testimony under oath and I am assuming
    none of you gentlemen have any difficulty testifying under oath, so
    if you would stand, I would just like to swear you in.
    	[Witnesses sworn.]
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you very much.  You are now under
    oath and Mr. Rodgers, we will recognize you for your 5-minute
    opening statement.

    STATEMENTS OF FRANK RODGERS, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE;
    WAYNE FORREST, ESQUIRE, SOMERSET COUNTY PROSECUTOR; ANTHONY RITTER,
    LIEUTENANT, NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE; ANDRE BANKS, SERGEANT, OFFICE OF THE
    PROSECUTOR, UNION COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

            MR. RODGERS.  Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ferguson
    and members of the subcommittee.  I am Lieutenant Colonel Frank
    Rodgers, the Deputy Superintendent of Investigations for the New
    Jersey State Police.  I appreciate the opportunity to discuss with
    you how the State of New Jersey is combating predators on the
    Internet.
    	I have been a member of the New Jersey State Police for 25
    years and involved in criminal investigations for 21 of those years.
    Never in my career have I seen criminal activities as far reaching
    or rapid in growth as Internet related crimes.  Never have I
    witnessed crimes so egregious and so prevalent as those being
    committed against the youth of New Jersey and all across America
    right in their own homes.
    	As the Deputy Superintendent of the Investigations Branch, I
    am privileged to command 800 fine men and women assigned to
    the Intelligence Section, the Special Investigations Section, and the
    Office of Forensic Science.  As the commander of this Branch,
    under the leadership of Colonel Rick Fuentes, the Superintendent
    of the New Jersey State Police, we are reshaping how law
    enforcement does business in the State of New Jersey.
    	Last year the New Jersey State Police operationalized an
    intelligence Led policing strategy.  In doing so, we adopted the
    processes intrinsic to that strategy; most importantly, intelligence
    sharing.  At present, we have deployed our Statewide Intelligence
    Management System, which is known as SIMS, to 300 of the
    State's 600 police departments, including the FBI.  We are
    currently working with our law enforcement allies to network this
    system to others around the State and region to fill in the holes.
    We have also initiated a full-time all crimes, all hazards
    intelligence fusion center at our headquarters in West Trenton.
    	 That center will expand dramatically in September, when we
    open with our many allied law enforcement, intelligence, and other
    public safety partners, what will be the largest and most
    sophisticated intelligence fusion center in the country.  The 55,000
    square foot Regional Operations and Intelligence Center, known as
    the ROIC, embodies our commitment to the fundamental
    recommendations of both the 9/11 Commission and the National
    Intelligence Sharing Plan, unity of effort and true intelligence
    sharing.
    	The New Jersey State Police has been fighting Internet
    predators for 10 years.  We are proud to work with our many
    partners on these critical investigations.  To give you an idea of our
    commitment over the last 10 years, our team has averaged over
    100 Internet related child exploitation investigations each year and
    has averaged 45 arrests a year for the victimization of children
    over the Internet.
    	We are proud and honored to be selected as the primary agency
    in New Jersey to lead the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against
    Children Task Force, known as ICAC.  We have concentrated our
    mission into three main areas; training, outreach, and enforcement.
    We currently have 20 cyber investigators on our task force, 10 of
    which hunt Internet predators full time.  Thanks to ICAC funding,
    we have been able to send these individuals to 120 training events
    over the last 18 months; technical training that is key to doing the
    job.  This never would have been possible without ICAC funding.
    	Over the last 18 months we have conducted 310 presentations
    to over 30,000 students, teachers, parents, and law enforcement
    officials from across this State.  We are currently working to
    expand cooperation and information sharing through the New
    Jersey Department of Education, the New Jersey Education
    Association, the New Jersey Parent Teacher Association, and the
    New Jersey Association for Educational Technology.  Educating
    the children must come from all fronts and it must come loud and
    often.
    	Finally, I would like to speak to you briefly about enforcement.
    These programs are working and we are making a difference.
    Could we do more?  Certainly.  And we ask your support in
    helping us get there.  However, from the many challenges that we
    face, we have accumulated many accomplishments.  Most recently,
    during the week of June 26, 2 weeks ago, members of the New
    Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, in partnership
    with 20 other law enforcement agencies around the State, arrested
    seven individuals for the possession and distribution of child
    pornography over the Internet.
    	The arrests were a result of a 3-month undercover investigation
    and they included an elementary school teacher, a medical intern
    about to begin his residency, and a resident of Bridgewater, New
    Jersey, right here in Somerset County.  The techniques used to
    capture these individuals were provided through ICAC training.
    	On March 3 of this year, task force members, in conjunction
    with members of the FBI Innocent Images, arrested a 33-year old
    subject for sexually assaulting a 14-year old who he met through
    MySpace.com.  This subject traveled to Florida while the victim
    was there on vacation with her family, sexually assaulted her, and
    then returned with her to New Jersey, knocked on the front door of
    the residence where the young lady lived and professed his love to
    the parents at the door.
    	This time last year, over a 9-day period, as a result of an
    investigation which we dubbed Operation Guardian, following up
    on leads provided to us by the Wyoming ICAC, the New Jersey
    ICAC Task Force members arrested 39 individuals for possession
    and distribution of child pornography over the Internet.  Included
    in these arrests were a defense attorney, a high school teacher, and
    a pediatric neurosurgeon.
    	Finally, going back a couple years, through the results of
    information provided to us by the Dallas ICAC in conjunction with
    the FBI and a matter prosecuted by Mr. Christie's office, a former
    Superior Court judge from Camden County was charged with
    endangering the welfare of a child after we executed a search
    warrant on two of his homes and his office.  Following up on this
    ICAC evidence, during the searches we uncovered a videotape
    depicting this judge engaged in sexual activity with a 10-year old
    Russian juvenile.  The subject is currently incarcerated in a Federal
    prison.
    	As you can imagine, I could go on and on with regard to these
    cases.  Our experience shows us these child predators will continue
    to prey upon the most innocent and vulnerable members of our
    society, our children.  We ask your continued support for our
    mission and we assure you that we remain committed to the
    children of New Jersey by arresting those individuals who are
    prowling the Internet every day for a new victim.  Thank you.
    	[The prepared statement of Frank Rodgers follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF FRANK RODGERS, LIEUTENANT COLONEL, NEW JERSEY STATE
    POLICE

    1. Introduction
            a. 25 years law enforcement experience, 21 years in criminal
    investigations
    	b. Commander of 800 fine men and women

    2. New Direction
    	a. Leading a Branch reorganization based on intelligence led
    policing
    	b. Deployed a statewide intelligence management system
    	c. Initiated a full time, all crimes intelligence fusion center

    3. Resource Sharing
    	a. Must be inclusive of all local, county, state and federal law
    enforcement partners

    4. New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task
    Force
    	a. Training
    	   1) 20 cyber investigators on task force
    	   2) Investigators have attended 120 training events in the
    last 18 months
    	b. Outreach
      	   1) 310 presentations have been given in the last 18 months
    	   2) Expanding capabilities with education partners
    	c. Enforcement
    	   1) List of five case histories

    5. Conclusion
    	a. Successful track record in task force leadership
    	b. Continued commitment to the ICAC mission

            Good morning Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Stupak and
    members of the Subcommittee, I am Lieutenant Colonel Frank
    Rodgers, Deputy Superintendent of the Investigations Branch of
    the New Jersey State Police.  I appreciate the opportunity to
    discuss with you how the State of New Jersey is Combating
    Predators on the Internet.

    I. Introduction
    	I have been a member of the New Jersey State Police for the
    last 25 years and have been involved in criminal investigations for
    21 of those 25 years.  Never in my career have I seen criminal
    activities as far reaching or rapid in growth as Internet related
    crimes.  Never have I witnessed crimes so egregious and so
    prevalent as those being committed against the youth of New
    Jersey and youth all across America right in their own homes.
    	As Deputy Superintendent of the Investigations Branch, I am
    privileged to command the 800 fine men and women of the
    Intelligence Section, the Special Investigations Section and the
    Office of Forensic Science of the New Jersey State Police.  As
    commander of this Branch, under the leadership of Colonel Rick
    Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police and with
    oversight and endorsements from both our Attorney General
    Zulima Farber and Governor Jon Corzine, we are reshaping how
    law enforcement does business in the State of New Jersey.

    II. A New Direction
    	Last year the New Jersey State Police operationalized an
    Intelligence Led Policing strategy.  In doing so we adopted the
    processes intrinsic to that strategy, most importantly, intelligence
    sharing.  At present we have deployed our Statewide Intelligence
    Management System (SIMS) to 300 of the state's 600 police
    departments, including the FBI. We are currently working with our
    law enforcement allies to network this system to others around the
    state and region to fill in the holes. We have also initiated a full
    time all crimes all hazards intelligence fusion center at our
    headquarters in West Trenton. That center will expand
    dramatically in September when we open with our many allied law
    enforcement, intelligence and other public safety partners, what
    will be the largest and most sophisticated intelligence fusion center
    in the country. The 55 thousand square foot Regional Operations
    and Intelligence Center known as the ROIC embodies our
    commitment to the fundamental recommendations of both the 911
    commission and the National Intelligence Sharing Plan, unity of
    effort and true intelligence sharing.

    III. Resource Sharing
    	We have all heard the phrases "surfing the Internet" or "surfing
    the web" and I must admit it gives one the connotation of fun,
    freedom, adventure and excitement.  Who wouldn't want to "surf
    the net"?  We all do it and we all enjoy it.  Yet as we are all too
    well aware, at least those of us in this room, there are sharks in the
    water and riptides waiting to pull our children out to sea.  We are
    committed to protecting our children from the dangers of the
    Internet and we have been very successful thus far.  But like
    everyone else who takes the oath to protect and serve, we cannot
    do it alone, this is bigger than any one agency, any one state.  We
    are a team made up of local, county, state and federal partners and
    we ask for your continued support.
    	The New Jersey State Police has been fighting Internet
    predators for the last ten years.  We are a multi-faceted
    organization with a strong reputation, intense work ethic and
    unwavering integrity.  We are proud to work with our many
    partners on these critical investigations.  To give you an idea of our
    commitment over the last ten years, our team has averaged 100
    Internet related investigations a year and we average 45 arrests per
    year for the victimization of children through the Internet.

    IV. New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task
    Force
    	We are proud and honored to be selected as the primary agency
    in New Jersey to run the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against
    Children Task Force (ICAC).  We have concentrated our mission
    into three main areas: training, outreach and enforcement.

            A. Training
    	We currently have 20 cyber investigators on our task force, 10
    of which hunt Internet predators full time.  Thanks to ICAC
    funding, we have be able to send these individuals to 120 training
    events over the last 18 months, technical training that is key to
    doing the job.  This would never have been possible without ICAC
    funding.
            B. Outreach
    	Over the last 18 months we have conducted 310 presentations
    to over 30,000 students, teachers, parents and law enforcement
    officials across the State.  We are currently working to expand
    cooperation and information sharing through the New Jersey
    Department of Education, the New Jersey Education Association,
    the New Jersey Parent Teacher Association and the New Jersey
    Association for Educational Technology.  Educating the children
    must come from all fronts and it must come loud and often.
            C. Enforcement
    	Finally, I would like to speak to you about enforcement.  These
    programs are working, we are making a difference.  Can we do
    more?  Yes of course, and we ask for your support in getting us
    there.  However, through all the challenges and horrors that we
    face, we have made bold accomplishments.
    	Case # 06-06
    	During the week of June 26, 2006, members of the New Jersey
    Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in partnership with
    20 other law enforcement agencies throughout the State, arrested
    seven individuals for the possession and distribution of child
    pornography over the Internet.  The arrests were as a result of a
    three month undercover investigation and included an elementary
    school teacher, a medical intern about to begin his residency, an
    enlisted member of the United States Coast Guard and a resident of
    Bridgewater, New Jersey right here Somerset County.  The
    techniques used to capture these individuals were provided through
    ICAC training.
    	Case # 06-24
    	On March 3, 2006, task force members in conjunction with
    members from FBI Innocent Images arrested a 33 year old man for
    sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl whom he had met through
    myspace.com.  He traveled to Florida while she was there on
    vacation with her family, sexually assaulted her in Florida and then
    traveled to New Jersey after they returned home, knocked on their
    front door in order to meet her parents and professed his love for
    their daughter.
    	Case #04-39
    	Over a nine day period in January, 2005 and as a result of leads
    from the Wyoming ICAC, the New Jersey ICAC task force
    arrested 39 individuals for possession and distribution of child
    pornography over the Internet.  Arrests included a defense
    attorney, a high school teacher and a pediatric neurosurgeon.
    	Case # 03-08
    	In August 2003, as a result of leads from the Dallas ICAC and
    in conjunction with the FBI and the United States Attorney's
    Office, a former Camden County Superior Court Judge was
    federally charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child as a
    result of the execution of search warrants on his two homes and
    office.  During the searches, detectives uncovered a video tape
    recording of the judge having sex with a Russian male juvenile.
    He is currently serving a ten year term in federal prison.

    V. Conclusion
    	As you can imagine these stories go on and on.  Our experience
    shows us that these child predators will continue prey upon the
    most innocent and vulnerable members of our society.  We ask that
    you continue to support our mission, as we remain committed to
    the children of New Jersey by identifying and arresting those who
    are prowling the Internet everyday for a new victim.

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you, Mr. Rodgers.  And Mr. Ritter,
    you are recognized for your 5-minute opening statement.
    MR. RITTER.  Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Congressman
    Ferguson.  I am Lieutenant Anthony Ritter, Assistant Bureau Chief
    of the Computer Crimes and High Technology Surveillance
    Bureau within the Special Investigations Section of the New Jersey
    State Police.  I appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you our
    issues regarding combating predators on the Internet.  I have been
    a member of the New Jersey State Police for 22 years and have
    been involved in both technology and cyber investigations for the
    last 17 years.  The Computer Crimes and High Technology
    Surveillance Bureau coordinates the efforts of the New Jersey
    Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  I would like to
    address some of the challenges that face our task force and that of
    cyber law enforcement in general.
    	First, data retention.  There has been much testimony before
    the committee on the subject of data retention by Internet service
    providers and I would like to address three major concerns brought
    forth by the ISPs, generally.  First, the ISPs are not clear who will
    be able to access records of someone's online behavior.  The law
    enforcement process begins with reasonable suspicion to develop
    required probable cause and operates under legal guidance and
    court orders.  I think unauthorized insider access to records is of
    graver concern to the ISPs.
    	Second, the ISPs are not clear who would pay for the data
    warehousing of these additional records.  I think everyone will
    bear a part of that cost.  And third, ISPs say it is not clear that
    police are hindered by the current law as long as they move swiftly
    in the investigative process.  In this case, they may be partly
    correct.  There needs to be a consistent, measured approach to data
    retention and an increase in the speed of the investigative process.
    We both must work more efficiently.
    	Although we are pleased to see the ISPs moving forward
    voluntarily to address our concerns where they can, we seek to
    have a standard established for the retention of data by ISPs.  All
    ISPs should be required to have the capability of isolating targeted
    traffic and upon the receipt of a court order, deliver that content to
    a law enforcement monitoring facility in a standardized manner.
    This capability needs to extend to all methods of communication
    services supported by this industry.
    	Quality of service.  Quality of service is an industry-recognized
    term that is important to a business's ability to maintain and
    increase its customer base.  In our case, law enforcement is the
    customer and poor customer service equates to a delayed law
    enforcement action.  These delays can result in an inability to
    continue investigative leads in a timely manner.  Our goal here is
    to institute industry-wide standards to ensure the efficient and
    timely return of the information sought by law enforcement.
    	Cost.  There is an explosion in technology and it is the
    convergence of telephony networks and data networks on portable
    data assistants, known as PDAs, cell phones, and other wireless
    devices.  Current costs for intercepting conventional wireless
    devices can reach as much as $2,600 per intercept order.  Our fear
    is that the cost associated with IP intercept will exceed the cost of
    conventional intercept and will price many law enforcement
    agencies out of this investigative crime fighting tool.
    	Personnel.  The need for skilled investigators is as critical as
    data retention.  Without the data we cannot investigate; without the
    detective, we cannot investigate.  In New Jersey's Peer-to-Peer
    initiative, we have over 83,000 leads.  As Lieutenant Colonel
    Rodgers stated, we have 10 full-time detectives with half working
    proactively.  The other half are working reactively on referrals and
    direct complaints.  And what about being proactive in the other
    areas of the Internet?  Most people only know of browsing the
    Web, but there are many other ways of communicating across the
    Internet and each one could keep a whole squad of detectives busy
    24 hours a day.
    	Tools.  Additional research and development needs to be
    conducted by law enforcement, technology corporations, and
    institutions of higher learning to close the large gaps impeding our
    ability to fight technology crime against Internet predators.  We
    need to collect technical data and present it in an easy to view
    graphical format.  We need to automate the process of locating
    network log files regardless of an operating system.  We need to
    overcome the obstacles of anonymizers, IP spoofing, encrypted
    data, and steganography.  We need to forensically capture a
    computer's Random Access Memory or RAM without
    modification or alteration.
    	We need to provide real time IP intercept on data networks in a
    standardized format with the ability to isolate the target and
    capture the communication inclusive of all activities, such as
    instant messaging, voice over IP phone calls, webcams, e-mail, and
    Web browsing.  We need to facilitate an automated and
    standardized stored data handover interface for the return of
    historical records requested by subpoena or court order.  And we
    need to develop tools to locate the physical position of devices
    connected to wireless networks.
    	Solutions.  There have been many suggestions by the men and
    women fighting Internet crimes against children in New Jersey and
    ways to improve and streamline our mission.  Here are some of
    their thoughts.  Increase ISP record retention to not less than 2
    years to include, but not be limited to, subscriber information,
    method of payment, types of devices connected and all in and out
    IP logging records.
    	Mandate that out-of-state subpoenas and warrants be
    recognized as valid legal documents.  Create a website rating
    system much like the one used by the motion picture industry so
    parents can more easily block content.  Sponsor a national Internet
    safety campaign through television and movie theaters.  Evaluate
    the Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center's, CTAC,
    technology transfer program and model a similar program to
    support agencies combating Internet predators.
    	Recognize the FCC's Second Report and Order and
    Memorandum Opinion and Order that addresses several issues
    regarding the implementation of the Communications Assistance
    for Law Enforcement Act, CALEA, enacted in 1994.  The primary
    goal of the order is to ensure that law enforcement agencies have
    all the resources that CALEA authorizes, particularly with regard
    to facilities-based broadband Internet service providers and
    interconnected voice over Internet protocol or VOIP providers.
    Although the VOIP issue has now been addressed, other packet-
    based services such as instant messaging, picture messaging, and a
    host of other Internet-based communication services have been
    excluded from CALEA standards.  This needs to be corrected.
    	Endorse and support and promote the expansion and
    implementation of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), which will
    allow ISPs the ability to give every Internet accessible device its
    own unique static IP address and eliminate the nightmare of
    dynamic IP addressing issues.  The United States government has
    specified that network backbones of all Federal agencies must
    deploy IPv6 by the year 2008.
    	With the proper resources, States can and will do much more to
    continue the fight against Internet predators.  We remain
    committed to maintaining existing operations without
    minimization and are honored to be a partner in the fight against
    Internet child victimization.
    	[The prepared statement of Anthony Ritter follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF ANTHONY RITTER, LIEUTENANT, NEW
    JERSEY STATE POLICE

    1. Introduction
    	a. 22 years law enforcement experience
    	b. Oversees operation of the New Jersey Internet Crimes
    Against Children Task Force

    2. Challenges
    	a. Data Retention
    	   1) Need to establish standards for data retention
    	   2) Should apply to all methods of communication services
    	b. Quality of Service
    	   1) Need for industry wide standards for return of
                    information to law enforcement
    	c. Costs
    	   1) Costs for intercept of data may prove prohibitive
    	d. Personnel
    	   1) There is a serious lack of skilled investigators
    	e. Tools
    	   1) Development of additional investigative technology
                    tools is needed

    3. Solutions
    	1) Increase ISP record retention without limitations
    	2) Recognition of out-of-state subpoenas and warrants
    	3) Institute a website rating system
    	4) Sponsor a national Internet Safety campaign
    	5) Empower technology transfer programs to provide needed
                    tools
    	6) Expand CALEA to fully support all IP based
                    communication services
    	7) Support rapid deployment of IPv6

            Good morning Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Stupak and
    members of the Subcommittee, I am Lieutenant Anthony Ritter,
    Assistant Bureau Chief of the Computer Crimes and High
    Technology Surveillance Bureau within the Special Investigations
    Section of the New Jersey State Police.  I appreciate the
    opportunity to discuss with you our issues regarding combating
    predators on the Internet.

    I. Introduction
    	I have been a member of the New Jersey State Police for 22
    years and have been involved in both technology and cyber
    investigations for the last 17 years.  The Computer Crimes and
    High Technology Surveillance Bureau which coordinates the
    efforts of the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC)
    Task Force.

    II. Challenges
    	I would like to address some of the challenges that face our
    task force and that of cyber law enforcement in general.
            A. Data Retention
    	There has been much testimony before the committee on the
    subject of data retention by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and I
    would like to address the three major concerns brought forth by
    ISPs generally.  First, the ISPs are not clear who will be able to
    access records of someone's online behavior.  The law
    enforcement process begins with reasonable suspicion to develop
    required probable cause and operates under legal guidance and
    court orders.  I think unauthorized insider access to records is of
    graver concern to the ISPs.  Second, the ISPs are not clear who
    would pay for the data warehousing of these additional records.  I
    think everyone will bear part of the cost.  And third, ISPs say it is
    not clear that police are hindered by current law as long as they
    move swiftly in the investigative process.  In this case, they may be
    partly correct.  There needs to be a consistent, measured approach
    to data retention and an increase in the speed of the investigative
    process.  We both must work more efficiently.  Although we are
    pleased to see the ISPs moving forward, voluntarily, to address our
    concerns where they can, we seek to have a standard established
    for the retention of data by ISPs.   All ISPs should be required to
    have the capability of isolating targeted traffic and upon receipt of
    a court order, deliver that content to a law enforcement monitoring
    facility in a standardized manner.  This capability needs to extend
    to all methods of communication services supported by this
    industry.

            B. Quality of Service
    	Quality of service is an industry recognized term that is
    important to a business's ability to maintain and increase its
    customer base.  In our case, law enforcement is the customer and
    poor customer service equates to a delayed law enforcement
    action.  These delays can result in an inability to continue
    investigative leads in a timely manner.  Our goal here is to institute
    industry wide standards to ensure the efficient and timely return of
    the information sought by law enforcement.
            C. Costs
    	There is an explosion in technology and it is the convergence
    of telephony networks and data networks on portable data
    assistants (PDA), cell phones and other wireless devices.  Current
    costs for intercepting conventional wireless devices can reach as
    much as $2600 per intercept order.  Our fear is that the costs
    associated with IP intercept will exceed the costs of conventional
    intercepts and will price many law enforcement agencies out of
    this investigative crime fighting tool.
            D. Personnel
    	The need for skilled investigators is as critical as data retention.
    Without the data we cannot investigate, without the detective we
    cannot investigate.  In New Jersey's Peer-to Peer (P2P) initiative
    we have over 83,000 leads and as LTC Rodgers stated, we have 10
    full time detectives with half working proactively.  The other half
    are working reactively on referrals and direct complaints.  And
    what about being proactive in other areas of the Internet?  Most
    people only know of browsing the web, but there are many other
    ways of communicating across the Internet and each one could
    keep a whole squad of detectives busy 24 hours a day.
            E. Tools
    	Additional research and development needs to be conducted by
    law enforcement, technology corporations, and institutions of
    higher learning to close the large gaps impeding our ability to fight
    technology crime against Internet predators.  We need to:
    	- collect technical data and present it in an easy to view
                    graphical format.
    	- automate the process of locating network log files
                    regardless of operating system.
            - overcome the obstacles of anonymizers, IP spoofing,
                    encrypted data and steganography.
    	- forensically capture a computer's Random Access Memory
                    (RAM) without modification or alteration.
            - provide real time IP intercept on data networks in a
                    standardized format, with the ability to isolate the target
                    and capture the communication inclusive of all activities
                    such as instant messaging, voice over IP phone calls, web
                    cams, emails and web browsing.
            - facilitate an automated and standardized stored data
                    handover interface for the return of historical records
                    requested by subpoena or court order.
            - develop tools to locate the physical position of devices
                    connected to wireless networds.

    III. Solutions
    	There have been many suggestions from the men and women
    fighting Internet Crimes Against Children in New Jersey on ways
    to improve and streamline our mission.  Here are some of their
    thoughts:
            A. Increase ISP record retention to not less than two years to
    include, but not be limited to, subscriber information,
    method of payment, types of devices connected and all in
    and out IP logging records.
            B. Mandate that out-of-state subpoenas and warrants be
    recognized as valid legal documents.
            C. Create a website rating system much like the one used by
    the motion picture industry so that parents can more easily
    block content.
            D. Sponsor a national Internet Safety campaign through
    television and movie theaters.
            E. Evaluate the Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center's
    (CTAC) technology transfer program and model a similar
    program to support agencies combating Internet predators.
            F. Recognize the FCC's Second Report and Order and
    Memorandum Opinion and Order that addresses several
    issues regarding implementation of the Communications
    Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), enacted in
    1994. The primary goal of the Order is to ensure that Law
    Enforcement Agencies have all of the resources that
    CALEA authorizes, particularly with regard to facilities-
    based broadband Internet Service Providers and
    interconnected voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
    providers.  Although the VOIP issue has now been
    addressed, other packet based services such as instant
    messaging, picture messaging and a host of other Internet
    based communication services have been excluded from
    CALEA standards.  This needs to be corrected.
            G. Endorse, support and promote the expansion and
    implementation of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) which
    will allow ISPs the ability to give every internet accessible
    device its own unique static IP address and eliminate the
    nightmare of dynamic IP addressing issues.  The United
    States Government has specified that the network
    backbones of all federal agencies must deploy IPv6 by
    2008.

    IV. Conclusion
    	With the proper resources, states can and will do much more to
    continue the fight against Internet predators.  We remain
    committed to maintaining existing operations without
    minimization and are honored to be a partner in the fight against
    Internet child victimization.

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you, Mr. Ritter.  At this time, Mr.
    Forrest, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
    	MR. FORREST.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Congressman
    Ferguson.  Good morning.  My name is Wayne Forrest.  I am the
    prosecutor here in Somerset County.  New Jersey has 21 counties,
    21 county prosecutors.  I have been serving as our county
    prosecutor for the past 9 years.  Prior to that I worked in the
    Attorney General's office and in total I have over 30 years in law
    enforcement.  In addition to that, I am an adjunct professor here at
    this college where I have been teaching for the past 15 years and
    along with a colleague of mine, Prosecutor Barnes from Hunterdon
    County, we moved our regional police academy to this institution,
    as well.  So we welcome you here and if you have more time, we
    will give you a tour of our police academy before the end of the
    day.
    	Like the rest of the country, over the past 10 years we in
    Somerset County have also experienced a dramatic increase in
    cases involving sexual exploitation of children.  Our experience
    shows that this increase is due large in part to the proliferation of
    the Internet.  In Somerset County in particular, I believe we have
    had extensive experience with this problem because Somerset
    County is such an affluent county.  In fact, in the year 2000 U.S.
    census ranked Somerset County as the number one county in the
    country in median household income at $88,957.
    	As a wealthy county, computers are everywhere in Somerset
    County.  All Somerset County children have access to the Internet,
    either at home, at school, at the library, at a friend's house.  And in
    addition, Somerset County children also have more privacy and
    autonomy due to the factors such as both parents being employed
    outside the home, larger homes with individual bedrooms for each
    child and frequently, a personal computer with Internet access in
    the bedrooms.  Under these circumstances, the sexual exploitation
    of children over the Internet is of particular concern to us in
    Somerset County.
    	As an aside, when I came up to Somerset County from Trenton
    to become the prosecutor in 1997, I met with the then U.S.
    Attorney who introduced me, for the first time, to the Federal
    initiative, Innocent Images, which is what we have heard talked
    about before.  As a parent, I was somewhat alarmed and
    immediately went back to the freeholders and said I feel the need
    to dedicate one of our detectives full time to this initiative.  It is
    hard for local prosecutors and local freeholders to understand that
    you have to send someone elsewhere and how that is going to
    benefit your county and the economic impact on that.
    	We did that and I began learning, myself, as a parent, the
    dangers of the Internet and at the same time we sent detectives to
    the State Police initiative, which began back at the same time as
    the high tech crimes unit.  We had two detectives, for a period of 6
    or 7 years, outside of Somerset County learning, educating
    themselves, and at the same time making cases with those
    initiatives that came back to Somerset County.  When I first did
    that, a number of my colleagues who were prosecutors at the time,
    my freeholders who finance our office, said why Somerset
    County?  Why are you doing it?  Why not one of the bigger
    counties?  Why shouldn't they be doing it?  And the reason I gave
    them is what I just said, because in Somerset County, you come to
    my neighborhood, every house has computers on every floor.  Kids
    have personal computers, laptops; they are all over the place.  Far
    more prolific than in other counties.
    	Having been in law enforcement now for over 30 years, I can
    tell you that 30 years ago there were far less cases involving the
    sexual exploitation of children.  At that time, pedophiles interested
    in sexual activity with children would have to leave the privacy
    and security of their own homes to physically trade child
    pornography with other likeminded individuals or lurk at the
    schoolyard fence and attempt to lure an actual child victim.  Now
    what we have seen is that through the Internet, pedophiles have
    access to millions of images, child pornography from all over the
    globe without even leaving their bedrooms.
    	In addition, the prolonged viewing of unlimited and readily
    available child pornography leads to more and more pedophiles to
    take the next step and to attempt to meet and victimize an actual
    child.  Our experience in Somerset County, small, affluent
    Somerset County, has taught us that this type of criminal behavior
    is happening every day and generally falls into one of three main
    categories: one, cases involving actual child victims who are
    sexually assaulted; two, cases involving undercover agents posing
    as child victims, which is the Innocent Images initiative, who are
    solicited online for sexual activity; and three, child pornography
    cases.
    	In Somerset County, while we have always had cases involving
    actual child victims who are sexually assaulted, the Internet has led
    us to an increase in cases in which the child victim willingly
    participates in the initial contact with the pedophile.  Due to the
    pedophile's ability to groom the child victim over time through
    repeated communications over the computer, our experience has
    shown us that the child victim will begin to identify with the
    offender and be more willing to meet with that offender.
    	Some examples of Somerset County cases.  One example is the
    Christopher Wahler case.  And what you will see in all our cases, I
    provide them in our written statement, the profile of the individual
    that we see is someone like us; middle age, 30s, 40s, 50s; usually
    affluent; usually a family man; usually a man; good job; and that is
    what we have here.  I believe Defendant Wahler came from Upper
    Saddle River, another affluent community.  He is a 36-year old
    man, met with a 14-year old victim over the Internet.  He posed as
    a 17-year old boy; was able to get her to trust him.  Through
    repeated communications with the victim, he convinced the victim
    to meet with him, in person, at which time he sexually assaulted
    her here in Somerset County.
    	With regard to cases involving undercover agents posing as
    children who are targets of pedophiles, who engage them in
    graphic sexual communications over the Internet and subject them
    to images of pornography, we have found that pedophiles do not
    hesitate to travel to our county to meet their intended victims in
    person for sexual activity.  Some of the many cases, again, that I
    had cited in my written statement, two include the Marc Balkin
    case and the Edward Bostonian case, described in greater detail in
    the written statement.  But in addition, our experience shows that
    this type of offender often exhibits no signs of being a danger to
    children prior to their arrest, which is demonstrated by the fact that
    we have arrested professionals, teachers, and even a police officer
    for these types of offenses.
    	Finally, the prevalence of computers in Somerset County
    brings with it the concomitant presence of child pornography.  As
    with any community in which there are computers with Internet
    access, there are individuals in Somerset County who use their
    computers to view, download, transmit or create child
    pornography, as evidenced by the cases of James Nafus, Jr. and
    Christopher Hickman, cases I have also included in my written
    statement.
    	After recognizing the growing nature of this problem
    approximately 10 years ago, when I left the Attorney General's
    office to become the Somerset County prosecutor, I took a number
    of steps to educate and train our police officers, system
    prosecutors, and most importantly, the parents in our county in an
    effort to combat this problem and protect the citizens of Somerset
    County.  For example, in 1998 we created a free Internet safety
    presentation that educates parents and other concerned citizens on
    the dangers of the Internet and provides guidance for keeping
    children safe.
    	We also created and distributed free informational brochures
    for parents and children and provide rules for Internet use.  We
    have copies, sample copies of the brochures for both of you, as
    well as a mouse pad that we provide to children and parents that
    we distributed throughout the schools.  That is also on our website.
    In addition, I have sent our assistant prosecutors and detectives for
    advanced training in investigating and prosecuting these types of
    crimes so that we can stay at least one step ahead of individuals
    who commit these crimes in the constantly changing area of
    computer technology and computer crimes.
    	Finally, I created a High Tech Computer Crimes Unit within
    the prosecutor's office to assist other law enforcement agencies in
    properly investigating these specialized crimes.  Through these
    steps, I believe the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office provides
    the citizens of Somerset County with highly trained police officers
    and detectives to both proactively and reactively investigate these
    more challenging crimes, assistant prosecutors who are better
    prepared to prosecute these cases, and the educational awareness to
    help prevent the sexual exploitation of our children over the
    Internet.
    	I recognize that we cannot win this war alone here in Somerset
    County.  This war goes well beyond our territorial boundaries.  In
    fact, it is international.  You were questioning the U.S. Attorney
    about Federal jurisdiction; it is beyond that.  As I said, I have been
    in law enforcement over 30 years and this is, I believe, the most
    challenging type of crime that I have ever confronted.  I thank you
    for your interest and I thank you for time today.
    	[The prepared statement of Wayne J. Forrest, Esq., follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF WAYNE J. FORREST, ESQ., SOMERSET COUNTY PROSECUTOR,
    OFFICE OF THE SOMERSET COUNTY PROSECUTOR

            Dear Honorable Members of the United States House of
    Representatives:
            In the past ten years we here in Somerset County have
    experienced a dramatic increase in cases involving the sexual
    exploitation of children.  Our experience shows that this increase is
    due in large part to the proliferation of the Internet.  In Somerset
    County in particular, I believe we have had extensive experience
    with this problem because Somerset County is such an affluent
    county.  In fact, the 2000 United States Census ranked Somerset
    County as the number one county in the country in median
    household income at $88,957.00.  As a wealthy county, computers
    are everywhere in Somerset County.  All Somerset County
    children have access to the Internet, either at home, at school, at
    the library, or at a friend's house.  In addition, Somerset County's
    children also have more privacy and autonomy due to factors such
    as both parents being employed outside the home, large homes
    with individual bedrooms for each child, and frequently a personal
    computer with Internet access in their bedroom.  In addition,
    because these crimes ordinarily require privacy and money to
    purchase expensive computer equipment, Somerset County
    residents, who due to their wealth generally possess more of each,
    are in a better position than the average citizen to commit these
    types of offenses.  Under these circumstances, the sexual
    exploitation of children over the Internet is of particular concern to
    us in law enforcement in Somerset County.
            Having been in law enforcement now for over thirty years, I
    can tell you that thirty years ago, there were far fewer cases
    involving the sexual exploitation of children.  At that time,
    pedophiles interested in sexual activity with children would have
    to leave the privacy and security of their homes to physically trade
    child pornography with other like-minded individuals or "lurk" at
    the schoolyard fence in an attempt to lure an actual child victim.
    Now, what we have seen is that through the Internet, pedophiles
    have access to millions of images of child pornography from
    around the globe without leaving their homes or workplace.  For
    some, the ubiquity of, and ease with which they can obtain child
    pornography, feeds on itself until that interest consumes more and
    more of their daily lives.  At that point, photographs cease to be
    enough, and the pedophile takes the next step and seeks out an
    actual child to victimize.  The Internet then assists those
    pedophiles in finding an actual child victim as well.  Through the
    Internet, a pedophile can search for an actual child victim, gather
    personal information or other intelligence on that victim through
    various search engines, and ultimately, make contact with a child
    victim under false pretenses.  For example, a pedophile can now
    research an intended victim through the victim's profile or "blog,"
    and determine that victim's photograph, age, phone number, email
    address, physical address, school, employer, siblings, friends,
    interests, likes and dislikes.  Then, once armed with a wealth of
    information about that victim, the pedophile can make contact with
    the victim through an instant message using an assumed identity.
    Instead of "Joe Child Molester," 50 year-old registered sex
    offender, he can contact the victim as 16 year-old "Billy," a friend
    of the victim's friend Jessica, who saw the victim at the movies
    last Friday night and thinks she's cute.  Because the contact is not
    face-to-face, and because the victim now believes that she is
    communicating with a peer, she will open-up more quickly and
    give more information to the pedophile.  Through this process, the
    pedophile can "groom" the victim, and ultimately exploit his
    knowledge of the victim to obtain an in-person meeting with the
    victim.
            Our experience in Somerset County has taught us that this type
    of criminal behavior is happening every day, and generally falls
    into one of three main categories: (1) cases involving actual child
    victims who are sexually assaulted; (2) cases involving undercover
    agents posing as children ("virtual victims") who are solicited
    online for sexual activity, and (3) child pornography cases.
            In Somerset County, while we have always had cases involving
    actual child victims who are sexually assaulted, the Internet has led
    to an increase in cases in which the child victim willingly
    participates in the initial contact with the pedophile.  Due to the
    pedophile's ability to "groom" the child victim over time through
    repeated communications over the computer, our experience shows
    that the child victim will begin to identify with the offender and be
    more willing to meet that offender in person.  One example of this
    is the Christopher Wahler case, described in detail below, in which
    a 36 year-old man met a 14 year-old victim over the Internet by
    posing as a 17 year-old boy.  Through repeated communications
    with the victim, he convinced the victim to meet him in person, at
    which time he sexually assaulted her.
            With regard to cases involving undercover agents posing as
    children who are the targets of pedophiles who engage them in
    graphic sexual communications over the Internet and subject them
    to images of pornography, we have found that pedophiles do not
    hesitate to travel to Somerset County to meet their intended victims
    in person for sexual activity.  Some examples of these types of
    cases are the Marc S. Balkin and Edward Bostonian cases
    described in detail below.  In addition, our experience shows that
    this type of offender often exhibits no obvious signs of being a
    danger to our children prior to his arrest, which is demonstrated by
    the fact that we have arrested professionals, teachers, and even a
    police officer for this type of offense.
            Finally, the prevalence of computers in Somerset County
    brings with it the concomitant presence of child pornography.  As
    with any community in which there are computers with Internet
    access, there are individuals in Somerset County who use their
    computers to view, download, transmit or create child
    pornography, as evidenced by the James Nafus, Jr. and Christopher
    Hickman cases described below.
            The following case summaries are some of the investigations
    and prosecutions conducted by the Somerset County Prosecutor's
    Office involving the sexual exploitation of children over the
    Internet over the past ten years.

                      Cases with Actual Victims
            State v. Christopher D. Wahler.  Case No. 97-635 / Ind. No.
    98-01-00039-I.  In the fall of 1997, 36 year-old defendant
    Christopher Wahler met a 14 year-old Bernards Township girl in
    an America On-Line chat room.  While the victim was using a
    friend's computer, she received an instant message from "Steven,"
    later determined to be defendant.  Defendant claimed to be a 17
    year-old boy and developed an online friendship with the victim.
    This friendship led to telephone calls and eventually, in-person
    meetings.  On three occasions, defendant drove to Bernards and
    engaged in vaginal, oral and anal intercourse with the victim in the
    back of his van in the parking lot of her condominium complex.
    On June 16, 1998, defendant pled guilty to 3 counts of 2nd degree
    sexual assault and on January 8, 1999, was sentenced to six years
    in New Jersey State Prison.  Defendant was paroled from Northern
    State Prison on September 16, 2002.
            State v. Christopher Sopko.  Case No. 04-358 / Ind. No. 04-07-
    00483-I.  In spring 2003, 20 year-old defendant Christopher Sopko
    met and began communicating with a 14 year-old Branchburg girl
    via America On-Line Instant Messenger.  Thereafter, defendant
    Sopko met with the victim in-person and engaged in sexual
    intercourse with her.  On August 23, 2004, defendant pled guilty to
    one count of 2nd degree sexual assault and on May 13, 2005 was
    sentenced to three years New Jersey State Prison.
            State v. Carl Niro, Jr.  Case No. 05-495 / Ind. No. 05-07-
    00592-I.  In June 2005, 22 year-old defendant Carl Niro, Jr., met a
    15 year-old victim through her "My Space" website.  Thereafter,
    defendant Niro picked the victim up at her school and drove her to
    his Raritan Borough residence, where he engaged in vaginal and
    anal intercourse with her.  On March 17, 2006, defendant Niro pled
    guilty to 3rd degree endangering the welfare of a child, and is
    currently awaiting sentencing.
            State v. Michael Capone.  Case No. 05-518 / Ind. No. 05-07-
    00618-I.  In summer, 2005, 24 year-old defendant Michael Capone
    met a 15 year-old victim through her "My Space" website.  In June
    2005, the 15 year-old girl was reported missing by her guardian.
    The ensuing police investigation revealed that on two occasions in
    the summer, 2005, defendant Capone picked the victim up, took
    her to his residence, and engaged in sexual intercourse with her.
    On January 6, 2006, defendant Capone pled guilty to 2nd degree
    sexual assault and 3rd degree endangering the welfare of a child,
    and is currently awaiting sentencing.

                     Cases with "Virtual" Victims
            State v. Marc S. Balkin.  Case No. 99-100 / Ind. No. 99-05-
    0290-I.  In winter, 1999, 51 year-old defendant Marc Balkin met
    an undercover agent posing as a 14 year-old girl in an online chat
    room entitled "barely legalf4olderm."  The defendant engaged in
    graphic sexual conversations online and transmitted lewd
    photographs of himself masturbating to the undercover agent.  The
    defendant ultimately appeared at a prearranged meeting at the
    Bridgewater Sports Arena to engage in sexual activity with the girl
    and was arrested.  On August 13, 1999, defendant pled guilty to 3rd
    degree endangering the welfare of a child and 3rd degree eluding
    and on January 21, 2000 was sentenced to three years probation
    with 364 days in the Somerset County Jail.
            State v. Edward Bostonian.  Case No. 00-078 / Ind. No. 00-04-
    00196-I.  In winter, 2000, 39 year-old defendant Edward Bostonian
    met an undercover agent posing as a 13 year-old girl in an online
    chat room entitled "barely legalf4olderm."  The defendant engaged
    in graphic sexual conversations online and gave the undercover
    agent detailed instructions on masturbation.  The defendant
    ultimately appeared at a prearranged meeting at the Bridgewater
    Commons Mall to engage in sexual activity with the girl and was
    arrested.  On June 8, 2000, defendant pled guilty to 3rd degree
    endangering the welfare of a child and on January 5, 2001 was
    sentenced to three years probation with 364 days in the Somerset
    County Jail.
            State v. Robert T. Condon.  Case No. 00-451 / Ind. No. 00-10-
    00547-I.  In summer, 2000, 57 year-old defendant Robert Condon
    met an undercover agent posing as a 13 year-old girl in an online
    chat room.  The defendant engaged in graphic sexual conversations
    online with the agent and gave the undercover agent detailed
    instructions on masturbation.  The defendant ultimately appeared
    at a prearranged meeting at the Bridgewater Commons Mall to
    engage in sexual activity with the girl and was arrested.  On
    September, 2003, defendant was tried and convicted of 2nd degree
    Attempted Sexual Assault and on October 29, 2004, was sentenced
    to an eight year period of incarceration in New Jersey State Prison,
    to be served at the Adult Diagnostic & Treatment Center at
    Avenel.
            State v. James Kane.  Case No. 00-535 / Ind. No. 00-12-00717-
    I.  In the summer of 2000, defendant James Kane, a twenty-eight
    year veteran police officer with the Port Authority Police
    Department, met an undercover officer posing as a 13 year-old girl
    in an America On Line chat room.  Thereafter, defendant Kane
    engaged in numerous graphic sexual conversations online with the
    undercover officer using AOL Instant Messenger.  Defendant Kane
    gave the undercover officer detailed instructions on masturbation
    and sent pornographic images to the undercover officer over the
    computer.  On February 9, 2001, defendant pled guilty to 3rd
    degree attempting to promote obscene material and on February 8,
    2002 was sentenced to probation with 180 days in the Somerset
    County Jail.
            State v. Glen P. Albright.  Case No. 03-430 / Acc. No. 03-08-
    00465-I.  In the spring of 2003, 47 year-old defendant Glen
    Albright (a teacher at Somerset County Vocational and Technical
    School in Bridgewater, New Jersey) met an undercover detective
    posing as a 14 year-old girl in an America On-Line chat room.
    Thereafter, defendant engaged in numerous online conversations
    with the undercover officer, including instant messages in which
    the defendant gave the undercover detective specific, detailed
    instructions on how to masturbate.  Thereafter, defendant was
    arrested.  On August 11, 2003, defendant pled guilty to 3rd degree
    attempted endangering the welfare of a child and 4th degree
    endangering the welfare of a child, and on January 2, 2004, was
    sentenced to non-custodial probation and a $2,500.00 fine.

                       Child Pornography Cases
            State v. Allen May.  Case No. 98-620 / Ind. No. 99-03-00176-I.
    In fall, 1998, police learned that 70 year-old defendant Allen May
    of Bridgewater, Somerset County, subscribed to an Internet
    newsgroup dedicated to the dissemination of child pornography.
    Police investigation resulted in a search of the computer at
    defendant May's residence.  This search revealed hundreds of
    images of child pornography that defendant May both downloaded
    from, and posted to, the Internet.  On May 15, 2001, defendant
    May was convicted of 2nd degree and 4th degree endangering the
    welfare of a child, and on September 7, 2001 was sentenced to five
    years incarceration in New Jersey State Prison.
            State v. James Nafus, Jr.  Case No. 03-158 / Ind. No. 03-04-
    00236-I.  In spring, 2003, 25 year-old defendant James Nafus, Jr.,
    a teacher at the Far Hills Country Day School, turned his laptop
    computer over to a friend because he was having problems with it.
    Defendant Nafus' friend discovered child pornography on the
    computer and called he police, who searched the computer and
    found numerous images of child pornography.  On June 6, 2003,
    defendant pled guilty to 4th degree endangering the welfare of a
    child and on December 19, 2003 was sentenced to probation and a
    $1,000 fine.
            State v. Christopher Hickman.  Case No. 03-203 / Ind. No. 03-
    06-00323-I.  In spring, 2003, 21 year-old defendant Christopher
    Hickman met and began a sexual relationship with a 14 year-old
    girl.  During the course of this relationship, defendant Hickman
    engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim and participated in
    photographing her nude and while engaged in various sexual acts
    using his computer and web cam.  On September 19, 2003,
    defendant pled guilty to 2nd degree sexual assault, 2nd degree
    endangering the welfare of a child, 3rd degree possession of
    psilocybin with intent to distribute, and 3rd degree possession of
    marijuana with intent to distribute.  On January 9, 2004, defendant
    Hickman was sentenced to four years incarceration in New Jersey
    State Prison
            State v. Robert Mascola, Case No. 05-343 / Ind. No. 05-06-
    00535-I; State v. Michael Pleban, Case No. 05-344 / Ind. No. 05-
    06-00543-I, and State v. Mickey Phillips, Case No. 05-345 / Ind.
    No. 05-06-00536-I.  In spring, 2005, the Somerset County
    Prosecutor's Office received information from Immigration and
    Customs Enforcement (ICE) that ICE was conducting a large scale
    child pornography investigation which revealed that several
    Somerset County residents had purchased child pornography over
    the Internet.  Police contacted these individuals and the resulting
    investigations revealed that they possessed child pornography on
    their computers that they obtained via the Internet.  All of these
    individuals were admitted into the PTI program on charges of 4th
    degree endangering the welfare of a child (possession of child
    pornography).

           Steps Taken by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office to
          Combat the Sexual Exploitation of Children Over the Internet
            After recognizing the growing nature of this problem almost
    ten years ago, when I left the Attorney General's Office to become
    the Somerset County Prosecutor I took a number of steps to
    educate and train our police officers, assistant prosecutors, and
    parents in an effort to combat this problem and protect the children
    of Somerset County.  For example, in 1998 we created a free
    Internet safety presentation that educates parents and other
    concerned citizens on the dangers of the Internet and provides
    guidance for keeping children safe.  We also created and
    distributed free informational brochures for parents and children to
    provide rules for safe Internet use.  In addition, I have sent our
    assistant prosecutors and detectives for advanced training in
    investigating and prosecuting these types of crimes so that we can
    stay at least one step ahead of the individuals who commit these
    crimes in the constantly changing area of computer technology and
    computer crimes.  Finally, I created a High Tech Computer Crimes
    Unit within the Prosecutor's Office to assist in properly
    investigating these specialized crimes.  Through these steps, all of
    which are described in detail below, I believe the Somerset County
    Prosecutor's Office provides the citizens of Somerset County with
    highly trained police officers and detectives to both proactively
    and reactively investigate these more challenging crimes, assistant
    prosecutors who are better prepared to prosecute these cases, and
    the educational awareness to help prevent the sexual exploitation
    of our children over the Internet.
            Internet Safety Presentation for Parents.  In 1998, the Somerset
    County Prosecutor's Office created a free Internet safety program
    for parents and other concerned citizens entitled "Danger Is Only
    A "Click" Away:  A Parents' Guide to Internet Safety."    The
    program covers Internet dangers, including pornography, child
    pornography, pedophiles/child exploitation, weapons/explosives,
    "hate" groups, theft, terroristic threats, narcotics and profiles/blogs,
    and uses examples from actual Somerset County cases.  The
    program provides parents with advice on how to protect their
    children, including rules for safe Internet use, warning signs and
    detailed instructions on how to examine the computer to determine
    which sites your child has accessed on-line.  The program is
    directed toward parents with minimal computer knowledge and is
    not suitable for minors due to graphic content.  The program lasts
    approximately one hour with a question-and-answer period to
    follow.  Anyone who attends the program receives a free "Internet
    Safety Pledge" mouse pad to assist them with teaching their
    children rules for safe Internet use.  Since 1998, the Somerset
    County Prosecutor's Office presented the program to every school,
    community and business group that requested it, thereby educating
    thousands of Somerset County residents about safe Internet usage.
    (See enclosed copy of PowerPoint presentation, attached as Exhibit
    A.)
            Informational Brochures.  In 2001, the Somerset County
    Prosecutor's Office created two informational brochures entitled
    "A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety" and "Ten Internet Safety
    Tips for Kids."  The brochures provide parents and children with
    information on Internet dangers and tips for safe Internet usage,
    and since 2001 have been disseminated to the public free of
    charge.   (See enclosed brochures, attached as Exhibit B and
    Exhibit C.)
            Advanced Training for Assistant Prosecutors.  Several
    Somerset County Assistant Prosecutors who prosecute these types
    of cases have received advanced training on prosecuting crimes
    involving children and the computer.  For example, Somerset
    County Assistant Prosecutors have attended the following courses:
    (1) Protecting Children Online for Prosecutors, 2005, at the Jimmy
    Ryce Law Enforcement Training Center in Alexandria, Virginia
    (sponsored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited
    Children; (2) High Tech Crimes Investigation Association Training
    & Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, 2002; (3) Law
    Enforcement and the Internet, Sponsored by the New Jersey
    Attorney General's Office at Rutgers College, New Brunswick,
    2000; (3) Legal Issues in Computer Crimes Prosecutions,
    Sponsored by the US Secret Service and the High Tech Crimes
    Investigation Association, at the World Trade Center in New York,
    New York, 1999, and (4) Investigation and Prosecution of Child
    Sexual Exploitation, sponsored by the Assistant Prosecutors'
    Research Institute and the National District Attorneys' Association
    in Columbia, South Carolina, 1999.  In addition, Somerset County
    Assistant Prosecutors have attended various seminars on high tech
    crimes and/or computer child pornography issues held during the
    general annual conference for the Sex Crimes Officers' Association
    and MAGLOCLEN, as well as classes on legal issues of high tech
    crime, sponsored by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.
            Specialized Training for Detectives.  After recognizing the
    problems for law enforcement presented by the Internet, the
    Somerset County Prosecutor's Office made a concerted effort to
    ensure that its Detective Division was prepared to investigate these
    types of cases.  Toward that end, since 1999, the Somerset County
    Prosecutor's Office has assigned a number of detectives to various
    other agencies / units that specialize in computer investigations.
    Specifically, between 1999 and 2001, Detective Andrew Lippitt
    was assigned to the Federal Bureau of Investigations North East
    Regional Child Exploitation Task Force (aka, "Innocent Images.")
    During that time, the Task Force generated more than seventy
    undercover proactive investigations over the Internet that resulted
    in arrests of sexual predators.  Since that first assignment, the
    Prosecutor's Office assigned two other detectives to "Innocent
    Images" - Detective Robert Pascale, from January 2002 to August
    2003, and Detective Sergeant Lori Rinaldi, from August 2003 to
    May 2005.  In addition, the Prosecutor's Office sent Detective
    Lippitt and Detective Pascale to the New Jersey State Police High
    Tech Crime Unit where they received additional training and
    experience.  Detective Lippitt was there from August 2001 to
    February 2002, and Detective Pascale was there from August 2003
    to May 2004.  There, they conducted all types of computer and
    Internet related investigations, including computer forensic
    examinations and proactive "traveler" investigations.  In addition,
    Detectives Lippitt and Pascale have attended numerous other
    courses involving computer investigations.
            Creation of the High Tech Computer Crimes Unit.  In 1999, the
    Somerset County Prosecutor's Office created the High Tech
    Computer Crimes Unit to assist in conducting computer
    investigations.  The unit assists other units with the Prosecutor's
    Office and other law enforcement agencies in all types of criminal
    investigations involving computers, including the seizure, search,
    and forensic examination of computers obtained by law
    enforcement personnel.  In addition, the High Tech Computer
    Crimes Unit conducts computer related training for law
    enforcement officers, including a one-day Introduction to
    Computer Crimes Course at the Somerset County Police Academy
    that teaches law enforcement personnel to recognize and properly
    handle a computer crime.  The course covers the common types of
    computer crimes, including sexual predators, child pornography,
    narcotics, weapons and explosives, and hate groups.  Course
    attendees receive training on how to trace Internet Protocol (IP)
    addresses found in the header portion of Emails.  In addition, the
    High Tech Computer Crimes Unit has participated with the FBI,
    ICE, the New Jersey State Police and numerous local agencies in
    conducting proactive Internet investigations regarding child
    exploitation and child pornography.  The High Tech Computer
    Crimes Unit is currently in the process of developing and
    conducting proactive Internet investigations.
            Conclusion
            While the sexual exploitation of children through the Internet is
    a serious and growing problem in Somerset County, the Somerset
    County Prosecutor's Office will continue to take all necessary
    measures, including the steps described herein, to protect our
    citizens from individuals looking to victimize our children.

                                            Respectfully submitted,

    					Wayne J. Forrest
    					Prosecutor, Somerset County

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you, Mr. Forrest.  And Mr. Banks, you
    are recognized for 5 minutes.
            MR. BANKS.  Mr. Chairman Whitfield and Mr. Ferguson and
    members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to
    testify here today.  My name is Andre B. Banks and I am a
    sergeant with over 20 years experience in law enforcement.  I work
    in the Union County Prosecutor's Office in Elizabeth, New Jersey
    and I am currently assigned to the High Tech Crimes Unit that
    oversees the Union County High Tech Task Force.  The High Tech
    Task Force investigates all computer and Internet related crimes in
    Union County.
    	I obtained my bachelor's degree in Political Science from Kean
    University and I also have obtained an associate's degree in
    Liberal Arts.  I am a certified instructor for "The Internet and Your
    Child" and a certified i-Safe instructor, which are both education
    and training programs designed to teach parents and educators
    about Internet safety.  We have given hundreds of lectures
    throughout Union County on Internet safety and cyber crime.
    	The Union County High Tech Task Force was the first New
    Jersey county to start a High Tech Task Force 6 years ago to
    investigate child exploitation cases.  We work closely with
    Federal, State, and local authorities in these types of investigations.
    Several years ago, our office also received a Federal grant to be a
    satellite office for the Internet Crimes Against Children, ICAC,
    national task force.  We have arrested dozens of Internet predators
    over the years through the efforts of ICAC.
    	I am also certified as an Encase Certified Forensic Examiner,
    EnCe, for conducting detailed computer forensic examinations of
    seized computers.  This becomes very important after arresting an
    offender and examining his computer for evidence of the crime
    that was committed.  I teach in-service classes to Federal, State,
    and local officers in Internet crimes at the Union County Police
    Academy.  I am an active member of the High Tech Crime
    Investigator Association, the New York Secret Service Electronic
    Crimes Task Force, International Association of Computer
    Investigative Specialists, and the Institute of Computer Forensic
    Professionals.
    	Today, one of the many challenges law enforcement faces is
    protecting our children from the dangers of the Internet.  When I
    first started investigating Internet crimes back in 1996, it was
    primarily cases involving distribution of child pornography and e-
    mail.  Today, the predators that troll the Internet have many
    choices from which to make attempts to lure their victims.  There
    are hundreds of investigations that I could talk about today when it
    involves the dangers of the Internet.  One of the cases that I want
    to review with you is an investigation that I started a few years ago
    that involved a 14-year old female named Nicole.  I say this is
    typical because Nicole would come home from school before her
    mother arrived home from work, between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
    and would always log on to AOL's instant messenger program
    called AIM.
    	You know about the Internet chatting programs that allow
    children or Internet users to talk in real time with people anywhere
    in the world?  This teenager used the AIM program to chat with
    her friends.  Some of her friends she had met online and some she
    knew from school.  She met a subject online who said he was also
    a teenager from New Jersey and he went by the screen name of
    Lovs2playDoctr.  After several weeks of chatting online and
    making secret phone calls, they became online buddies and
    Lovs2playDoctr began sending her lewd pictures and talking about
    sex.  This is the grooming process that predators often do to make
    their victims feel more comfortable talking to them.
    	One day Nicole's mother came home early from work and saw
    some disturbing chat conversations and called the Kenilworth
    Police Department.  The PD called my office and I later met with
    Nicole and her mother and they agreed to allow me to take over
    Nicole's screen name so I could continue chatting with this
    subject.  I later found out, through a subpoena, that
    Lovs2playDoctr was actually Michael Jasinski, a 31-year old male
    from Newark, Delaware, who had a criminal record.
    	I then went in, an undercover capacity, acting online as if I was
    Nicole by using her screen name and I continued chatting with this
    guy, Lovs2playDoctr, until he made plans to meet Nicole for a
    sexual encounter.  I contacted Delaware State Police through ICAC
    and we eventually arrested Jasinski and executed a search warrant
    at his house in Newark, Delaware.  This case that I just reviewed
    with you is a scenario that often happens involving our children
    when they are home alone.  They usually feel safe on the Internet
    using computers and chatting with strangers, even though they
    know it is not the right thing to do.  Jasinski is currently serving 10
    years in Delaware State prison.
    	The second scenario I want to talk about involves the popular
    website called MySpace.  MySpace is a virtual meeting place on
    the Internet where children and adults can create free accounts to
    express their creativity and leave journal entries, also called blogs,
    on each other's pages.  This popular website is an awesome
    technology to many users; however, it can be a nightmare to some
    people who fall prey to the predators and evildoers who seeks to
    lure innocent victims.
    	A recent case in Union County that ended in a tragic death
    involved a 14-year old female named Judy Cajuste.  The victim
    had a MySpace account filled with many pictures and blog entries
    from her friends that revealed personal information.  The
    investigation is still ongoing and we believe there may be a link to
    her MySpace Web page that led to her death.  Other MySpace
    problems occur when parents don't know their children even have
    a MySpace account.  Other MySpace problems occur also when
    schoolmates use MySpace to cyberbully other children.  I speak to
    parents all the time during our lectures and also receive phone calls
    from disturbed parents about harassment that their children are
    confronted with on MySpace.
    	This is not only restricted to MySpace.  There are many other
    Web blog Internet sites out there that suspects use to lure and stalk
    victims as well.  I am highlighting MySpace because it is the most
    popular.  One of the things I always tell parents is to become
    familiar with this technology and see what their children are doing.
    One incident I like to tell parents about is when a very upset parent
    called my office complaining about posting bad messages on her
    daughter's MySpace web page.  I advised her the proper way to
    file a complaint at a local police department, but I also educated
    her about the website.  I asked her if she knew about the security
    settings that MySpace put in place to block unwanted comments
    and she didn't know.  I then talked her through the steps to block
    certain users and to prevent blog entries without permission.  After
    showing her and many others how to activate this feature, it often
    solves the problem.
    	A good portion of my job at the Union County Prosecutor's
    Office is community awareness through training classes and
    lectures on Internet safety.  Many parents are clueless when it
    comes to navigating around on the Information Super Highway.
    That is why my office has taken an aggressive approach to
    community awareness by having Saturday classes called the
    "Internet and Your Child," where parents can come and sit down at
    a computer terminal and learn what their kids already know about
    the Internet.  We have also started the first "Train the Trainer"
    program in the State of New Jersey through i-SAFE, where
    members of our office and the Union County High Tech Task
    Force teach educators and law enforcement personnel how to give
    informative lectures to citizens in their communities.  I believe this
    approach we have taken has educated a good portion of the
    population and has prevented more tragedies from occurring in
    Union County.
    	Thank you and I look forward to your questions.
    	[The prepared statement of Andre Banks. follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF ANDRE BANKS, SERGEANT, OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR, UNION
    COUNTY

            Chairman Whitfield and members of the subcommittee, thank
    you for the opportunity to testify here today.  My name is Andre B.
    Banks and I am a Sergeant with over 20 years experience in law
    enforcement.  I work in the Union County Prosecutor's Office in
    Elizabeth, NJ and I am currently assigned to the High Tech Crimes
    unit that oversees the Union County High Tech Task Force.  The
    High Tech Task Force investigates all computer and Internet
    related crimes in Union County .  I obtained my Bachelor of Arts
    degree in Political Science from Kean University (Union, NJ) and I
    obtained an Associate degree in Liberal Arts (Walnut, Ca).  I am a
    certified instructor for "The Internet & Your Child" and a certified
    ISafe instructor, which are both education and training programs
    designed to teach parents and educators about Internet safety.  We
    have given hundreds of lectures through out Union County on
    Internet safety and Cyber Crime.  The Union County High Tech
    Task Force was the first N.J. County to start a High Tech Task
    Force six years ago to investigate child exploitation cases.  We
    work closely with Federal, State and local authorities in these types
    of investigations.  Several years ago our office also received a
    Federal grant to be a satellite office for the Internet Crimes Against
    Children (ICAC) national task force.  We have arrested dozens of
    Internet predators over the years through the work of ICAC.  I am
    also certified as an Encase Certified Forensic Examiner (EnCE) for
    conducting detailed computer forensic examinations of seized
    computers.  This becomes very important after arresting an
    offender and examining his computer(s) for evidence of the crime
    that was committed.  I teach in-service classes to Federal, State and
    Local officers on Internet crimes at the Union County Police
    Academy.  I am an active member of the High Tech Crimes
    Investigator Association (HTCIA), New York U.S. Secret Service
    Electronic Crimes Task Force (ECTF), International Association of
    Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS) and the Institute of
    Computer Forensic Professionals (ICFP).
            Prior to working in Union County, I worked as a Patrol Officer
    for the Fullerton Police Dept. in California from 1985 to 1988.  In
    1988 I relocated to my home state of New Jersey where I was hired
    by the Morris County Sheriff's Office and was immediately
    assigned to work at the Special Enforcement Unit of the Morris
    County Prosecutor's Office as an undercover narcotic agent.  I
    worked in that capacity until Nov. 1995.  I was then reassigned to
    develop the Sheriff's office-wide network database that was used
    by the four divisions within the Sheriff's office to manage the day
    to day operations.  In July 1996 I was hired by the Morris County
    Prosecutor's Office as a Detective in the Fraud
    Unit/Administration Unit.  While there, I enforced crimes relating
    to fraud, theft and started the Morris County computer crime unit.
    I have attended many police training courses in my career and also
    other specialized courses in police supervision and computer
    investigations.
            Today, one of the many challenges law enforcement faces is
    protecting our children from the dangers of the Internet.  When I
    first started investigating Internet Crimes back in 1996 it was
    primarily hacking cases and distribution of child pornography via
    email.  Today, the predators that troll the Internet have many
    choices from which to make attempts to lure their victims.
            There are hundreds of investigations that I could talk about
    when it involves the dangers of the Internet.  One of the cases that
    I want to review with you is an investigation that I started a few
    years ago that involved a typical 14year old female named Nicole.
    I say this is typical because Nicole would come home from school
    before her mother arrived home from work between 3pm and 5pm
    and would always logon to AOL's instant messenger program
    called AIM.  You know about the Internet chatting programs that
    allow Internet users to talk in real-time with people anywhere in
    the world?  This teenager used the AIM program to chat with her
    friends.  Some of her friends she had met online and some she
    knew from school.  She met a subject online who said he was also
    a teenager from N.J. and he went by the screen name of
    Lovs2playDoctr.  After several weeks of chatting online and
    making secret phone calls they became online buddies and
    Lovs2playDoctr began sending her lewd pictures and talking about
    sex.  This is the grooming process that predators often do to make
    their victims feel more comfortable talking to them.  One day
    Nicole's mother came home early and saw some disturbing chat
    conversations and called the Kenilworth Police Dept.  The PD
    called my office and I later met with Nicole and her mother and
    they agreed to allow me to take over Nicole's screen name so I
    could continue chatting with the subject.  I later found out through
    a subpoena that Lovs2playDoctr was actually Michael Jasinski, a
    31 year old male from Newark, Delaware, who had a criminal
    record.  I then went in an undercover capacity online acting as if I
    was Nicole, by using her screen name I continued chatting with
    Lovs2playDoctr until he made plans to meet Nicole for a sexual
    encounter.  I contacted the Delaware State Police through ICAC
    and we eventually arrested Jasinski and executed a search warrant
    at his house in Newark, Delaware.  This case that I just reviewed
    with you is a scenario that often happens involving our children
    when they are home alone.  They usually will feel safe on their
    computers chatting with strangers even though they know it is not
    the right thing to do. Jasinski is serving 10 years in a Delaware
    State prison.

    The second scenario I want to talk about involves the popular web
    site called MySpace.  MySpace is a virtual meeting place on the
    Internet where children and adults can create free accounts to
    express their creativity and leave journal entries, also called blogs,
    on each others pages.  This popular web site is awesome
    technology to many users, however it can be a nightmare to some
    people who fall prey to the predators and evil doers who seek to
    lure innocent victims.  A recent case in Union County that ended in
    a tragic death involved a 14 year old female named Judy Cajuste.
    The victim had a MySpace account filled with many pictures and
    blog entries from her friends that revealed personal information.
    The investigation is still ongoing and we believe there may be a
    link to her MySpace web page that led to her death.  Other
    MySpace problems occur when parents don't know there children
    even have a MySpace account or when schoolmates use MySpace
    to Cyberbully other children.  I speak to parents all the time at our
    lectures and also receive phone calls from disturbed parents about
    harassment that their children are confronted with on MySpace.
    This is not only restricted to MySpace.com there are many other
    webblog Internet sites out there that suspects use to lure and stalk
    victims as well.  I'm highlighting MySpace because it is the most
    popular.  One of the things I always tell parents is to become
    familiar with this technology and see what their children are doing.
    One incident I like to tell parents about is when a very upset parent
    called my office complaining about people posting bad messages
    on her daughters MySpace web page.  I advised her about the
    proper way to file a complaint at her local police department, but I
    also educated her about the web site.  I asked her if she knew about
    the security settings that MySpace put into place to block
    unwanted comments and she didn't know.  I then talked her
    through the steps to block certain users and to prevent blog entries
    with out permission.  After showing her and many others how to
    activate this feature it often solves the problem.

    How Parents can block users and prevent unwanted postings
    before they happen.

                  This is the evil side of MySpace

    A good portion of my job at the Union County Prosecutor's Office
    is community awareness through training classes and lectures on
    Internet safety.  Many parents are clueless when it comes to
    navigating around on the Information Super Highway.  That is why
    my office has taken an aggressive approach to community
    awareness by having Saturday classes called "The Internet and
    Your Child" where parents can come and sit down at a computer
    terminal and learn what their kids already know about the Internet.
    We have also started the first "Train the Trainer" program in the
    state through ISafe, where members of our office and the Union
    County High Tech Task Force teach educators and law
    enforcement personnel how to give informative lectures to citizens
    in their communities.  I believe this approach we have taken has
    educated a good portion of the population and has prevented more
    tragedies from occurring in Union County.

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, Mr. Banks, thank you and I appreciate
    the testimony of the entire panel.  I am going to ask one question
    and then I am going to have to participate in a conference call, and
    so I am going to ask Congressman Ferguson to chair the hearing
    until I get back.
    	But, Mr. Forrest, in your testimony, although you didn't talk
    about it in your oral testimony, but in your written testimony you
    made reference to a case, a gentleman named James Nafus, Jr.,
    who was a teacher at, I think, Far Hills Country Day School, and
    he was involved in some pornographic material and so forth.  And
    my recollection was that the testimony, that he paid a fined and
    was probated and yet he was a teacher.  I was wondering if you
    could just give us an update on that case, what actually happened
    to Mr. Nafus and so forth.
    	MR. FORREST.  As you said, he was a teacher in probably one
    of the most exclusive private schools in all of New Jersey, Far
    Hills Country Day School.  He had a personal laptop computer that
    he was having some problems wtih.  He turned it over to someone
    and asked them to see if they could fix it.  And as that person was
    attempting to fix the laptop, that person noticed child pornography,
    what he believed to be child pornography.  He called the police.
    They called our computer crimes unit.  We went down and got the
    computer through legal process, got into the computer and
    discovered that he was in possession of child pornography.  In
    New Jersey, our legislature makes the mere possession of child
    pornography a fourth degree crime.  We have first degree being the
    highest, fourth the lowest.  We don't have felonies and
    misdemeanors.  He pled guilty to a fourth degree crime without a
    record.  There is a legislative presumption for third and fourth
    degree crimes against incarceration, and he was given a sentence
    of a probationary term and a thousand dollars fine.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And is he teaching now?
    	MR. FORREST.  I do not know that.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  But there was a misdemeanor charge?
    	MR. FORREST.  Well, we don't have misdemeanors here, but it
    was a fourth degree, which is the lowest level of crime.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Okay.
    	MR. FORREST.  First degree being the highest, fourth being the
    lowest.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Yes.  Okay.  At this time, I am going to turn
    it over to Congressman Ferguson and I will be back as soon as I do
    this call.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  [Presiding]  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  Mr.
    Forrest, just following up on that particular case.  Is there any
    provision in our New Jersey law for multiple offenders of
    possession or other child pornography?  I don't know what the law
    says, in terms of what our State law says on possession of child
    pornography.  You said that a first-time offender is a fourth degree
    offense?
    	MR. FORREST.  Well, it depends on what the crime is.  And yes,
    there are provisions in our laws for repeat offenders for all crimes.
    Again, we have been doing this for about 9 years.  We have not yet
    seen--and I guess that is a good thing and the State Police have
    more experience and obviously the Feds do than we do in little
    Somerset County.  But we have not seen repeat offenders as of yet
    in our county.  The profile that we have seen again are affluent
    businessmen, professionals, police officers, school teachers.  We
    have not seen where they have re-offended in our county where we
    prosecuted them for any crime, let alone a crime involving the
    Internet or sexual assault or pornography.  Now, but to answer
    your question, yes, if we have a repeat offender, that could enhance
    the punishment.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Whether they are a first-time offender or not,
    are there any provisions with regard to probation or other
    provisions in the law that, particularly if they are someone who
    works with children, this fellow is a teacher.
    	MR. FORREST.  Yes.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Are there any provisions that say they are no
    longer able to participate in certain environments or jobs?  I mean,
    obviously, a school, somebody would have to have their head
    examined for him to be hired back after being convicted of a child
    pornography crime.  But are there any provisions in the law which
    say what someone who is convicted of these crimes is able to do or
    how--perhaps they have to stay away from children?
    	MR. FORREST.  Yes and no.  Clearly the court can impose
    conditions during the term of probation, although that will end
    when probation ends.  In addition, if you are an employee in a
    public position, there is a provision for forfeiture for office and a
    bar from public office forever.  That doesn't apply to a private
    school, which is the case here.  David Livingston is our county
    superintendent of schools.  He and I formed a partnership 9 years
    ago that I thought it was one of the most important partnerships I
    had ever formed with anyone, because I think where we can fight
    the war the best from our local level is to educate parents and
    children, more so parents.  Because I know from my own
    perspective as a parent, 9 years ago my kids knew more about the
    Internet than I did, and I found out what I was missing, that is
    scary.  Just last night we went on the Internet, my kids looking for
    a piece of sporting equipment and we went on one of our local
    sporting goods Internet stores, and based on the name of this chain
    of sporting goods store, my son types it in and clicks it, it came
    back to a pornographic site, and so you have to be very careful on
    what words you want--what you are going to put into that Internet
    site.  So as far as teachers go, most, obviously, are public school
    teachers and the penalty was obviously greater, because we do
    have a disbarment for life if you are convicted.  With private
    school teachers, as in the case with Far Hills Country Day, that
    wouldn't apply.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  You had mentioned Pat Barnes was here--
    	MR. FORREST.  Yes, Prosecutor Barnes from Hunterdon
    County.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  --who is a Hunterdon County prosecutor.  I
    just wanted to say hello and recognize him and thank him for being
    here today and for your work in Hunterdon County.
    	MR. FORREST.  Which, if I may add, is important because, for
    the same reasons that people said to me, Somerset County, why are
    you so concerned about that?  We are not in one of the biggest
    counties in the State, like Union County, for example.  Well, I
    don't know if Mr. Banks can tell us how many residents of Union
    County have two and three and four computers and laptops in their
    homes, children that is, but we all do.  And you go to Far Hills,
    where they are sending their children who--a very prestigious
    private school--these children have computers and they have them,
    unfortunately, in all the wrong places.  And so working with David
    Livingston, the educational component that we put together, I think
    is one of the most important services we are providing, because
    parents are coming up to us all the time and say, I never thought of
    that and you are right, and my kid is kicking and screaming, but we
    are taking that computer out of their bedroom and putting in the
    kitchen or the family room or something like that, and something
    that small is that important.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Mr. Rodgers, you had actually referenced
    Rick Fuentes, who is the superintendent of our State Police--
    	MR. RODGERS.  Yes, sir.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  --who I also want to recognize.  He is an
    outstanding superintendent of the State Police we have in New
    Jersey and we are very fortunate to have him, and I appreciate your
    work and all the work of the State Police.  Could you comment,
    and could all of you take a moment to comment on this issue of
    data retention by Internet service providers?  A couple of you
    referenced in it in your oral testimony and some of you have
    referenced it in your written testimony as well.  This is an issue
    which is coming up now, and if some consensus is not reached on
    this, it may require legislative action to kind of bridge this divide.
    We have law enforcement who are asking for longer, at least 2
    years of data retention, and some privacy organizations and ISPs
    themselves that have some issues with that.  Can you comment on
    that specifically, and would you each take a moment to comment
    on that?
    	MR. RODGERS.  I am going to speak in general terms, Mr.
    Congressman.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Could you just turn to the microphone to face
    you?
    	MR. RODGERS.  And I am going to turn my time over to my
    lieutenant, Tony Ritter.  It is a problem for us.  The business
    relationship that we maintain with these ISPs, their ability to turn
    information around to us in a timely fashion, the length of time that
    they retain that data in order for us to move forward with effective
    investigations and prosecutions, is critical.  And any manner that
    we could see that memorialized better in legislation to encourage
    these ISPs to assist us in doing what I believe to be God's work is
    critical.  If I may, I will turn it over to Tony to speak more in
    depth.
    	MR. RITTER.  Congressman, one of the cases Lieutenant
    Colonel Rodgers spoke of was the Guardian case, where we
    arrested 39 individuals.  We actually received a hundred and ten
    referrals.  Seventy of those were lost as a result of us not having
    the ability to retrieve records.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  So there are 70 folks out there who you have
    a referral to perhaps prosecute, but you couldn't do it because you
    didn't have the information because it wasn't retained by the ISPs,
    is that correct?
    	MR. RITTER.  That is correct.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Okay.
    	MR. RITTER.  And when we ask for you to stand behind
    CALEA, changes in CALEA, we are not asking for anything more
    than we get now.  We are just asking that it apply to the emerging
    communications technologies.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Are there any particular ISPs that you feel are
    particularly troublesome in dealing with or not as cooperative as
    others?  Is everyone cooperative?
    	MR. RITTER.  We have had issues with all of them on occasion.
    I don't want to point the finger at any particular one, but we have
    had, at times, issues with Comcast.  I know they have increased
    their data retention schedule, I believe, to 180 days.  I am not sure
    of the timeframe.  We have had issues with AOL.  AOL is one of
    the companies that does not take our legal documents.  They have
    to be rewritten down in Virginia before they are processed.  So you
    know, that adds a little bit of time to the process as well.  There are
    some ISPs, some of the smaller ones, that don't retain records at all
    for dynamic IP addressing.  So I think everyone, including
    ourselves, need to step it up.
    	MR. FORREST.  This has to be done a Federal level.  Obviously
    we can't and it has to require Federal legislation nationally.  Even
    that won't solve the problem, but the bottom line is, U.S. Attorney
    Christie said it, most of these people think they are in the privacy
    of their own home; they are not going to get caught.  Most of them
    are right.  However, when we do catch them, that is what we hear
    from them.  Oh, I didn't think I was doing anything wrong.  Or, oh,
    I never thought you were going to find out.  And the reason they
    think that is because either the ISPs don't keep the data for a long
    enough period of time.  We have a hard time getting it from them.
    Earlier, somebody talked about following the money.  We need
    cooperation there.  So in order to make a meaningful step in
    fighting this most challenging crime that I have ever had
    experience with, everybody has to cooperate, and everybody
    means whoever all the players are today or whoever may join the
    team later as a player tomorrow.  And that has to be mandated by
    Federal legislation.  There is no other way around it.  We can't do
    it in New Jersey and with State legislation, we can't do it, clearly,
    in Somerset County.
    	And this is not my area of expertise.  All I know is that the
    obvious is before us.  This is going on internationally and people
    that are doing business in the United States of America have to
    abide by certain regulations, which now don't exist, and they have
    to--and that would make our job easier.  I think it would prevent
    people through deterrence, because most of the people that we
    have arrested in Somerset County, if I were to march them in here
    now, they are not public enemy number one.  They are successful
    and liked school teachers, a police officer who is well thought of,
    other professionals.  And we may be able to prevent them from
    doing something that they think they could otherwise do and get
    away with.
    	MR. BANKS.  I would just like to echo what Lieutenant Ritter
    said.  We have had a lot of cases where I am sending subpoenas
    out on a daily basis, over a hundred subpoenas in a year, and I
    would say about 25 to 50 percent of those subpoenas come back
    nothing because the ISPs don't keep the records.  That is a big
    problem, whether it is--
    	MR. FERGUSON.  How many?
    	MR. BANKS.  I would say about 50 percent of our subpoenas
    sometimes come back with no records, and mainly because we are
    dealing with a lot of theft cases, credit card cases, and a lot of
    victims would wait and call beyond 30 days.  So the police officer
    would take the report and try and act on his investigation, but he
    would call me requesting a subpoena and we would send it out and
    the record would be not available.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  You had mentioned you thought 2 years was
    a minimum of how long you thought ISPs should have to retain
    data, is that correct?
    	MR. RITTER.  That is correct.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  What is your thought?
    	MR. BANKS.  I would say 2 years would be excellent.  That
    would be good.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Any other thoughts from the panel?
    	MR. RITTER.  Sir, we find sometimes that leads that we develop
    extend the length of the investigation, many leads on these
    computers, and by the time we say, oh, we have got somewhere we
    need to go, there is nothing to go to.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  In this operation that you had mentioned
    before, you had 39 folks that you got, 70 who you couldn't get.
    	MR. RITTER.  Couldn't get records on.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Because you couldn't get records.  And you
    are saying that 50 percent of the subpoenas that you send out on
    this topic, on this issue, can't be responded to because--
    	MR. BANKS.  Because the record is not available.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  --the records don't exist.  That is right?
    	MR. BANKS.  And it is basically a dead end on that
    investigation.  There is nothing else the detective can do.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Can we talk about ICAC for a little bit?
    Everyone seems to feel like ICAC is really moving the ball
    forward, and the cooperation that exists is very positive.  The
    success of the operation is very good, but you have all heard about
    resources being stretched.  Would you each talk about your
    involvement with the ICAC here in New Jersey?  I know you
    talked about you have the opportunity to lead ICAC at the State
    Police.  Talk about it, if you would, in terms of resources, what
    you do with the money you get through the ICAC funding, what
    you would do with more ICAC funding, if you had it, and because
    you have certain personnel assigned to ICAC, what would they be
    doing were they not on ICAC, and what is the trade-off?  Do you
    see what I am saying?
    	MR. RODGERS.  Yes, sir.  I would like to begin by saying
    ICAC, to me, really embodies the two principal recommendations
    in a national intelligence sharing plan and in the 9/11 Report, unity
    of effort and true intelligence sharing.  That is what happens every
    day with the folks that are assigned to the task force.  Would it not
    be for the funding that is provided to us through ICAC specifically
    for training, we would not be able to keep our people up to speed
    with the technology advancements that are out there every day.
    Mr. Christie made reference to it before with his U.S. attorneys
    making light of the fact that he has one that has remained
    consistent and he moves the others through there, and they do so
    for good reason.  The type of work that is being conducted by these
    investigators and prosecutors is very difficult, and I will leave it at
    that.  It is not something that I would want to expose our personnel
    to for an extended period of time; yet the skill sets that they
    develop through the ICAC training become very difficult to
    replicate and become invaluable to moving these cases forward.
    Our ability to continue to get additional folks trained and move
    them for the couple years to develop the skill sets and then
    ultimately apply those skill sets and then move them out and bring
    new people in so that we don't burn them out doing this type of
    work is critical.  That is very difficult to do though, even with the
    resources that are provided to us today through ICAC.  We need
    more.  We need to train more people.  We need to move people
    through here.  As Mr. Forrest has said, in his career--and I can
    certainly second that, I have seen nothing like this, the
    advancements of this type of criminal activity.  It is unprecedented.
    We need to bring more people into the fold that have these skill
    sets, and the only way we are going to be able to do that is through
    ICAC.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  So the ICAC funding you receive goes
    specifically to what?
    	MR. RODGERS.  To training our people and develop the skill
    sets to do this type of technical work.  It also helps us network with
    our allied partners and train the community through different
    educational associations and law enforcement associations.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  And if you had more funding, you would use
    it for?
    	MR. RODGERS.  Well, we would be able to enlighten that many
    more officers in our organization and in others to do this type of
    work.  Again, it is unique work, not your typical police work.  And
    it is not something where you can train people up and leave them
    in there indefinitely.  To do so you are really neglecting those
    individuals personally.  And we make it a point to ensure they go
    through our counseling program on a regular basis.  But to simply
    extend that benefit to them and leave them there in perpetuity
    would be negligent on our part.  So we have to continue to move
    people through this, and to do so we need continued training and
    resources.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Does anyone have anything they want to add
    to that, because I want to move to a different topic.
    	MR. RITTER.  Yes, sir, if I could, briefly.  A large part of the
    mission is to expand this task force.  Everyone acknowledges the
    need.  So what we are trying to do is get task force members to
    sign up for a minimum of 6 months, preferably a year.  We feel it
    takes a full 2 years of doing this work to even be comfortable, and
    even then you are not really comfortable.  And in those 6 months,
    we try to get them basic computer training so they understand the
    technology of computers.  We try to get them basic Internet
    investigative skills.  We try to get them basic forensic skills so they
    know how to analyze things in the field.  That is a lot for 6 months,
    while they are shoulder to shoulder with our best detectives, going
    case after case.  And then should they leave in 6 months or 12
    months, we try and send them with some hardware.  If they don't
    have the resource back in their agency, we help to send them back
    with the hardware and software tools so that they can continue
    working as an arm of our task force.
    	MR. BANKS.  If I can just add.  We received a $45,000 ICAC
    grant back in--I believe it was 2001, and that money was very, very
    helpful to our task force members.  When they came to our office
    for 3 to 4 months of training they received good training.  And if
    the money was continuous after the 2 years, we could have
    continued with the training and just like Lieutenant Ritter said,
    send some equipment back with them to their department.  And
    once that funding ended, it was kind of slow getting members to
    continue coming back and working in the task force.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I want to move to a different topic.  Now, Mr.
    Forrest, you had talked about, in your testimony, this term
    "grooming," this process that happens with a potential predator and
    a potential victim.  That is a term we have heard in our hearings.
    Can you describe a little bit more of what you have seen and what
    your team has seen in terms of how this "grooming" process takes
    place?  What happens?
    	MR. FORREST.  Actually, he could probably do it better than I.
    He has probably been "groomed" when he portrays a victim, by
    some of these pedophiles.  You may be better to do that.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Mr. Banks, would you mind?
    	MR. BANKS.  Sure.  The "grooming" process is almost like a
    text book that these predators read on how to talk to children.  First
    of all, the suspects do their homework.  They will go onto AOL's
    database and they will search the database for people that may
    interest them, children.  So once they find several kids that interest
    them, they may be 13 or 14 years old, the kids that reveal so much
    information.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I am sorry.  What database are you talking
    about?
    	MR. BANKS.  AOL's.  AOL has an online database for
    members to search other members to associate.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  So you can just go in?  I have not done that.
    	MR. BANKS.  Yes.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  You can go in and search for other members
    in AOL's database that they provide to their members?
    	MR. BANKS.  Exactly, yes.  If you are an AOL member, you
    can log on and search--
    	MR. FERGUSON.  And look at other people's profiles?
    	MR. BANKS.  Exactly.  So once these predators do their
    homework, they will find the kids that they want to put on their
    friends list, their buddies list, and they will start chatting with
    them.  Now, they may start out slow.  They will start out--they will
    find out from the kid's buddy list, from their profile--excuse me--
    what their interests are.  Once they find out what the interests are,
    they will start chatting with them and talk about those same
    interests.  And they will eventually start to send pictures.  They
    may send pictures of clothed people, and then they will send
    pictures of some partially removed clothing or they will start
    talking about sex, and this victim will feel comfortable with talking
    with this predator, because they are talking about things that their
    parents don't talk to them about, sex.  And they are curious and
    this intrigues their interest and that is how the grooming process
    starts, and it ends with a sexual encounter most times.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Would you talk a little bit more about--we
    have heard a little bit that there is--these predators are teachers or
    law enforcement, police officer I think you said.  Two things.  Is
    there a description of a typical predator?  And also, is there a
    profile of a typical victim?  Is there a certain age group?  Is there a
    certain type of young person who ends up being the victim more
    often than not, or that is particularly targeted by these predators?
    	MR. BANKS.  I would say that there is no particular profile of
    the predator.  We haven't determined that.  There is no profile.  A
    predator could be any background.  That is number one.  And we
    have not determined if there is a profile for a predator.  The
    victims, I would say, from conducting these investigations with
    partners in law enforcement, I would say most victims would be
    shy children that may not have many friends in school, they are out
    of the social norm, and they are more subject to having online
    buddies, because the people at school may not become their
    friends.  So they want to seek friends online, and that is where
    MySpace comes into play, the social Web portals, and a lot of the
    online programs.
    	MR. FORREST.  What we have seen, Congressman, in Somerset
    County is the people that walk into the 7-Elevens and come from
    other counties, more urban areas, come here in a stolen car and
    stick up the 7-Eleven, is not the same person that now has a
    sophisticated computer in their private home, because they don't
    have a home and they don't have a computer.  The profile of the
    defendants that we have arrested, and I have given to you in the
    written statement, are people generally in their forties, generally
    affluent, generally successful, generally married, generally with
    children, and that is just for us.  You know, we are just a
    microcosm here, and maybe throughout the State, the State Police
    can say they have seen something completely different.  But that is
    what we have seen in our county.
    	And similarly with the victims, we have seen mostly females,
    although we have had male victims.  They are mostly people who
    do not have their parents looking over their shoulders day and
    night.  They are mostly young men and women who do not have
    the computer in the kitchen, in the family room, where there is a
    lot of traffic.  There are a lot of children that are home alone.
    Predators know a good time to speak to them would be between
    getting out of school and before dinner when the parents get home
    and they may be home alone.  Typically, when we have actually
    seen the children ourselves, it is generally not the cheerleader on
    the team or the captain of a team.  It is someone, as Detective
    Banks was saying, that may be a little bit more looking for
    friendship and that is why they are on a computer, and that is why
    they are more susceptible to being "groomed" and more
    susceptible to going to the Bridgewater Mall, the Bridgewater
    Sports Arena, to meet this person.  Like in Wahler's case, who, if I
    recall correctly, initially told the victim that he was around 14, 15
    years old.  Then he said, well, I am really 17 years old, and all of
    this that takes place, takes place.  But it turned out that he was in
    his 40s, maybe like 48, and then sexually assaulted her.  So we
    have seen a group of defendants who fit into general characteristics
    that I think is telling.  Now again, I have no familiarity with what
    goes elsewhere in the State, but that is what we have seen here.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I have covered a lot of ground, Mr. Chairman.
    I yield back.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Okay.  Thank you, Congressman Ferguson.
    Mr. Banks, you did mention in your testimony about a young lady
    named Judy.  What was that last name, Cajuste?
    	MR. BANKS.  Yes, sir.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And she lived in Union County?
    	MR. BANKS.  Yes, sir.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And she was 14 years old?
    	MR. BANKS.  Yes.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And she was actually murdered, is that
    correct?
    	MR. BANKS.  Yes.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And is that an ongoing investigation?
    	MR. BANKS.  Yes, it is.  I can't reveal too much information
    about the case.  It is ongoing.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  But she did have a MySpace account?
    	MR. BANKS.  Yes.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Okay.  Now, you also mentioned and I
    believe Mr. Rodgers mentioned briefly your efforts to provide
    some educational opportunities for programs for schools and
    students, and I was wondering if you all could elaborate on that
    just a little bit, and do you work at all with i-MENTOR or
    WiredSafety, or is that something that you are not really involved
    in with those programs?
    	MR. RODGERS.  May I defer to Lieutenant Ritter?  Tony?
    	MR. BANKS.  The two programs that we are involved with, the
    first program is the Internet and Your Child.  That program was
    created by Leann Shirey.  She is a sergeant at Seattle P.D.  She
    received a Federal grant several years ago and that program is
    designed to have parents come into a computer lab, sit down
    behind a terminal, and learn what their kids know about the
    Internet.  It is a 4-day course.  It is free.  They receive a three-ring
    binder with a bunch of material, and learn about the in-semester
    programs, MySpace and what have you.  That is the first program
    and we have been doing that since early--I think it was around
    2002 we started that program.  The other program is i-SAFE,
    which you all know about i-SAFE, which is an awesome program
    geared for law enforcement, educators, and concerned parents to
    be trained.  It is an online training program.  It also is geared for
    detectives or educators to educate people at lecture settings at PTA
    groups, meetings and things like that.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And you do a lot of that?
    	MR. RITTER.  Yes, we do.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And Mr. Rodgers, you all--
    	MR. RODGERS.  We have trained over 30,000 around the State
    of New Jersey in the last number of years, and it is from the
    different educational associations and law enforcement
    associations.  The specific programs, I would have to defer to
    Lieutenant Ritter to speak to.
    	MR. RITTER.  My understanding is there are about two million
    children in the State of New Jersey, so reaching 30,000 is not a lot,
    although we think it is a lot.  The ICAC Task Force does partner
    with NetSafe and they do endorse i-SAFE, and they both provide a
    great deal of very positive materials.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, you don't have any sort of a hotline in
    the event that some young child feels like that maybe they are
    talking to someone that is not who they think they are?  Do you
    have any sort of hotline?
    	MR. RITTER.  Hotlines are hard to find on the Internet.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Are what?
    	MR. RITTER.  They are hard to find on the Internet.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Okay.
    	MR. RITTER.  We do have a 24-hour capability.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Right.
    	MR. RITTER.  However, if you have ever searched the Internet
    and you have come across anything, there isn't a magic button to
    press to take you to law enforcement, or even to report it.  And
    many times, if you go to websites and look for online safety
    materials, it takes a concerted effort to get there.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And that would be a useful tool to have, I
    would think.  I know, in Great Britain, they do have a program like
    that, where you can go to a red button and touch and give the
    information, but I don't think we have a national program like that
    in the United States.
    	MR. RODGERS.  If I may, Mr. Chairman?  To put in perspective
    here with cyber tips, we also--our high tech folks do that type of
    work, and how many did we receive last year, cyber tips?  Sixty-
    five thousand, I believe.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Sixty-five thousand.
    	MR. RODGERS.  That is cyber fraud.  And as Tony had just
    testified to, we are the largest game in town and we only have 10
    folks assigned full time to doing that.  So they are doing both the
    Internet predator work and also cyber fraud.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  So everybody needs more funds and more
    manpower, really, to deal with this.
    	MR. RODGERS.  It is a huge problem.
    	MR. FORREST.  While you were out, Mr. Chairman, I had
    mentioned to Congressman Ferguson that one of the most
    important things we do is training for parents and children.  In your
    packet, you were given a total of 80 slides.  It is a PowerPoint
    presentation that we present to our various schools and parent
    organizations.  And this is also on our website.  And you were
    asking about a hotline.  We have an Internet hotline on our website
    and then we also have a toll-free number as well.  We have
    brochures such as this, which is also--and we will give you copies
    of all of this which we give out to parents, we give out to students,
    and then we put these in the schools and we also give them the
    programs for the parents and the students to take home.  It is a
    mouse pad, obviously.  And it gives the rules of the Internet.  We
    tell the parents to go over this with the children.  And when they
    are fighting with their kids about moving the computer out of the
    room they will blame it on us.  And we will say, well, the
    prosecutor's office told us we had to do it, so your parents aren't
    the mean people, it is the prosecutor's office, which is fine.  So it is
    important to educate the public.  We try to do that.  We try to make
    it a priority.  We get a number of tips over our Internet line, our
    website, and we also get a number of tips over our toll-free
    telephone line as well.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, I want to thank all of you for the great
    work that you are doing and the leadership that you are providing,
    and we genuinely appreciate the insights that you gave us and we
    look forward to working with you as we continue our efforts in this
    arena.  So thank you very much.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Thank you.
    	MR. RITTER.  Thank you.
    	MR. BANKS.  Thank you.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  At this time, I would like to call up the fourth
    panel, and that is Mr. David S. Livingston, who is the
    Superintendent of Schools for Somerset County, New Jersey, and
    he is going to be accompanied by Mr. Mike Herrera, who is the
    Vice Principal of the Somerset County Vocational and Technical
    High School.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I think there is another--there is more to the
    panel.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Oh, there is more?  Okay.  I thought we had a
    separate panel, but we are going to call up some other witnesses to
    be a part of your panel, Mr. Livingston.  I am also going to ask Ms.
    Parry Aftab, who is the Executive Director of WiredSafety, who is
    from Irvington-on-Hudson, New York.  And then Ms. Shannon
    Sullivan, who is a Teen Angel with WiredSafety, and also from
    Irvington-on-Hudson, New York.  And then Ms. Samantha Hahn,
    who is i-MENTOR, i-SAFE America, from here in New Jersey.
    So if you all would all come up and hopefully, do we have enough
    room for everybody?
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Sure.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And do we have nameplates for everybody?
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I am just getting them out now.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  He is getting them out.  All right.  And if you
    all would remain standing, as you know, we like to take testimony
    under oath with Oversight and Investigations, and I know some of
    you have been before our committee before.  So if you would raise
    your right hand?
    	[Witnesses sworn]
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you.  Well, you are sworn in now and,
    Mr. Livingston, we will begin with you and we will recognize you
    for 5 minutes for your opening statement.

    STATEMENTS OF DAVID S. LIVINGSTON, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, SOMERSET
    COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, ACCOMPANIED BY MIKE HERRERA, VICE PRINCIPAL, SOMERSET
    COUNTY VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL; PARRY AFTAB, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
    WIREDSAFETY; SHANNON SULLIVAN, TEEN ANGEL, WIREDSAFETY; AND SAMANTHA HAHN,
    i-MENTOR, i-SAFE AMERICA

            MR. LIVINGSTON.  Thank you very much, Congressman.  I am
    pleased to be here and present information.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And if you all would move the microphone
    over to Mr. Livingston, I would appreciate that.
    	MR. LIVINGSTON.  Okay.  Can you hear me now?
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Yes, sir.
    	MR. LIVINGSTON.  I work as a representative of the
    Commissioner of Education in this county, and we have about
    55,000 students, 79 schools, and 19 districts, and each has its own
    chief school administrator or superintendent, business
    administrator as well curriculum coordinators, and principals.  I
    also work with them on a regular basis.  On monthly meetings, we
    meet and do trainings and so on, and my office gets involved in
    many things.  We are generally doing--all kinds of issues come up
    that we get involved with.  Of course, Internet issues and safety are
    one of those issues that keep cropping up and have been around for
    a long time.
    	In each of our districts there are technology coordinators.  It is
    their job to assure that the hardware and software is up to date, is
    working, and that servers and systems are secure from misuse or
    abuse of policy.  Each district requires every student to sign a
    contract, stating that they will not violate school policy and restrict
    the use of Internet to approved websites.  Any violation will result
    in the loss of access to the Internet.  And each student has his own
    ID number that tracks all use.  There is an elaborate software
    system that blocks sites such as MySpace and Photobucket and all
    other kinds of sites that they consider obscene or in violation of
    board policy.
    	I have also attached to the testimony a copy of a letter that
    went out from one of our superintendents and it was shared with all
    the rest who did the same thing, in which they note--the major
    problem that I hear from them is a lack of monitoring by parents of
    their minor children's activities on cell phones, personal Web
    pages, and the Internet at home.  They do not indicate there is a
    problem with pedophiles at the school level.  Now that is not a
    sample of every superintendent, but at the meetings we have talked
    about this and it has been clear that that is not the major issue that
    they face at the school level, given the fact that students know that
    it is being monitored.
    	As the prosecutor mentioned to you, Prosecutor Forrest, I have
    been in the county also 9 years, I have been in education 38 years,
    and we have done a lot of trainings together over various issues,
    whether it be weapons, harassment, bullying, and one of the
    trainings that we are going to be doing in the fall with the
    prosecutor's office is Internet safety.  That has cropped up because
    of what you are hearing today, in an attempt to bring to focus
    conscious-level thinking what superintendents, principals, all kinds
    of technology people and teachers are dealing with and how to deal
    better with problems of Internet safety at the school level and also
    in terms of students--and better educate students in terms of
    Internet safety.
    	So not only will I be doing Internet safety, but bullying and
    harassment and other abuses are also going to be covered in this
    workshop, because there are requirements in New Jersey for
    bullying policies and implementation of trainings for all teachers.
    There were also memoranda of agreements that are annually
    updated and reinforced between law enforcement and school
    officials that every New Jersey district must implement.  These
    contain agreements and protocols between law enforcement and
    educators so as to create better understanding of how to deal with
    an arrest or how to deal with a violation or possibly how to
    cooperate in apprehending criminal behavior.
    	In short, the recommendations that in the short time I had to
    research, were that we make available training lessons on Internet
    safety protocols for parents and school districts to use with
    teaching staff.  And as I mentioned, we are planning to do that this
    fall with the prosecutor's office.  They are well trained and well
    equipped, as you heard, and have been working with parents for a
    number of years on this problem.  Also, one of the things that I
    guess I don't know if you can do anything about, but I hear it over
    and over again, is to make parents and guardians responsible for
    monitoring minor children's Web pages and e-mail
    correspondence in their homes.  It is very easy to say; it is not very
    easy to do.  And one of the things that isn't mentioned here but is,
    unfortunately, in these trainings that do occur, whether it be done
    by the prosecutor's office or by the school, very few parents turn
    out for those trainings, and so they are unaware.  In many cases
    you are preaching to the choir of those people that come out to do
    it.  Some districts are doing this on back-to-school nights in an
    effort to get at the audience, a bigger audience, if they can and they
    will include it in that setting and that is not a bad idea.
    	The other thing that I hear a lot about are freedom of speech
    concerns raised by such groups as the ACLU.  And parents having
    easy access to sites their children may be abusing.  Restrictions on
    access do hamper some police investigations as well.  We hear
    that.  The problem of monitoring proxy sites in the school setting is
    ongoing, also, I am told by technology coordinators.  Students use
    a proxy server such as vtunnel.com and can gain access to sites not
    picked up or filtered by the district's software.  So as a result,
    technology coordinators nightly are updating their filters with new
    words, new words that may be very innocuous, that you would
    never think would lead to an obscene website.
    	So coordinators and school officials I talk with really have no
    recommended legislation other than to require districts to have
    signed contracts between parents, guardians, minors and the
    school, agreeing not to violate school policy, and such contracts
    should be routinely collected annually from all students using the
    school Internet services.  And I have attached newspaper articles,
    also.  The headlines talk about "Kids: Site Only As Dangerous As
    The User," and that is a recent article, May 14, talking about the
    problems with MySpace; and a second one which is two different
    people from Howell Township, a rather large district in Mercer
    County.  Tom Letson mentions that students--he says the problem
    is when kids have access to the Internet without any supervision,
    you get abuses.  And if you are not going to monitor the computer,
    he says, then don't let youngsters have their own access.  Of course
    the other person mentioned in the article is a technology manager
    in that district, and he says it all comes back to mom and dad or the
    guardians.  Don't permit the computer to be located in the
    bedroom.  Don't allow pictures to be posted.
    	So I think, from our standpoint, we are really aggressively
    going to look at training and what we can do with training in terms
    of our administrators and teachers and principals using the
    partnership with the prosecutor's office, because they are much
    more expert in terms of all of the problems that occur.  Thank you.
    	[The prepared statement of David S. Livingston follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF DAVIS S. LIVINGSTON, SUPERINTENDENT
    OF SCHOOLS, SOMERSET COUNTY, NEW JERSEY

            MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you, Mr. Livingston.  And Mr. Herrera, I
    understand that you are not going to give an opening statement, is
    that correct?
    	MR. HERRERA.  I can if--
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Okay.  And keep in the 5 minutes because we
    are running out of time.
    	MR. HERRERA.  Okay.
    Members of the committee, my name is Mike Herrera,
    Assistant Principal of Somerset County Vocational and Technical
    High School and father of three children.  I graduated from Seton
    Hall University through the Seton Worldwide Program in
    Educational Leadership.  Seton Worldwide is an online program
    that provided me with the opportunity to learn anytime, anywhere.
    My cohorts included educators from Georgia, New Jersey,
    Pennsylvania, and Rome, Italy.  As a school administrator, I am
    familiar with the paradigm of removing the walls of the classroom
    while setting up barriers to protect my students.
    	I would like to talk about how our district views our role as
    surrogate parents.  Students are provided with a proactive,
    therapeutic approach to the Internet and bullying and harassment.
    The Somerset County Vocational High School is fortunate to have
    a school-based onsite program that includes various community
    services such as a conflict resolution specialist through Richard
    Hall Mental Health Community Center, and a school resource
    officer through the sheriff's departments, and various other
    community resources.  We have taken advantage of the State
    Police's high-tech crimes unit on Internet safety.  We chose to
    focus on our instructors for the initial presentation.  It is my belief
    and hope that our close-knit faculty can positively influence the
    behavior and character of our students.  It has been my experience
    that a majority of parents are not spending enough meaningful
    conversation with their children, as Mr. Rodgers referenced earlier.
    Most of the information is coming from peer-to-peer or over the
    social network sites.  We hope to combat this problem with
    members of our close-knit faculty.
    	Prosecutor Forrest discussed grooming earlier of students in
    negative terms.  The Somerset County Vocational and Technical
    High School faculty is proactive in identifying students to groom
    in such areas as confidence, conflict resolution, and
    encouragement.
            MR. WHITFIELD.  Thanks so much, Mr. Herrera.  And Ms.
    Aftab, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
            MS. AFTAB.  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and
    welcome to the State of New Jersey.  I appreciate the opportunity
    to testify again before the subcommittee and it is nice to do it from
    home.  We were identified as being from Irvington-on-Hudson,
    that is our legal address for WiredSafety, but we actually operate
    out of New Jersey.  And when I used to earn money as an Internet
    privacy and security lawyer, I used to be able to afford to live in
    Hunderdon County.  Now I can't, so I live in Bergen, which is an
    interesting State.  I am an Internet privacy and security lawyer.  I
    have dedicated the last almost 10 years of my life to protecting
    children online.  It started when I saw an image of a three and a
    half year old being raped; it changed my life.  I describe it often as
    having a branding iron applied to your brain.  After I vomited and
    cried for a while, I ended up selling a very expensive home and
    emptying my bank accounts and my retirement accounts, thinking
    that the corporations that used to hire me, Yahoo, AOL, Disney,
    would happily take our advice for free.  I have 11,000 volunteers in
    WiredSafety.  We are all unpaid.  We are in 76 countries around
    the world, but most of my volunteers, the ones I rely on the most to
    operate are here in New Jersey, because I see them.  You will be
    meeting Shannon again.  Shannon is one of our Teen Angels.  I
    have Teen Angels in your district, Mr. Ferguson, but they are on
    vacation this week, so you have a substitute Teen Angel here.
    	The problem here in New Jersey is not a new one.  The first
    case that we followed on prosecution here in New Jersey was the
    Paul Brown case in 1996, where the U.S. Attorney, the Department
    of Justice prosecuted a man from Ohio who was in his 40s.  He
    weighed about 400 pounds; he was an out-of-work postal worker;
    he lived in the basement of his ex-wife's house.  He had found a
    young girl from Cedar Grove, New Jersey, which is in Essex
    County, met her online and promised her special access to
    celebrities.  It was a boy band at the time and actually it was
    probably NSYNC, and some earlier issue, none of us knew what
    NSYNC was at that time.  But he said he knew this boy band and if
    she would send him pictures, he would get it to the boy band.  She
    did.  He asked for sexier ones and they became sexier and sexier.
    Her mother, ironically, was a teacher.  She was a single parent,
    which is a classic, classic profile of a typical victim.  When she
    found out who he was, this was turned over and he was prosecuted
    and went to jail.  It was one of the very first cases reported
    anywhere in the United States; that was 10 years ago, and it started
    here in New Jersey.
    	We actually recognized over the years--I have been doing this
    for a very long time--that an awful lot of the cases come from New
    Jersey.  We are wired.  We live in a world where parents have two
    jobs, either because they are fortunate enough or because they have
    to.  The kids have easy access to superhighways.  People can get in
    and out of the State very easily.  These are all things that can lead
    to trouble.  When you had asked previously about a typical profile
    of a victim, actually there are two profiles.  The profile that had
    been testified to is--the wonderful man from Union County--about
    the loner is the typical profile we thought existed until 4 years ago.
    Those are the cases that are reported, and the big problem here is,
    as we are looking at these issues, we really don't know anything
    more than what is reported.  It is all anecdotal.  Even the brilliant
    work done by National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
    or the ICACs, or Innocent Images.  None of us really know.  We
    only know what the kids have reported.  So the kids who report are
    11 and a half to 15.  Now that has aged up a little bit because of
    social networks.  Now it is 11 and a half to 16.  They are the
    loners.  They come from dysfunctional homes, although that seems
    to be most of the households in the United States these days.  Often
    single-family homes or broken homes, even if the parent has
    remarried.  They are wired somewhere at home.  They engage in
    communications, sometimes thinking it is a cute 14-year-old boy,
    sometimes knowing that they are dealing with an adult.  Those are
    the kids who, when something bad happens, report it.
    	The other kids surprised us.  Four years ago, in May, a young
    girl named Christina Long was killed.  It was the first confirmed
    death by an Internet sexual predator in the United States.  She was
    from Danbury, Connecticut; she was 13; she was co-captain of the
    cheerleading squad; she was a National Honor Society member;
    very dysfunctional family, not a very good family life at all.  She
    was now living with her aunt, who was trying to get things worked
    out, but she was not classically the victim.  People Magazine called
    and asked me to be the expert on the piece and I said, I don't
    understand it.  We have been talking about the victim being these
    loners and telling the parents, if your kids aren't the loners, you
    can relax.  And now what have we done wrong?  What we found is
    that those kids who are high-risk, they may also come from a
    dysfunctional family.  But those who are high-risk are drinking too
    much, taking too many drugs, driving too fast, doing high-risk
    activities, and Internet sexual predator communications are just
    one of those high-risk activities, and those kids don't report unless
    they are killed or kidnapped.
    	So as we look at all of these issues, it is important that we
    recognize the important and crucial work that this committee has
    done.  I have to tell you that I have learned as much as I have tried
    to share.  And in New Jersey, here the committee can learn that we
    have one of the best cyber crime units.  The New Jersey State
    Police is one of the best and one of the first in the world that has
    done this.  They will be recognized in our hearing at First Today
    with our Wired Cops award.  And this committee, and you are
    hearing this for the first time today, will be receiving our Internet
    Superheroes award, which will be given to you by Spiderman in
    the fall, because you have done incredible--
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, we look forward to it.  I have never met
    Spiderman.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I have never met Spiderman, either.
    	MS. AFTAB.  Well, you will now.  And he is a real marvel,
    Spiderman.  But as we look at these issues, we all have to work
    together.  And I am here in New Jersey and I want everyone in the
    audience that is going to hear this to remember that.  The 201 area
    code is New Jersey, not Washington.  So we are here to help.
    	[The prepared statement of Parry Aftab follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF PARRY AFTAB, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
    WIREDSAFETY

    SUMMARY
            Our children are online. They do their homework, entertain
    themselves, communicate with each other and us, research things,
    buy and compare prices online. They need the Internet for their
    education, their careers and for their future. Of all the risks our
    children face online, only one is certain. If we deny our children
    access to these technologies, we have guarantees that they are hurt.
    All other risks are avoidable through a combination of awareness,
    supervision and parental control and other technologies. More and
    more children being lured and stalked by online predators who
    gather information about them from chatrooms, instant messaging,
    e-mails, websites and the like and use this information to become
    close to them.
            With our children walking around with Internet access in their
    backpacks and pocketbooks, we can no longer rely on parents
    watching whatever they do from a central location computer. Our
    children need to learn to use the "filter between their ears" and
    "ThinkB4TheyClick." This requires that we get them involved in
    framing solutions and educating each other. It also requires that we
    find new ways of building good cyber-citizenship and helping the
    kids and parents spot risks in new technologies and protect
    themselves online.
            But we also need to recognize that in most cases our children
    are putting themselves in harm's way. They are intentionally
    sharing risky information online in profiles, blogs and on websites.
    They post their cell numbers on their public away messages when
    using IM technologies. And even when they are careful about
    protecting their own privacy, their close friends may expose
    personal information about them by posting photos and
    information on their profiles. They are also, in greater and greater
    numbers meeting people offline that they met online. Family PC
    Magazine reported that 24% of the teen girls they polled and 16%
    of the teen boys they polled admitted to meeting Internet strangers
    in real life. Our children go willingly to offline meetings with these
    people. They may think they are meeting a cute fourteen year old
    boy, but find that they are meeting a 47- year old child molester
    instead.  This has to stop.
            Smart kids are sharing sexual images online with people they
    don't know, or e-mailing them to others they have a crush on and
    hope to entice. And with the newer video-chats and technologies,
    the predators have moved to luring our kids into posing and
    engaging in sexually explicit activities.
            Yet, the actual statistics are lacking. Everything we know is
    largely anecdotal. In 1999, the FBI's Innocent Images (charged
    with investigating crimes against children online) opened 1500
    new cases of suspects who were attempting to lure a child into an
    offline meeting for the purposes of sex. Based upon my estimates,
    about the same number of cases were opened by state and local law
    enforcement agencies that year. The same year, approximately 25
    million minors used the Internet in the U.S., Now, with more than
    75 million young Internet users in the U.S. we don't know if the
    number of instances have increased, decreased or remain flat,
    given the growth. The crime reporting forms don't collect
    information about the use of the Internet is child sexual
    exploitation crimes, or any other crimes. That has to change.
            We also need to recognize the real risks and what is hype.
    Notwithstanding media reports to the contrary, to my knowledge,
    law enforcement is not aware of anyone who is using the
    information children provide online to seek them out offline, by
    hiding behind a bush or grabbing them on their way home from
    school. They currently agree to meetings (even if they don't admit
    it to the police when things go wrong.) But it's only a matter of
    time before this happens, since universal access to the Internet
    means that even violent sexual offenders who are online can use it
    for their own horrible purposes.
            WiredSafety.org operates from the computers of its volunteers,
    but its offices are maintained in New Jersey. Our programs began
    here and our deepest roots run here. Sadly, one of the first cases of
    Internet sexual predators also arose here, with a young victim from
    Cedar Grove communicating with a 46 year old predator from
    Ohio. One of the few deaths linked to Internet sexual predators
    also has occurred in New Jersey.  As a lifetime resident of New
    Jersey and a longtime resident of Oldwick, testifying here today
    means more than any other hearing I have attended. With a state of
    children who are wired at home, at school and in their backpacks,
    it is essential that we deliver education and innovative programs to
    families and young people themselves. Let's start here.

    OPENING STATEMENT

    SNAPSHOT OF U.S. MINORS ONLINE, IN NEW JERSEY AND
    HOW PREDATORS REACH THEM
            It is estimated that approximately 75 million minors in the
    Unites States access the Internet either from home, schools,
    community centers and libraries or from some newer Internet-
    capable device. This is up more than ten-fold since 1996, when
    only 6 million U.S. minors were online. Now our children are
    using cell phones with Internet and text-capability, interactive
    gaming devices (such as X-Box Live and Sony Playstation
    Network) with voice over Internet and live chat features, handheld
    devices with Bluetooth and other remote-communication
    technology (such as PSP gaming devices and mobile phones) and
    social networking profiles (such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo,
    YFly and others) where they can advertise their favorite things,
    where they live and pictures of themselves and their friends to
    anyone who wants to see them.
            Ten years ago, when I first wrote my safety tips telling parents
    to put the computer in a central location, that made sense. It was a
    central point, where parents could get involved and supervise their
    children's interactive communications and surfing activities. Now,
    where they take their communication technologies with them in
    their pockets, backpacks, and purses, it is not longer as relevant as
    it once was. Now, instead of expecting parents to watch everything
    their children are doing online from the comfort of their
    familyrooms, or kitchen counter, we have to do more. Now, we
    have to teach our children to use the "filter between their ears" and
    exercise good judgment and care when using any interactive
    device. While teaching parents how to supervise their children
    online was a challenge (I have written the leading books,
    worldwide, for parents on Internet safety), teaching children to
    "ThinkB4uClick" is much harder.
            When I was growing up (in the days before electricity and
    indoor plumbing, when we had to walk up hill, both ways!, in
    blizzards to get to school ), parents used to blame us for not
    behaving.  We were disciplinary problems. Now pediatric neuro-
    psychologists tell us that preteens and young teens are hardwired,
    through immature brain development, to be unable to control their
    impulses at this age.  Either way, we recognize that preteens and
    teens take risks, don't appreciate the consequences of their actions
    and act before they think. When their audience was their school
    friends, family and neighbors, the risks were containable. When
    they act out where 700 million Internet users can see, it takes on a
    much deeper significance.

    Putting Their Heads into the Lion's Mouth
            Now, I will share something very controversial. While
    educators and child psychologists understand this, most parents
    will be shocked at the suggestion that their preteens and teens are
    in control of their safety online and putting themselves at risk,
    often intentionally. But unless we accept this, and direct our
    attentions at solutions aimed at this reality, we are all wasting our
    time. We will focus on the much smaller segments of preteens and
    teens who are being victimized through not fault of their own -
    those who are targeted at random. All others need to change their
    online behaviors. And that's where we need to devote all our
    attentions.
            For this to happen, you need to understand the truth. For years
    we have told parents and minors not to share too much personal
    information online. "You can be tracked down in real life," we told
    them. But, notwithstanding anything to the contrary reported in the
    media and by some local law enforcement officers, to my
    knowledge, to this date, no preteen or teen has been sexually-
    exploited by someone who tracked them down from information
    they posted online. In each and every case, to my knowledge, to
    teens and preteens have gone willingly to meet their molester.
    They may have thought they were meeting someone other than the
    46 year old who is posing as a teen, but they knew they didn't
    know this person in real life. They are willingly agreeing to meet
    strangers offline.
            What does this mean? It means we can do something about
    this. It means we can educate teens and preteens about the realities
    of meeting people in real life they only know in cyberspace. It
    means we can create solutions. It means that this is, at least for the
    time being, 100% preventable. It means that what we do today will
    have an immediate impact on the safety of our youth. It means we
    have to join together and work on things that are effective and
    abandon those that are not.
            But we have to act quickly. When I testified before the U.S.
    House Of Representatives, Committee On Commerce,
    Subcommittee On Telecommunications, Trade, And Consumer
    Protection on October 11, 2000, I cautioned:
            Law enforcement is not aware of anyone who is using the
    information children provide online to seek them out offline,
    by hiding behind a bush or grabbing them on their way home
    from school. But it's only a matter of time before this happens,
    since universal access to the Internet means that even violent
    sexual offenders who are online can use it for their own
    horrible purposes. (See Testimony of Parry Aftab, Esq. U.S.
    House Of Representatives, Committee On Commerce,
    Subcommittee On Telecommunications, Trade, And Consumer
    Protection on October 11, 2000.)
            Luckily, while our young people are sharing much more
    information online than ever before, to my knowledge, predators
    aren't using it to hunt down our children offline. They are like
    vampires. They need to be invited in. Sadly, our teens and preteens
    are too often doing just that. They are inviting them to offline
    meetings, phone calls and videochats. But, as an expert in
    cyberrisk management, I can tell you that this is good news.
    Because we have a single point of risk - our children, preteens and
    teens. If we stop their risky and unsafe behaviors, and teach them
    when to reach out for help, we can manage this risk. We can keep
    our children safe.
            Our children are mainly at risk because of their own actions.
    Some are intentional. Others are inadvertent. They may willingly
    engage in communications with people they don't know in real life
    "RL," agree to meet them offline or send them sexually-
    provocative images or perform sex acts on webcams they share
    with people they encounter online. They cyberbully each other by
    advertising their victims for sexual services, posting real or
    manufactured sexually explicit  images of them online or by
    passing online rumors able their sexual preferences or activities.
            Preteens and Teens at Risk: Most of the high risk preteens and
    teens fall into three categories: those who are naive and looking for
    love and affection (typically the "loners" and "shy" preteens and
    teens), those who already engage in other high risks activities, such
    as drug and alcohol abuse, driving too fast or doing risky things for
    the thrill of it (often the student leaders, athletes, cheerleaders and
    very competitive teens, the risks takers and thrill seekers looking to
    let off steam or impress their peers) and those who don't realize
    that what they do online is real, the ones who are looking to appear
    older, cooler, more fun and more popular (most of the teens and
    especially preteens fall into this category at least once). Sadly,
    most of our preteens and teens fit one of these categories. Sadder
    still is the fact that in recent years we have learned that most
    preteens and teens are potential victims.
            Naive, loners and socially-shy preteens and teens: Some
    believe that they are communicating with a cute 14 year old boy,
    who they later discover isn't cute, isn't fourteen and isn't a boy.
    Most of the reported cases fall into this category, and until the
    death of Christina Long four years ago this May, experts all
    believed that all victims fell into this category. They are conned,
    and easy to spot online. Predators can seek them out, and find their
    vulnerabilities. They are groomed with care, and often fall in love
    with their molesters. Sadly, when the molestation finally occurs,
    not only are their bodies broken, their hearts and trust are too.
            They need to understand how the predators work online. Too
    often they tell me that they can "tell" how old someone is online.
    They can't. No one can. Many predators spend years cultivating the
    right tone and language to look like a fellow teen online.
            These preteens and teens are sitting ducks. While they may
    have learned not to fall for the "help me find my puppy" ploy
    offline, they need to learn how that same ploy (appeal for
    assistance) works online. They need to know how to spot the risks
    and the predators, when online everyone can look like a cute 14
    year old boy. They need to learn that romance shouldn't occur only
    in cyberspace, and that parents can get involved to help them meet
    their soul-mate, assuming they really are. So, if they aren't, and
    turn out to be a 46 year old child molester, they can come home
    safely and help put that molester behind bars where they deserve.
            Risk-takers, Thrill-seeking preteens and teens: Some preteens
    and teens (mainly teens) are looking for the thrills and challenge of
    engaging in a relationship (or at least prolonged communication)
    with an adult. They "play games" with the adult, and are
    intentionally extra sexually-provocative. They think they are smart
    enough to do this without getting hurt.  They see this as a game,
    without realizing the consequences of their actions. And crossing
    the sexual line isn't as frightening online as it would be in real life.
    The problem is that the consequences are not as apparent, the
    realities not as immediate. They take risks. And they think they can
    handle them. (They don't often understand the consequences,
    though.) They often willingly engage in sexual communications
    with men they know are adults. That's part of the thrill. They are
    also often willing to engage in sexual activities with the adult, but
    don't realize what that can mean when things go very wrong. We
    rarely hear about these kinds of victims, because they never report
    it when things go wrong. They feel as though they "asked for it,"
    or are to blame. When we hear of these cases, it's because they are
    killed or kidnapped. (Christina Long was in this category. She was
    the first confirmed murder victim of an Internet sexual predator in
    the U.S. and died four years ago this May.)
            Friends are the answer here. If we can get friends too help
    watch out for each other, it is less likely that they will meet adults
    in real life, or if they do, got alone. Also, finding cool
    spokespeople, like Nick Lachey, to explain that it isn't cool to be
    stupid and campaigns such as our "Don't Be Stupid" help. So do
    real life stories from victims themselves about how they got caught
    and advice from the trenches. Kateisplace.org has sections
    specifically directed at this type of victim. And Teen People is an
    important partner of ours in spreading the word.
            Not really a drunken slut, just playing one online:  We've all
    been reading about this new trend in the news (often with me as
    the expert). Good, respectful, otherwise well-mannered preteens
    and teens acting out in cyberspace.  In profiles, blogs, on social
    networking sites and their away messages on IM, on their websites
    and interactive gaming bios, they act out. They pose in their bras,
    or worse. They simulate sexual activities (and in some cases post
    images of actual sexual activities). They pretend to be someone or
    something other than what they really are. And this alter-ego may
    be a sexually promiscuous teen "up for anything."
            They don't think it is cool to tell others they were home
    coloring with their five year old niece last weekend. Instead they
    claim to have snuck out after everyone was asleep to get drunk at a
    wild party. To them it isn't real. They lie. They pose. They do thing
    online they would never dream of doing in RL. They aren't really
    drunken sluts - they are just playing one online. (Shannon, one of
    our award-winning Teenangels, will share insight into why teens
    and preteens are doing this, during her testimony today.)

    The Anatomy of a Cyberpredator:
            There have been many cases recently where pedophiles and
    other adults have lured children into offline meetings and molested
    them. Luckily, there are even more cases when such attempts to
    lure a child have brought about the attention of law-enforcement
    groups. I debated whether I should discuss any of these cases,
    because I did not want to sensationalize them. But if explaining the
    methods used by offenders might make parents more aware, and
    their children safer, it's worth it.
            Cyberpredators, just like their offline counterparts, usually
    aren't the scary, hairy monsters in trench coats we imagine
    standing on a dark street corner. Many are the kind of person you
    would be inviting to your home as a guest, and often have. They
    are pediatricians, teachers, lawyers, clergy, vice cops, welfare
    workers, journalists, Boy Scout leaders, baseball coaches,
    scientists, etc. They are almost always men. (Sometimes women
    are accomplices, but rarely are women the molesters.) They are
    often articulate and well-educated. They come in all shapes, sizes,
    and colors, and they can be very rich or out of work. But they have
    one thing in common: they want your child.
            Most of us are sickened at the thought of an adult having
    sexual relations with a child, but to be able to protect our children,
    we must get into the mind of the predator. First of all, predators
    often don't see themselves as predators. They see themselves as
    loving partners with the children they molest. To them this isn't
    rape, it's a seduction. And, as with any seduction, it's a slow and
    painstaking process. (Predators have been known to wait more than
    two years, collecting data on a particular child, before striking.)
    That's what makes them hard to detect. They don't appear to your
    child to be dangerous.
            An FBI agent who shared a panel with me recently said it best:
    "Before the Internet, these people had to get physically close to
    your children. They had to lurk near schoolyards, or playgrounds.
    Kids would see them. Adults would see them. It was a dangerous
    situation to be in for them, because everyone would notice an adult
    male lurking around children. They often had to take jobs and
    volunteer positions that allowed them to work with children in a
    position of trust in order to reach their victims. Now, however, the
    personal risks the pedophiles had to expose themselves to in order
    to be around children are gone. Now they can be 'one of the kids'
    and hang out with your kids online without exposing themselves.
    As long as they don't say or do something in the public room that
    makes them stand out, they can stay there forever, taking notes."
            And, many of them do. They have been known to create large
    databases on children. They track the children's likes and dislikes.
    They track information such as whose parents are divorced, who
    doesn't like their father's new girlfriend or their mother's
    boyfriend, or who likes computer games or a particular rock group.
    Kids often share personal information about their lives in
    chatrooms or on profiles. This is one reason why they shouldn't.
    The more the predator knows about your child, the more easily
    they can "groom" them or appear to be their soulmate.
            Some cyberpredators (known as "travelers" to law
    enforcement) seek out the good kids, the smart ones, the ones who
    are not street-smart and are from sheltered suburban or rural
    families. Many of our children match that profile perfectly. Others,
    however, target (or are targeted by) popular, super achiever, risk
    preferring teens. It took the death of a young teen from
    Connecticut, Christina Long, before we realized that many of the
    incidents involved teens who did not fit the loner profile. What we
    learned was that these kids never report any attacks or exploitation.
    The only time we hear of these cases is when the teen is kidnapped
    or killed.
            So who is a typical victim of an Internet sexual predator?
    Anyone between 11-1/2 and 15. All are vulnerable.

    It Doesn't Take Torture for Them to Spill Their Guts
            Here's a mock chatroom discussion that my law-enforcement
    friends and I agree is pretty realistic. Imagine a predatorial
    pedophile sitting and taking notes on this child, and using this
    information to lure them later. Would your child fall for this?
    Most, unfortunately, would. This one is more typical of a boy
    victim and predator communication than a girl victim
    communication.

    Child: I hate my mom! I know it's her fault that my parents are
    getting divorced.
    Predator: I know. My parents are getting divorced, too.
    Child: We never have any money anymore, either. Every time
    I need something, she says the same thing: "We can't afford
    it." When my parents were together, I could buy things. Now I
    can't.
    Predator: Me too. I hate that!
    Child: I waited for six months for the new computer game to
    come out. My mom promised to buy it for me when it came
    out. She promised! Now it's out. Can I buy it? Nope. "We
    don't have enough money!" I hate my mom!
    Predator: Oh! I'm so sorry! I got it! I have this really kewl
    uncle who buys me things all the time. He's really rich.
    Child: You're sooooo lucky. I wish I had a rich and kewl
    uncle.
    Predator: Hey! I got an idea! I'll ask my uncle if he'll buy you
    one too....I told you he's really kewl. I bet he'd say yes.
    Child: Really!? Thanks!!
    Predator: BRB [cybertalk for "be right back"]... I'll go and call
    him.
    - - -
    Predator: Guess what? He said okay. He's gonna buy you the
    game!
    Child: Wow, really? Thanks. I can't believe it!!!
    Predator: Where do you live?
    Child: I live in NJ. What about you?
    Predator: I live in New York. So does my uncle. New Jersey
    isn't far.
    Child: Great!
    Predator: Is there a mall near you? We can meet there.
    Child: Okay. I live near the GSP Mall.
    Predator: I've heard of that. No prob. What about Saturday?
    Child: Kewl.
    Predator: We can go to McDonald's too if you want. We'll
    meet you there at noon.
    Child: Okay. Where?
    Predator: In front of the computer game store. Oh! My uncle's
    name is George. He's really kewl.
    Child: Great... thanks, I really appreciate it. You're so lucky to
    have a rich and kewl uncle.

            Saturday arrives, and the child goes to the mall and meets an
    adult outside the computer game store. He identifies himself as
    "Uncle George" and explains that his nephew is already at the
    McDonald's waiting for them. The child is uncomfortable, but the
    uncle walks into the store and buys the $100 game. He comes out
    and hands it to the child, who is immediately neutralized and
    delighted. Stranger-danger warnings are not applicable. This isn't a
    stranger-he's "Uncle George," and if any proof was needed, the
    computer game is it. He gets into Uncle George's car without
    hesitation to meet his friend at McDonald's. The rest is reported on
    the 6 o'clock news.

            It's disgusting. It makes us sick to our stomachs, but it
    happens. Not very often, but often enough that you need to be
    forewarned. (Several thousand cyberpredator cases are opened
    each year by law enforcement agents in the United States.) But no
    matter how often it happens, even once is too often. Knowing how
    they operate and the tricks of the trade will help us teach our child
    how to avoid being victimized. Each case differs, but the predators
    tend to use the same general tactics. Aside from the "bait and
    switch" scam discussed above, they often attempt to seduce a
    child. They want the child to "want" them.

    The Script-How They Operate Online
            They begin by striking up a conversation with the child, trying
    to create a relationship of trust and friendship. They often
    masquerade as another child or teenager, typically of the opposite
    sex, unless the child has indicated homosexual interests. (The child
    may or may not know the "seducer's" real age by the time they
    meet face-to-face.) Phone calls usually start at this point.
    Sometimes gifts are sent to the child as well, which may include a
    Polaroid camera and film. Once they have broken down barriers of
    caution, they begin introducing sexual topics gradually, often with
    the use of child pornography to give the child the impression that
    other children are regularly involved in sexual activities.
            Then they begin to approach the child's own sexuality and
    curiosity, by asking questions and giving them "assignments," like
    wearing special underwear, sending sexually suggestive photos of
    themselves to the pedophile, or performing certain sexual acts.
    These assignments eventually broaden to the exchange of sexually
    explicit photographs (using the Polaroid, cell phone camera or
    digital camera) or videos of the child. Finally, the pedophile
    attempts to arrange a face-to-face meeting. (He may also have
    divulged his true age or an age closer to his actual age at this
    point.)

    Why It Works
            All the lectures we have given our children from the time they
    are very young about not talking to strangers aren't applicable
    online, where everyone is a stranger. A large part of the fun online
    is talking to people you've never met. In addition, our children's
    stranger-danger defenses are not triggered when other kids are
    involved. The warnings apply only to adult strangers, not to other
    children.
            If any of us walked up to a child in a playground and tried to
    strike up a conversation, they would ignore us and probably run
    away. But if an unknown eleven-year-old came up to another
    eleven-year-old in the same playground, they'd be playing in ten
    seconds flat! That's how the pedophiles get in under our kids'
    stranger-danger radar-they pretend to be other kids. And children
    often believe what they read and hear. They "know" things about
    the predator because they believe what he told them. They also
    believe what they read about him in his "staged" profile, which
    supports what he told them. So it's not just true, it's confirmed.
            There are many stages at which the pedophile can be thwarted
    by an observant parent. In addition, children with healthy
    friendships and a strong, open, and trusting relationship with their
    parents are less likely to fall victim to pedophiles online.
    Pedophiles typically prey on a child's loneliness. They feed the
    child's complaints about her home life-creating an "us-versus-
    them" atmosphere. "Your mom is so mean to you! I don't know
    why she won't let you _____." (Fill in the blank with whatever we
    try and limit: makeup, malls, concerts, etc.)
            This atmosphere does two things: It creates a distance between
    the child and her parents, at the same time bringing the child into a
    special secret alliance with the pedophile. (You should know that
    boys are almost as often the victims of Internet sexual exploitation
    as girls are, but they report it less frequently.)
            I have followed many cases over the last few years. In my role
    as WiredSafety executive director, I've also been responsible for
    reporting several of these to law enforcement and for helping many
    families through the pain of prosecution. Sometimes we just help
    the families survive what the molestation has done to them. (The
    child isn't the only victim-entire families are torn apart in the
    aftermath of a molestation.) Parents feel guilty for not having
    protected their child, siblings don't know how to treat their fellow
    sibling-the pain can continue for a lifetime, and even more. And,
    in addition to being hurt physically, the young victim's heart is
    broken by the betrayal of trust.

    Anatomy of a Real and Early Case
            One case I reviewed many years ago involved a New Jersey
    teenager and an Ohio adult predator. It was one of the earliest
    reported cases of cyber-predatorial conduct, discovered in 1996.
    Luckily, the liaison was discovered before the girl met the man
    face-to-face. But it had gone on for a year and a half before being
    discovered by the girl's mother. As you read the details, think
    about what could have been done to discover the situation earlier
    and how you can use these precautions to protect your children.
            Paul Brown, Jr., an Ohio resident, was forty-six years old. He
    was also unemployed, weighed over four hundred pounds, and
    lived in a basement. He had accounts with several ISPs. Mary (a
    hypothetical name for the young girl involved) was twelve when
    her mother, a schoolteacher, bought her a computer, reportedly
    because Mary was having problems making friends. When she got
    online, Mary posted a message on an online service, in the spring
    of 1995, looking for a pen pal. In her message she described
    herself as a teenage girl. Paul Brown, Jr,. responded to the
    message, using his real name (something they often do,
    surprisingly) but identifying himself as a fifteen-year-old boy.
            Brown and Mary maintained an e-mail and telephone
    relationship for several months. As the relationship became more
    involved, they began writing letters, and Mary sent Brown a
    photograph. He told her that he was living at home with his mother
    and was hoping to find a girlfriend. In early August, Brown asked
    Mary for a "favor." "If I sent you a roll of film, could you get one
    of your friends to take pictures of you in different outfits and
    maybe hairstyles? Makeup if you use any, and different poses.
    Some sexy, if possible. Please. Baby for me. Thanx. You're the
    best. Love Ya."
            Mary complied. For the next eight months, they continued to
    converse and correspond, and Mary sent additional photos. Brown
    encouraged her with juvenile antics, such as using stickers in his
    letters to her saying things like "Getting better all the time!" In
    May 1996, Brown sent Mary a special love note. "Saying I love
    you... seems to be an understatement. At the age of 14 you have
    captured my heart and made it sing... I love everything about
    you.."
            Shortly thereafter, Brown confessed to being in his twenties.
    He also suggested that Mary videotape herself in sexually
    provocative poses. She did. After Brown had reviewed her
    videotape, he returned it to her with instructions to redo the tape
    and include views of her genitalia and breasts. He later admitted to
    being divorced and in his thirties. He reportedly also sent her small
    gifts from time to time.
            A few months later, in response to Brown's promise to pass
    copies of the tape to four members of a rock band Mary admired,
    she sent additional videotapes to Brown. (Brown told Mary that he
    knew the band members very well.) Each tape sent to Brown was
    designated for a different member of the band and contained
    sexually explicit conduct. Brown apparently had also sent her his
    size 48 underwear. When her mother discovered the underwear,
    the authorities were notified. Tracing Brown through phone
    records, special agents of the FBI in Cleveland seized the
    videotapes and photos of Mary and of more than ten other teenage
    girls from across the country.
            Mary was fourteen when this was all discovered. Brown pled
    guilty to enticing a minor to produce sexually explicit photos and
    videos and was sentenced to a little less than five years in prison
    (the maximum penalty for a first offense). In a written statement to
    Brown following all of this, Mary said, "I trusted you. I thought
    you were my friend."
            There are several things that stand out in this case. One,
    interstate phone calls were made by Mary. Parents should always
    be reviewing long-distance bills for suspicious calls. Two, Mary
    was lonely. These kinds of children are often the most vulnerable;
    a parent should be involved in their online friendships, and monitor
    their online lives. And, three, as hard as it is to know what our kids
    are doing when we're not  around, especially if you are a single
    parent, a year and a half is a long time for a relationship to be
    going on undiscovered. You should spend time learning who your
    children's friends are, online and off. But Monday-morning
    quarterbacking is always easier than playing the game in real time.
    We may look at the situation and say that could never happen to
    one of our kids. However, there but for the grace of God go all of
    us....
            Knowing your child is lonely and has problems making friends
    is the first sign that the child may fall prey to a pedophile or cyber-
    predator. Predators can spot lonely children. They can also spot
    kids who are new online and may not yet know all the rules. Most
    teens, when surveyed, admit to having been propositioned online.
    But what may be obvious to a cyberstreetsmart kid may not be so
    obvious to a child not yet familiar with cyberspace. Pedophiles
    befriend these kids and patiently build trust and a relationship-
    looking toward the day when they can meet face-to-face.
            Encourage your children to make online friends, but learning
    about their online friends is an important way to avoid these secret
    relationships. Education is important in avoiding this danger, too.
    (Had Mary been forewarned about how pedophiles operate online,
    she may have been more attentive to how old Brown sounded on
    the phone, and been more aware of his classic tactics.) So is
    control over incoming and outgoing information when younger
    children are involved, using technology blockers, monitors, and
    filters. These kinds of situations can be avoided if you plan ahead,
    educate and communicate with your children, and keep your eyes
    open.

    Getting in Under Your Radar:
            Even when parents are watching, bad things can happen.
            I included the Paul Brown case in my first book, A Parents'
    Guide to the Internet. (He was sentenced in 1997, when I wrote the
    book.) I included it because it was a good example of how
    cyberpredators typically operate, and suggested that if the mother
    had been a bit more attentive, it might have been discovered
    earlier. I was right about how cyberpredators operate. I was wrong
    about how being attentive might have avoided the sexual
    exploitation. It takes more. It takes both an attentive parent and a
    teenager who has been taught how these pedophiles operate online.
            In November 1998, I met a mother who did everything right.
    She was attentive and inquisitive about her daughter's online
    relationships. She asked the right questions. She had a good
    relationship with her daughter, and yet Charles Hatch, a child
    molester from Utah, got in under everyone's radar and sexually
    exploited her thirteen-year-old daughter.
            Jennifer (not her real name) was eleven and a half when she
    first met "Charlie" online. She thought he was a few years older,
    and was intrigued about befriending a slightly older teenage boy.
    Jennifer was an honors student and had already been taking
    advanced college courses while still in middle school. She lived in
    a loving and warm household with her mother and father. She also
    had siblings and half siblings from her father's previous marriage.
    They were all close.
            Jennifer's mother, Sharry (also not her real name), talked to
    Jennifer about her online friend, Charlie. She insisted on talking to
    Charlie himself, by phone, once he and Jennifer had started calling
    each other. He passed the phone call test, and Sharry was
    convinced that he really was the teenage boy he professed to be.
    Either he had manipulated his voice to sound younger or he had a
    younger person make the call. Charlie even called and spoke to
    Jennifer's brothers, talking about when he would be their brother-
    in-law someday, after he and Jennifer were married. He pleaded
    with Jennifer to come and visit him in Utah. Sharry invited him to
    visit them instead. But Charlie always had a reason he couldn't
    come.
            As things progressed, Sharry insisted on talking to Charlie's
    mother. He first avoided it by saying she was sick, later that her
    sickness had become cancer, and that eventually she died from the
    cancer. The family fell for this, hook, line, and sinker. Most caring
    families would. Although the "relationship" progressed for almost
    two years, it remained relatively tame. Charlie was romantic rather
    than predatorial, and he sent her expensive gifts, including a
    Polaroid camera. (Remember the Polaroid camera Paul Brown
    sent?)
            Jennifer was inexperienced with boys and dating, and Charlie
    seemed to know not to push her too fast. But about a year and a
    half after they met online, Charlie sent her sexually explicit photos
    of himself from the neck down. She became very uncomfortable
    and pulled back. But several tragedies occurred around the same
    time, which made Jennifer easier prey. Her father was hospitalized
    with a serious illness, and her sixteen-year-old half brother died of
    a brain hemorrhage.
            Charlie, like all good predators, knew when to strike. He told
    Jennifer that she owed him sexually explicit photos of herself,
    since he had sent those of himself. When she refused, he told her
    that she would be left alone, since her family was dying or would
    die-and he threatened to leave her.  Reluctantly, after fighting
    against it as hard as she could, she acquiesced and sent him
    sexually explicit photos of herself.
            When Sharry was cleaning Jennifer's room, she discovered a
    letter in which Charlie had set forth the sexual poses he wanted
    Jennifer to photograph. Sharry sent him a letter, confronting him.
    She said that he didn't sound like a teenager in the letter. She told
    him that if he ever contacted her daughter again, she would inform
    the police. He never replied, and Jennifer was not permitted to use
    the Internet for months.
            One day, just when Jennifer and Sharry thought that the whole
    episode was past them, the phone rang. It was a detective from
    Utah, who informed Sharry that Jennifer's photos had been
    discovered in Hatch's day planner by a coworker. He wasn't
    sixteen-he was thirty-six. He was a former teacher who had been
    dismissed by the school after having been accused by a student of
    sexual abuse. (The school hadn't taken any other action.) He was
    currently employed by the welfare office in Utah, and was married
    with children and step-children.
            Six months later, Charles Hatch was convicted of sexual
    exploitation in a Utah federal court. He began his six-and-a-half
    year sentence in early June 1999. As a condition of his plea, he
    will not be permitted to use the Internet. This mother has become a
    dear friend of mine, after seeking WiredSafety' help in getting
    through this. She was the first parent to speak out publicly about
    her child being targeted by a sexual predator online.
            Unfortunately, the predators are willing to try many different
    ploys until one finally works.

    Using Celebrity's Names
            I was having lunch in Los Angeles with one of my girlfriends
    when Nick Lachey walked into the restaurant. She pointed him out
    to me and I immediately grabbed my business card and approached
    his table (to the utter embarrassment of my friend). I introduced
    myself and told him I needed his help. I explained that predators
    were using his name and the name of other celebrities to lure kids
    into meetings and unsafe activities. They find teens who post their
    favorite celebrities on their profiles, websites or other online
    communications. Then they create a profile claiming to be a close
    personal friend of that celebrity. They offer to forward a pic of the
    teen to the celebrity, and seek sexier and sexier pics as time goes
    on, ultimately ending with an offer to introduce the teen to their
    favorite celebrity in real life. Years ago, Justin Timberlake was the
    most popular of these celebrity lures. Nick is now. He listened
    intently and turned white when he realized people where using his
    name to hurt his young fans. He offered his help.
            When I left his table, he has agreed to do a public service
    announcement to help teens understand that is anyone claims to be
    a close personal friend of a celebrity, they aren't. Or won't be for
    long. I was very excited, but not as excited as I was two weeks
    later when someone from Nick's office called asking me to help
    them create a safer teen-only social networking site called
    YFly.com. I agreed and YFly.com became a reality with the
    financial assistance of Tom Petters (and the Petters Group), and the
    creativity and energy of its founders, Drew Levin and Daniel
    Perkins. I joined the team to set up a safer network and create the
    most advanced educational and awareness content online, just for
    teen users. The young users can click on "Report the Creep" if they
    suspect someone is an adult posing as a teen.
            It's a beginning. Finding safer technologies and services is part
    of the solution. So is awareness using teenspeak.

    Delivering Teen-Designed Messages Using their Media
            For the first time, other than at our summit on social
    networking last month, we are showing our "You Never Know..."
    animation series. Designed by teens for teens and preteens they
    help bring home the point that you never know who is pretending
    to be that cute 14-yr old boy or girl. These tiny animations are
    designed to be cell phone friendly and easily sent from preteens
    and teens to each other. The more we can get them to think about
    who they might be communicating with, the safer they will be.
            Shannon, one of our Teenangels is 14 years old. She was
    selected by Teen People as one of the twenty teens who will make
    a difference. She has gone them one better...she is already making
    a difference. It is with pride that I introduce Shannon Sullivan, one
    of my Teenangels.

    APPENDIXES:

                   Appendix 1:  Overview of WiredSafety.org

            WiredSafety.org is a 501(c) (3) charity and the largest and
    oldest online safety, education, and help group in the world. It
    consists of thousands of volunteers from more than 76 countries
    around the world, all working online with the mission of
    promoting a safer and more responsible Internet and wireless
    experience for everyone.

            Originating in 1995 as a group of volunteers rating websites, it
    now provides one-to-one help, extensive information, and
    education to cyberspace users of all ages and members of the
    Internet industry on a myriad of Internet and interactive technology
    safety issues. These services are offered through a worldwide
    organization comprised entirely of volunteers who administer
    specialized websites and programs. WiredSafety.org volunteers
    range in age from 18 to 80 and run the gamut from TV
    personalities, teachers, law enforcement officers, PhD's, writers
    and librarians to stay-at-home moms, retired persons, and students.
    WiredSafety.org's founder and Executive Director, cyberlawyer
    Parry Aftab, is also an unpaid volunteer. With the exception of its
    TeenAngels, outreach and speaking programs, all work and help is
    provided online and free of charge.
            WiredSafety.org's work falls into four major areas, all
    designed to help promote a safer and more responsible digital
    experience for everyone:
             Assistance for victims of cyberabuse and harassment and
    others who need help online, including parents, teens and
    educators.
    	 Advice, Training and Help for law enforcement worldwide on
    preventing, spotting and investigating cybercrimes and for
    members of the Internet and interactive digital industries in
    designing safer technologies and adopting and implementing
    best practices.
    	 Education for children, parents, communities, law
    enforcement, abuse and customer help staff within the Internet industry and
    professional development for educators.
    	 Information and Awareness on all aspects of online safety,
    privacy, responsible use and security wired, wireless and as
    new technologies are developed.

    Our target audiences include:
    	 Parents, grandparents and caregivers (including aunts,
    uncles and older siblings);
    	 Pre-reader lap-surfers, kids, preteens, teens and college
    students;
    	 Members of the Internet, wireless and interactive
    technology industries;
    	 Law enforcement, community policing agencies and school
    resource officers, legislators, the judicial community and
    regulatory agencies; and
    	 Schools and other educational institutions.

            Originally formed in 1995 (under another name) to provide
    help and protection for Internet users of all ages, in recent years,
    Wiredsafety.org's work has increasingly focused on the safety and
    good cybercitizenship of children, tweens, and teens. It serves as
    the umbrella organization for TeenAngels.org, WiredKids.org,
    WiredCops.org and WiredTeens.org. WiredSafety.org is dedicated
    to protecting children in cyberspace from cybercrimes and abuse,
    including from each other. This involves protecting them
    from cyberbullying, hacking, sexual harassment and identity (ID)
    theft. It also includes protecting children everywhere from
    Internet-related sexual exploitation. WiredSafety.org helps protect
    them from risks posed by adults, by each other and more recently
    from themselves, as their reputations and future college and job
    opportunities are impacted by what they post on their MySpace
    and other profiles. The package of programs designed for young
    users with the assistance of our teen and preteen volunteers is
    called "ThinkB4uClick," teaching them the consequences of their
    cyberactivities.
            Marvel Entertainment, Inc. has also joined forces with
    WiredSafety.org to provide superhero assistance in educating our
    children and families on safer online practices. The first Internet
    safety comic, Internet Super Heroes meet the Internet Villains,
    teaches how Internet predators can infiltrate anyone's computer
    and wreck havoc on their lives by stealing their identity and posing
    as them online. Published under its exclusive license with Marvel,
    and sponsored by Microsoft, this first comic will help teach the
    250,000 readers how to be smarter and safer online using Spider-
    Man, The Incredible Hulk and Dr. Doom, among others to bring
    the message to life.
            WiredSafety.org also provides information and resources to
    help educate and guide law enforcement officers on Internet safety
    issues, crime prevention and investigation of cybercrimes. It has
    created a special website just for law enforcement officers,
    Cyberlawenforcement.org, also known as WiredCops.org. As part
    of the Wiredcops.org initiative, specially trained volunteers assist
    law enforcement in the investigation and prevention of trafficking
    of children, child pornography, child molestation, and
    cyberstalkers. Recently, at the request of leading law enforcement
    agencies, WiredSafety.org has begun using its teen volunteers to
    provide information that will assist undercover law enforcement
    officers in creating credible profiles of preteens and teens to help
    them become more effective when operating undercover online.
            In addition to assisting law enforcement agencies,
    WiredSafety.org offers one-to-one assistance for victims of
    cyberabuse that may not arise to the level of a cybercrime and is
    not handled by law enforcement. WiredSafety's cyberhelpline
    gives "netizens" access to free help when they need it via the
    Internet. Its special team of helpline volunteers is assigned to cases
    and works one-to-one online to help resolve individual problems
    and get victims help when they need it. WiredSafety.org assists
    more cases of cyberharassment than any other organization in the
    world, helping thousands each month through its site and report
    line. Cyberbullying cases can be reported to the report line as well.
            But when dealing with preteens and teens, the challenge has
    always been getting them engaged. Their "selective hearing" can
    get in the way of their learning safer and more responsible
    behavior online, just as it may at home. When approached, teens
    told us that we had to approach them with things that they consider
    important, using their language. So, WiredSafety.org recruited
    teens and preteens who help us do that. These expert Teenangels,
    13 to 18 year olds, (and now their younger version, Tweenangels,
    from 9 - 12 years of age) deliver the message of safe, private, and
    responsible technology use to their peers. These youth-based
    programs were formed in 1999 to provide special perspectives and
    insight into how young people are using the new technologies and
    how to better prepare them to handle the risks they encounter.
            Teenangels have been recognized and honored by Congress,
    Parliament, John Walsh, Time for Kids and recently, Teen People
    Magazine, among others. Their training is extensive and takes
    almost one year to complete. When they receive their "wings",
    however, they are true experts. It is the only Internet expert youth
    program in the world. And, once trained, these special teens and
    tweens help develop safer technologies, by providing expertise for
    and advising members of the Internet and entertainment industries,
    media and governmental agencies around the world.
            Too often disconnected from the immediate consequences of
    their actions online, many "good" kids and teens find themselves
    doing things online they would never dream of doing in real life.
    This needs to change.  The youth programs created by
    WiredSafety.org focus on cyberwellness and cyberethics which fits
    perfectly within its mission and expertise. To keep our children
    safe online, they need to understand the norms and rules of
    operating online. They must also recognize that they will be held
    accountable for what they do in cyberspace and that what they post
    online has ramifications beyond the momentary click. Teaching
    responsible technology use is crucial.
            WiredSafety.org also offers a wide variety of educational and
    help services to the Internet community at large. Companies such
    as Disney, the Motion Picture Association of America, the
    National Sheriff's Association, Yahoo, Verizon Foundation,
    Marvel Comics, MySpace, Xanga, Johnson & Johnson, Google,
    Oracle, Facebook, Microsoft and AOL support and turn to Parry
    Aftab and WiredSafety.org for guidance and advice in dealing with
    Internet safety issues. Teenangels and Parry have testified before
    leading governmental and legislative bodies worldwide, including
    the U.S. Congress and the U.K. Parliament. Regulatory agencies,
    such as Singapore's Media Development Authority, the U.S. FTC
    and California's consumer protection arm have sought
    WiredSafety's and Parry's help. Their collaborative efforts with
    schools, community organizations, prosecutorial officers, local
    executive branch and law enforcement agencies, such as Alaska's
    Campfire USA, the Baltimore County public schools, Ohio's
    Wayne County Sheriff's office, the San Francisco DA, and
    Westchester County, NY's County Executive Spano, have affected
    hundreds of thousands of families worldwide. Using its unique
    expertise in the field, the charity also assists important trade
    associations, such as the CTIA (the wireless trade association) and
    the U.S. Sheriff's Association. WiredSafety.org also acts as a
    watchdog within most of the social networking websites, to help
    provide their users safety information and help when things go
    wrong.
            Select volunteers find and review family-friendly Web sites,
    filtering software products, and Internet services. Some of the
    outreach team volunteers run programs, summits and also speak at
    local community groups and schools around the world teaching
    Internet safety, privacy and responsible use.
            However, its work is not limited to the Internet alone.
    WiredSafety focuses on all aspects of interactive technology use
    and abuse. Its expertise includes cell phone safety and security,
    interactive gaming, social networking (mobile and online) and
    text-messaging products, as well as any new interactive
    technologies as they are developed. Its long years of working with
    Internet users and handling cybercrimes and abuse have created a
    flexible and knowledgeable volunteer force. If you can view
    content, communicate with others, spend money, or buy things
    using the technology, WiredSafety.org can help.
            WiredSafety.org is headed by Parry Aftab, a mom,
    international cyberspace privacy and security lawyer and children's
    advocate. Parry is the author of the first book written for parents
    about Internet safety - The Parents Guide to the Internet
    (considered the bible of online safety and published in 1997) as
    well as The Parent's Guide to Protecting Your Children in
    Cyberspace (McGraw-Hill, 2000), which has been adapted and
    translated around the world. Her most recent books have been
    especially written and adapted for and published in England,
    China, Spain and Singapore. Her new book, Internet Safety 1-2-3,
    was released in December 2005 in Spain and will be released next
    year in the United States. And her new "Stop Cyberbullying!"
    guide launched in Spain in May 2006.
            WiredSafety is proud of its reputation as the one-stop-shop for
    all cyberspace safety, privacy, security, and help needs. It is even
    prouder of the fact that all this can be accomplished without large
    government funding or money wasted on administration costs. No
    one is paid within WiredSafety.org. They are all unpaid volunteers
    - including Parry herself. This all-volunteer workforce has been
    estimated at providing more than $3 million in unpaid services
    every year. Using a popular website and series of special topic
    sites, the organization has reached millions of Internet users since
    its inception and addresses more than 5000 children, teens and
    tweens and 1000 parents in person every month, on average.
            WiredSafety.org mobilizes people of all ages who want to help
    others, and puts them to work doing just that. It is intent on its
    mission to "Take Back the Net!"

                   Appendix 2: Parry Aftab's Bio and CV:

    Updated July 2006
    Parry Aftab
    Bio

            Parry Aftab is a security, privacy and cyberspace lawyer, as
    well as an author, columnist and child advocate. A substantial
    portion of her time is donated to Internet issues involving children,
    from equitable access, to privacy, to safety, to helping develop
    quality and reliable content for children. She has also legally
    represented or acted as a consultant to most of the children's
    Internet industry, helping them comply with the law, while
    improving the Internet experience for children. When children and
    the Internet are concerned, Ms. Aftab's name is the first mentioned.
            Parry Aftab is a worldwide leader in the area of online safety
    and parent and child Internet education. As Executive Director of
    WiredSafety.org, the oldest and largest online safety and
    educational program in cyberspace, Ms. Aftab helps prevent and
    assist law enforcement agencies in investigating cybercrime
    against children and families. Under its former name, her group
    was awarded the President's Service Award in October 1998 from
    the White House and Points of Light Foundation. Ms Aftab also
    works closely with law enforcement around the world to prevent
    cybercrimes and police the Internet and is part of the Home Office
    Cybercrime Task Force in the UK. She was recently appointed a
    Special Deputy Sheriff by Wayne County, Ohio's Sheriff, Thomas
    Maurer.
            In 1999, Ms. Aftab was appointed by UNESCO to head up its
    child Internet sexual exploitation project for the U.S. She has also
    written the leading books for parents on Internet safety since her
    first book was published on the topic in December 1997.
            Although her vocation was Internet security and privacy law,
    her avocation is children online - helping them become good
    cybercitizens and keeping them safe, private and secure online.
    She is dedicated to helping curb Internet-related crimes against
    children and assisting law enforcement in bringing the child
    predators to justice. Everyone who encounters Ms. Aftab is
    impressed with her passion and energy when children's Internet
    issues are involved.
            While her passion is for protecting children from Internet
    sexual exploitation, she is also devoted to empowering them
    through access to the wonders of the Internet. She hopes to help all
    children become better informed and responsible cybercitizens,
    controlling the technologies instead of being controlled by them.
    Her programs are designed to teach them safe, private and
    responsible technology use, which includes teaching them good
    netiquette and respect for each other and the rights of others,
    including intellectual property rights of the music, movie, gaming
    and software industries.
            Ms. Aftab was among the first in the world to devote her
    talents to keeping children safe online. She has helped design
    programs for parents and children in a wide range of Internet-
    related issues for ten years. Her work has been recognized by
    leading technology influencers, such as Family PC Magazine,
    when she was awarded Internet Pioneer of the Year in 2001. And
    child protection agencies have recognized her as well, when Child
    Abuse Prevention Services presented her with their 20th
    anniversary Community Leadership Award in 2005. (Past
    recipients of this award include Senator Clinton, Linda Fairstein,
    Judy Collins, Dr. Joyce Brothers and the "God Squad.")
            Parry Aftab also provides parent Internet education and online
    safety content for such diverse sites as Nickelodeon, Children's
    Television Workshop, Disney, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo!, Google,
    AT&T and MSNBC. She is a regular keynote speaker, and
    resource on camera for the media on diverse cybercrime, safety,
    privacy and cyberlaw issues. She writes The Privacy Lawyer
    columnist for Information Week Magazine where she writes on a
    range of topics that affect technology, policy and privacy. Her
    expertise is especially in demand on children's Internet issues,
    because no one knows more about children online than Parry
    Aftab.
     	While she is devoted to protecting children online, Ms. Aftab
    seeks to empower children and their parents, not the censors. Her
    common sense approach to technology risks and solutions works
    as well anywhere in the world as it does in the United States. But
    what really makes her special is her ability to tap into the caring
    and creativity of young people to craft solutions that are written in
    their language and designed for their needs.
            She is a frequent and respected resource for news programming
    and print journalists around the world. Her expertise has been
    featured nationally and internationally in online and print
    publications, including Readers Digest, Playboy, TV Guide
    Magazine, Cosmopolitan, People Magazine, Redbook, Biography,
    USA Today, Information Week, Working Women, Teen People,
    U.S. News & World Report, Family Circle, Newsweek, Ladies
    Home Journal, Smart Money Magazine, PC Magazine, Good
    Housekeeping, Better Homes & Gardens, Family PC Magazine,
    Yahoo! Internet Life, Information Week, CIO Magazine, The Wall
    Street Journal, The New York Times, The LA Times, most
    regional newspapers in the United States, The London Times
    Magazine, The Strait Times (Singapore), The South China
    Morning Post Sunday Magazine (Hong Kong), and more. As a
    result of her work online with children, Ms. Aftab was selected as
    a charter member of Children Television Workshop's Advisory
    Board, as well as appointed to The National Urban League's
    Technology Advisory Committee. In 2003 she was elected to
    TRUSTe's Board of Directors. She served on the advisory board
    for the Ad Council for two terms.
            Parry Aftab has spoken to many governmental agencies and
    groups worldwide, conducted briefings for the U.S. Senate,
    testifies regularly before Congress, and has been a key speaker at
    the White House Summit on Online Content, the sole Internet-
    related expert speaking at the 2002 White House summit on
    Missing and Exploited Children and testified before leading
    legislative committees and The House of Lords, all with the same
    message: The Internet is a wonderful resource for families, and
    once parents understand the online risks, they can use common
    sense (and perhaps some filtering tools) to help their children enjoy
    cyberspace safely.
            As one of the first lawyers in the world to specialize in Internet
    legal issues, Parry Aftab is admitted to practice law in New York
    and New Jersey. She attended law school at NYU School of Law
    where she received her J.D. degree. She received her B.A. degree
    as Valedictorian of Hunter College (having completed her full
    undergraduate degree in less than two years), where she was
    inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
            She resides in the New York metropolitan area and is a mother
    of two. Ms. Aftab can be reached at Parry@Aftab.com.

                                 Parry Aftab

                        Professional Curriculum Vitae
                             Phone: 201-463-8663
                                parry@aftab.com

    ___________________________________________________________________________
    Internet privacy and security lawyer, licensed to practice law in NY and NJ,
        The Privacy Lawyer columnist, author, consultant and public speaker
                        Executive Director of WiredSafety.org

    AREAS OF EXPERTISE:   Worldwide Cybercrime Protection and
    Prevention/Identity Theft/ Privacy, Data Collection and Security /
    Workplace Risk Management and Security/ Consumer Protection,
    Advertising and the Internet / E-Commerce/ Cyberstalking and
    Harassment/ Child Exploitation and Child Pornography, Children
    Online, Online Marketing, Cyber-workplace issues, Privacy
    training and coaching

    ___________________________________________________________________________

    CURRENT POSITIONS	President/CEO - Aftab Cyber-
    Consulting
    						Executive Director, WiredSafety.org (a
    501c-3 corporation)
    						The Privacy Lawyer columnist for
    Information Week
    ___________________________________________________________________________

    EDUCATION		City University of New York		B.A., 1981
    				Hunter College				Valedictorian
    				(Completed 4 yr degree in 2 yrs)	Phi Beta Kappa
    (Nu Chapter)

    				New York University			J.D., 1984
    				School of Law

    SELECT HONORS	Community Leadership Award, 2005
    	        				Awarded by Child Abuse Prevention
    Services

    American Society of Business Publication
    Editors Award "Gold"    Original Web
    Commentary
    Informationweek.com for Parry Aftab's
    "Patriotism, Compliance and
    Confidentiality" article

    					Activist of the Year Award, 2002
    						Awarded by Media Ecology Association

    					Internet Pioneer of the Year, 2001
    						Awarded by Family PC Magazine

    					Home Office, U.K.
    Child Protection, Criminal Laws and Law
    Enforcement Task Forces

    ORGANIZATIONS	TRUSTe
    						Member- Board of Directors (Elected
    December 2002)

    					Ad Council
    						Advisory Committee member (1999 - 2003)
    					Children's Television Workshop Online
    (Sesame Workshop)
    						Advisory Board (1998 - present)

    					UNESCO
    President, U.S. National Action Committee,
    Innocence in Danger (appointed 1999)1998-
    present)

    					The Internet Society
    Elected Chair, Internet Societal Task Force
    and Societal 			Steering Group
    (worldwide, 2001)
    						Member of Public Policy Committee ISOC
    (2001-present)
    	Chair, Privacy and Security Working
    Group of The 			Internet Society Task
    Force (2000-2001) appointed
    	member since 1999

    WiredSafety (wiredsafety.org) the world's
    largest Internet safety and help group, formerly
    functioned as "Cyberangels," recipient of
    President's Service Award, 1998,
    						Executive Director (1998-present)

    					The National Urban League
    						Technology Advisory Committee (1997 -
    present)

    AUTHORSHIPS AND
    RELATED ACTIVITIES

         Author, selected books

    Cyberbullying Guide (Spanish and English guide on
    preventing and 	dealing with cyberbullying)
    				Spain 2006

    			Internet con los menores Riesgos (Spanish guide for
    parents on Internet 					safety, especially written for
    Spain and South and Central America)
    				Spain 2005

    			Children and the Internet (official Chinese Internet
    safety guide)
    China 2004

    			The Parent's Guide to Protecting Your Children in
    Cyberspace, McGraw-				Hill,
    (U.S. edition, January 2000; UK edition, March
    2000; Singapore edition May 2000 and Spanish
    language US edition November 2000)

    			A Parents' Guide to the Internet, SC Press (October
    1997)

         Contributor, selected books

    			Child Abuse on the Internet.... Ending the Silence
    (2001) Carlos A. Arnaldo, Editor
    			Chapter 21: The Technical Response: Blocking,
    Filtering
    			And Rating The Internet - by Parry Aftab
    The Best In E-Commerce Law
    	    			(2001) Warren E. Agin, Editor
    			Children's Online Privacy Law

          Selected Speaking Engagements

    WiredSafety's Social Networking Summit, June 2006

    US Congress, Commerce Committee, Sub-Committee
    Investigations and Oversight, opening day hearings April 4, 2006

    National Association of Independent School Annual Conference,
    March 2006

    Stonybrook Cyberbullying Summit, September 2005

    FDIC Conference on Security Online, August 2005

    The Westchester County Cyberbullying Summit, February 8, 2005

    The US Copyright Office - Luncheon Speaker (LA and SF events)
    February 2005

    Child Abuse Prevention Service 20th Anniversary Luncheon
    Speaker, April 2005

    FTC Workshop on P2P, December 2004

    House of Commons - Parliamentary Briefing on Internet Safety,
    October 2004

    IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals), June 11,
    2004

    EU- Safer Internet - Warsaw, March 2004

    Media Development Authority- Singapore, Family Internet Week -
    March 15, 2004

    Western Attorneys General Conference, July 29, 2003

    Domain Day, Milan, Italy, November 5th, 2002

    Wired Kids Summit, Washington D.C., October 15th, 2002
    (Mediator and Host of the event at the Russell Senate Building)

    White House Conference on Missing and Exploited Children,
    October 2nd, 2002 (Only panel speaker selected to discuss Internet
    issues). Other speakers included President George W. Bush, Colin
    Powell, John Ashcroft, Rod Paige and many distinguished others.

    Council of Europe, Children's Online Safety, Belgium, November
    2001

    Microsoft, Privacy and Security Summit, Privacy Speaker, San
    Francisco, November 2001

    Intellectual Property Organization, Featured Speaker on Internet
    Law, Privacy and Digital Rights, New York, November, 2001

    SCOPE, Keynote Speaker, Cyber-terrorism, New York, October
    2001

    Rappateour, E.U. Online Content Regulation, Luxembourg, June
    2001

    Bertelsmann Foundation, Experts Meeting, Singapore, February
    2001

    Microsoft, Privacy and Security Summit, Speaker (only female
    speaker), 	Seattle, November 2000

    Keynote Speaker, House of Lords, Kids Helping Kids, London
    (April 2000)

    Keynote Speaker, Singapore Broadcasting Authority and Ministry
    of Information Conference, Children Online, Regulatory Issues,
    Singapore (November 1999, May 2000, February 2001)

    Panelist, FTC Hearings on COPPA Regulations, Washington (June
    1999)

    Keynote Speaker, White House Summit, Online Content, Los
    Angeles (June 1998)

    Keynote Speaker, C.A.R.U., Conference On Children's Online
    Privacy
    		(September 1998)

    Featured Speaker, Littleton Town Meeting hosted by Tom Brokaw
    and Jane Pauley, MSNBC (April 1999)

                  Appendix 3: Parenting Online (from WiredSafety.org)

    Parenting Online

            What do we do when our eight-year-old knows more than we
    do about cyberspace? How do we guide our children safely
    through this new world? How do we set the rules when we don't
    even understand the risks? The childproof locks, seatbelts and
    helmets we use to help keep them safe in everyday life won't
    protect them in cyberspace. There we need new and different
    gadgets and safety tips.
            Welcome to the new world of parenting online! It's your
    newest challenge. But don't worry...it's not as hard as you think and
    it's well worth the effort.
            Parenthood is never easy and the ground rules are always
    changing. We go from playing the role of confidante, to co-
    conspirator, to police chief, to teacher, to playmate and back...all in
    the same day. We barely have the chance to catch our breath!
            The things we do to make sure our children stay safe are
    constantly changing too. When they crawl, we learn how to keep
    things off the floor. Then, they pull themselves upright, we have to
    keep them safe from the new dangers at eye level. Training wheels
    have to be removed, and we have to watch while they pedal away
    (generally into the nearest tree). We watch their sugar intake, make
    sure they take their vitamins and keep small items out of their
    mouths.
            That's our job, as parents. So the tried and true warnings,
    passed down from generation to generation, are repeated... "don't
    talk to strangers...," "come straight home from school...," "don't
    provoke fights...," "don't tell anyone personal information about
    yourself..." and "we need to meet your friends..." This is familiar
    territory after all. We know the dangers our kids face in the street
    or at the mall or in the school yard, because we faced them.
            As in any large community, there are dangers our children
    encounter in cyberspace, too. But, since our children know more
    than we do about cyberspace, we worry about how we can teach
    them to avoid those dangers. Don't panic... those dangers can be
    managed using the same old warnings we've always used.
            We just need to translate them into cyberspace terms...
            And there are wonders around every cyber-corner too...
            The Internet is the largest collection of information in the
    world, always available without a charge and delivered to your
    home computer. Every question you might have can be answered
    online. When your child asks you how deep the ocean is or why
    the sky is blue, you can "ask the Internet," together.

            You and your children can communicate with others too,
    worldwide and in every language, with the click of your mouse.
    Their artwork can be displayed, their news reporting published and
    their poems posted on the largest "refrigerator door" in the
    universe, where 700 million people can appreciate them.
            You can research your family tree and build a family Web site.
    And, best of all...the most complicated homework assignment can
    be researched online (even last-minute on the Sunday night before
    it's due).
            You can search online for just about anything and any
    information you want. The easiest way to do that is by using search
    engines. You can type your search into one of the search engines
    and often will find what you are seeking. Just as often, though, you
    will find sites that are trying to get your or your children's
    attention. Pornographers are the most frequent abusers of search
    engines, registering and coding their sites to trick people into
    visiting them, thinking they are Disney, Pokemon or even the
    White House.
            Most of the search engines now have filtering options. By
    selecting one of these options, most inappropriate content is
    filtered out and the search results are typically kid-friendly. Two
    commercial search engines were designed just for kids, though,
    and are wonderful places to begin your child's search online.
    Yahooligans!, Yahoo! kid-sized search engine hand-selects the
    sites, making sure nothing slips through. It is best for younger
    children, ten and under. Ask Jeeves for Kids is Ask Jeeves kid-
    sized search engine. Although not as scrubbed clean as
    Yahooligans! hand-selected sites, it contains many more sites
    which make it perfect for slightly older children. I recommend it
    for children ten and older.
            In addition, most full-size search engines have a filtered option
    you can select. But remember that even if you use a search engine
    filter, if the kids search for images, the can find things you wish
    they hadn't. That's when using a filtering product that can block
    images too might come in handy.
            In addition to kid-sized search engines, there are many
    wonderful family-friendly site lists. WiredKids has one of its own,
    where the sites are selected and reviewed by our specially-trained
    volunteers. You can even recommend your favorite sites to be
    added.
            There are some entertaining sites that teach children online
    safety, as well. Although we prefer our WiredKids.org,
    StopCyberbullying.org and InternetSuperHeroes.org the best, (she
    says modestly...) another very special one we want to point out.
    Disney's Surfswellisland.com teaches online safety Disney-style.
    Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse and Goofy all find
    themselves involved in tropical island cyber-challenges relating to
    viruses, privacy, netiquette (cyber-etiquette) and responsible
    surfing. Lesson plans, online safety worksheets and other
    wonderful resources are all available without charge at the site.
            Looking for homework help? Check out Discovery.com,
    Nationalgeographic.org, PBSkids.org and The National Gallery of
    Art kids page www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm. And ask your school
    librarian or the librarian at your public library for sites they
    recommend. Librarians and library media specialists are the guides
    to valuable and safe online resources for children. And if you need
    something you can't find, send me an email at "Ask Parry," (
    askparry@wiredsafety.org ) my Internet-syndicated online safety
    column. Drop by WiredKids.org or WiredSafety.org to find out
    how to submit a question.

    CyberSense
    ...translating common sense for cyberspace

             Don't talk to or accept anything from strangers. That's the
    first one we learn while growing up, and the first one we teach our
    children. The problem in cyberspace though is teaching
    "stranger danger." Online, it's hard to spot the strangers.
            The people they chat with enter your home using your
    computer. Our kids feel safe with us seated nearby. Their
    "stranger" alerts aren't functioning in this setting. Unless they
    know them in real life, the person is a stranger no matter how
    long they have chatted online. Period. You need to remind
    them that these people are strangers, and that all of the
    standard stranger rules apply.
            You also must teach them that anyone can masquerade as
    anyone else online. The "12-year-old" girl they have been
    talking to may prove to be forty-five year old man. It's easy for
    our children to spot an adult in a schoolyard, but not as easy to
    do the same in cyberspace.
             Come straight home after school. Parents over the generations
    have always known that children can get into trouble when
    they wander around after school. Wandering aimlessly online
    isn't any different. Parents need to know their children are safe,
    and doing something productive, like homework. Allowing
    your children to spend unlimited time online, surfing aimlessly,
    is asking for trouble.
            Make sure there's a reason they're online. If they are just
    surfing randomly, set a time limit. You want them to come
    home after they're done, to human interaction and family
    activities (and homework).
             Don't provoke fights. Trying to provoke someone in
    cyberspace is called "flaming." It often violates the "terms of
    service" of your online service provider and will certainly get a
    reaction from other people online.
            Flaming matches can be heated, long and extended battles,
    moving from a chat room or discussion group to e-mail
    quickly. If your child feels that someone is flaming them, they
    should tell you and the sysop (system operator, pronounced sis-
    op) or moderator in charge right away and get offline or surf
    another area. They shouldn't try to defend themselves or get
    involved in retaliation. It's a battle they can never win.
             Don't take candy from strangers. While we don't take candy
    form people online, we do often accept attachments. And just
    like the offline candy that might be laced with drugs or
    poisons, a seemingly innocent attachment can destroy your
    computer files, pose as you and destroy your friends or spy on
    you without you even knowing it. Use a good anti-virus, update
    it often and try one of the new spyware blockers. You can get a
    list of the ones we recommend at WiredSafety.org. Practice
    safe computing!

             Don't tell people personal things about yourself. You never
    really know who you're talking to online. And even if you
    think you know who you are talking to, there could be
    strangers lurking and reading your posts without letting you
    know that they are there. Don't let your children put personal
    information on profiles. It's like writing your personal diary on
    a billboard.
            With children especially, sharing personal information puts
    them at risk. Make sure your children understand what you
    consider personal information, and agree to keep it confidential
    online and everywhere else. Also teach them not to give away
    information at Web sites, in order to register or enter a contest,
    unless they ask your permission first. And, before you give
    your permission, make sure you have read the web site's
    privacy policy, and that they have agreed to treat your personal
    information, and your child's, responsibly.
    	 We need to get to know your friends. Get to know their online
    friends, just as you would get to know their friends in everyday
    life. Talk to your children about where they go online, and who
    they talk to.
    	 R-E-S-P-E-C-T. We all know the golden rule. We have a
    special one for cyberspace. Don't do anything online you
    wouldn't do offline. If you teach your child to respect others
    online and to follow the rules of netiquette they are less likely
    to be cyberbullied, become involved in online harassment or be
    hacked online. You can learn more about the ways to combat
    cyberbullying at our new website, StopCyberbullying.org or at
    WiredSafety.org's cyberstalking and harassment section.
    Remember that it is just as likely that your child is a cyberbully
    (sometimes by accident) as a victim of one. Let them know
    they can trust you not to make matters worse. You have to be
    the one they come to when bad things happen. Be worthy of
    that trust.

            Remember that the new handheld and interactive gaming
    devices you buy have real risks to. Your children can send and
    receive text-messages from anyone on their cell phones or text-
    messaging devices and interactive games allow them to chat, on
    Internet phone, to anyone who wants to talk with them. The new
    Bluetooth devices let your child receive messages form anyone in a
    300 foot range, and could be a problem if they play the new
    Bluetooth handheld games in a mall. Think about the features you
    are buying when you buy new devices for your children. Check
    into privacy and security settings. Our Teenangels (teenangels.org)
    are working on new guides for parents and other teens on what to
    look for and think about before you buy a new interactive device.
    Look for them at your local retailer or on the WiredSafety.org and
    Teenangels.org websites.
            Don't just set up the computer in the corner of their bedroom,
    and leave them to surf alone. Take a look at their computer
    monitor every once in awhile, it keeps them honest. Sit at their side
    while they compute when you can. It will help you set rules that
    make sense for your child. It also gives you an unexpected
    benefit...you'll get a personal computing lesson from the most
    affordable computer expert you know!
            And it's worth the effort. When our children surf the Internet,
    they are learning skills that they will need for their future. They
    become explorers in cyberspace, where they explore ideas and
    discover new information.
            Also, because there is no race, gender or disability online, the
    Internet is the one place where our children can be judged by the
    quality of their ideas, rather than their physical attributes.

            What Tech Tools Are Out There?
            Blocking, filtering and monitoring...when you need a little help
            There are many tools available to help parents control and
    monitor where their children surf online. Some even help regulate
    how much time a child spends playing computer games, or prevent
    their accessing the Internet during certain preset times.
            I've listed the type of protections that are available. But, most
    of the popular brands now offer all of these features, so you don't
    have to choose. Recently, given parents' concerns about strangers
    communicating with their children online, monitoring software has
    gained in popularity. Although it might have its place in protecting
    a troubled child, it feels more like "spyware" than child protection.
    But it's ultimately your choice as a parent. The newest trend is to
    use products supplied by your ISP called parental controls. AOL's
    parental controls were the first of these to be developed and used.
    MSN 8.0 launched the first set of parental controls for MSN. To
    read more about the various products and services we have
    reviewed, visit WiredKids.org and WiredSafety.org.

    Blocking Software
            Blocking software is software that uses a "bad site" list. It
    blocks access to sites on that list. They may also have a "good site"
    list, which prevents your child from accessing any site not on that
    list. Some of the software companies allow you to customize the
    lists, by adding or removing sites from the lists. I recommend you
    only consider software that allows you to customize the list, and
    lets you know which sites are on the lists.

    Filtering
            Filtering software uses certain keywords to block sites or
    sections of sites on-the-fly. Since there is no way any product can
    keep up with all the sites online, this can help block all the sites
    which haven't yet been reviewed. The software blocks sites
    containing these keywords, alone or in context with other
    keywords.
            Some companies allow you to select certain types of sites to
    block, such as those relating to sex, drugs or hate. This feature
    engages special lists of keywords that match that category. As with
    the "bad site" lists, the lists of keywords used by the filtering
    software should be customizable by the parent, and every parent
    should be able to see which terms are filtered.

    Outgoing Filtering
            No... this doesn't mean your software had a sparkling
    personality :-) (that's cyberspace talk for "grin" and means you're
    supposed to smile at my brilliant humor, and if you want to learn
    more about this stuff...you need to read my Ms. Parry's Guide to
    Correct Online Behavior). It means that your child won't be able to
    share certain personal information with others online. Information
    such as your child's name, address or telephone number can be
    programmed into the software, and every time they try to send it to
    someone online, it merely shows up as "XXXs." Even with kids
    who know and follow your rules, this is a terrific feature, since
    sometimes, even the most well-intentioned kids forget the rules.

    Monitoring and Tracking
            Some software allows parents to track where their children go
    online, how much time they spend online, how much time they
    spend on the computer (such as when they are playing games) and
    even allows parents to control what times of day their children can
    use the computer. This is particularly helpful when both parents
    are working outside of the home, or with working single-parents,
    who want to make sure their children aren't spending all of their
    time on the computer. Many parents who don't like the thought of
    filtering or blocking, especially with older children and teens, find
    monitoring and tracking satisfy their safety concerns. They can
    know, for sure, whether their children are following their rules.
            We particularly recommend using a monitoring software and
    then forgetting it's installed. Think of it as the security video
    camera in the corner of the bank. No one views the tapes until the
    bank is robbed. If something bad happens, you can play back the
    monitoring log and see exactly what occurred, and who said what,
    and in dire situations, where your child went to meet an adult
    offline. We particularly like Spectorsoft.com, because their
    products can monitor all instant messaging platforms, which is key
    to keeping your children safe online.
            Parents have to remember, though, that these tools are not
    cyber-babysitters. They are just another safety tool, like a seat belt
    or child safety caps. They are not a substitute for good parenting.
    You have to teach your children to be aware and careful in
    cyberspace. Even if you use every technology protection available,
    unless your children know what to expect and how to react when
    they run into something undesirable online, they are at risk.
    Arming them well means teaching them well.

    Your Online Safety "Cheatsheet"
    Some Basic Rules for You to Remember as a Parent . . .
    	 Make sure your child doesn't spend all of her time on the
    computer. People, not computers, should be their best
    friends and companions.
    	 Keep the computer in a family room, kitchen or living
    room, not in your child's bedroom. Remember that this tip
    isn't very helpful when your children have handheld and
    mobile Internet and text-messaging devices. You can't
    make them keep their cell phones in a central location. So
    make sure that the "filter between their ears" is working at
    all times.
    	 Learn enough about computers so you can enjoy them
    together with your kids.
    	 Teach them never to meet an online friend offline unless
    you are with them.
    	 Watch your children when they're online and see where
    they go.
    	 Make sure that your children feel comfortable coming to
    you with questions and don't over react if things go wrong.
    	 Keep kids out of chat rooms or IRC unless they are
    monitored.
    	 Encourage discussions between you and your child about
    what they enjoy online.
    	 Discuss these rules, get your children to agree to adhere to
    them, and post them near the computer as a reminder.
    	 Find out what e-mail and instant messaging accounts they
    have and (while agreeing not to spy on them) ask them for
    their passwords for those accounts.
    	 "Google" your children (and yourself) often and set alerts
    for your child's contact information. The alerts will e-mail
    you when any of the searched terms are spotted online. It's
    an early warning system for cyberbullying posts, and can
    help you spot ways in which your child's personal
    information may be exposed to strangers online. To learn
    how to "Google" them, visit InternetSuperHeroes.org.
    	 Teach them what information they can share with others
    online and what they can't (like telephone numbers,
    address, their full name, cell numbers and school).
    	 Check your children's profiles, blogs and any social-
    networking posts. Social-networking websites include
    myspace.com, facebook.com and xanga.com. (We work
    closely with MySpace and Facebook to help keep their
    users safer.)  Social networks, generally, shouldn't be used
    by preteens and should be only carefully used by teens.
    Yfly.com is a new teen-only social network that is designed
    from top to bottom to keep teens safer and teach them
    about more responsible behaviors.
    	 For those of you with preteens and young teens, read the
    Safer Social Networking guide at WiredSafety.org.
    	 Get to know their "online friends" just as you get to know
    all of their other friends.
    	 Warn them that people may not be what they seem to be
    and that people they chat with are not their friends, they are
    just people they chat with.
    	 If they insist on meeting their online friend in real life,
    consider going with them. When they think they have
    found their soul mate, it is unlikely that your telling them
    "no" will make a difference. Offering to go with them
    keeps them safe.
    	 Look into the new safer cell phones and cell phone features
    that give you greater control over what your children can
    access from their phone and how can contact them.

            Once you understand enough about cyberspace and how your
    children surf the Internet, you can set your own rules. These are the
    basic rules, even though you may want to add some of your own.
            Some kids like setting the rules out clearly in an agreement.
    Here's one you can use, and post near your computer to help them
    remember how to surf safely. (Note that while the tips may work
    for teens, the contract is designed for preteens and younger.)
            I want to use our computer and the Internet. I know that there
    are certain rules about what I should do online. I agree to follow
    these rules and my parents agree to help me follow these rules:

    1. I will not give my name, address, telephone number, school, or
    my parents' names, address, or telephone number, to anyone I
    meet online.
    2. I understand that some people online pretend to be someone
    else. Sometimes they pretend to be kids, when they're really
    grown ups. I will tell my parents about people I meet online. I
    will also tell my parents before I answer any e-mails I get from
    or send e-mails to new people I meet online.
    3. I will not buy or order anything online without asking my
    parents or give out any credit card information.
    4. I will not fill out any form online that asks me for any
    information about myself or my family without asking my
    parents first.
    5. I will not get into arguments or fights online. If someone tries
    to start an argument or fight with me, I won't answer him or her
    and will tell my parents.
    6. If I see something I do not like or that I know my parents don't
    want me to see, I will click on the "back" button or log off.
    7. If I see people doing things or saying things to other kids
    online I know they're not supposed to do or say, I'll tell my
    parents.
    8. I won't keep online secrets from my parents.
    9. If someone sends me any pictures or any e-mails using bad
    language, I will tell my parents.
    10. If someone asks me to do something I am not supposed to do, I
    will tell my parents.
    11. I will not call anyone I met online, in person, unless my parents
    say it's okay.
    12. I will never meet in person anyone I met online, unless my
    parents say it's okay.
    13. I will never send anything to anyone I met online, unless my
    parents say it's okay.
    14. If anyone I met online sends me anything, I will tell my
    parents.
    15. I will not use something I found online and pretend it's mine.
    16. I won't say bad things about people online, and I will practice
    good netiquette.
    17. I won't use bad language online.
    18. I know that my parents want to make sure I'm safe online, and I
    will listen to them when they ask me not to do something.
    19. I will help teach my parents more about computers and the
    Internet.
    20. I will practice safe computing, and check for viruses whenever
    I borrow a disk from someone or download something from the
    Internet.
    21. I won't post my cell number on my away message, and will
    check with someone before posting something personal about
    me on my blog or on a networking site.
    22. I will Stop, Block and Tell! If I am harassed online or
    cyberbullied.
    23. I will Take 5! before reacting to something that upsets me or
    makes me angry online.
    24. I will practice responsible "thinkB4Uclick" rules. (I know I can
    find out more about these things at InterentSuperHeroes.org
    and StopCyberbullying.org.)
    25. I will learn how to be a good cybercitizen and control the
    technology, instead of being controlled by it.

    _________________________________________________
    I promise to follow these rules. (signed by the child)

    ________________________________________________
    I promise to help my child follow these rules and not to over react
    if my child tells me about bad things in cyberspace (signed by
    parent).

    From Parry:

            I am asked questions about kids online safety at least a hundred
    times a day. Is the Internet a dangerous place? Are there predators
    out there looking to set up a meeting with my child? How can we
    find good and reliable content online? How can I supervise my
    child's surfing when I can't even turn on the computer?
            These any other question like these fill my inbox daily. (If you
    have a question of your own, visit WiredKids.org or
    WiredSafety.org and click on "Ask Parry." Here is the one simple
    answer:
            The single greatest risk our children face in connection with the
    Internet is being denied access. We have solutions for every other
    risk.
            That bears repeating, over and over, especially when we hear
    about Internet sexual predators, hate, sex and violence online. But
    our children need the Internet for their education, careers and their
    future.
            Happily, most of the risks are easily confined. In each and
    every case when children encounter Internet sexual predators
    offline, they go willing to the meeting. They may think the person
    is a cute fourteen year old girl or boy, but they know they are
    meeting someone they don't know in real life. That means we can
    prevent 100% of these crimes. Merely teach our children not to
    meet Internet strangers offline. If they are set on meeting that
    person anyway, go with them. That way, if the person turns out to
    be a cute fourteen year old, you are the hero. And if they aren't,
    you're an even bigger hero.
            Our WiredKids, WiredTeens and Teenangels programs, in
    addition to being fun and educational sites, are also volunteer
    programs where children and teens are taught online safety and
    privacy and responsible surfing. They then use these skills to help
    other children and teens learn to surf safely, as well. Talk to your
    children about what they do online (and offline also), and let them
    know you are there to help if things go wrong. You will note that
    in our safe surfing agreement parents have to promise only one
    thing...not to overreact if their children come to them for help.
    Earn their trust, and be worthy of it. Register your children at
    WiredKids.org, our children's online safety site, and we will make
    sure they learn what they need to know about enjoying the Internet
    safely and privately. It's not about technology at all...it's about
    communication and good parenting.
            Remember, we're all in this together!

    Parry
    Parry Aftab, Esq.
    Executive Director
    WiredSafety.org and its family of sites and programs, including
    Teenangels.org, WiredKids.org and CyberLawEnforcement.org

    WiredSafety is a 501c-3 non-profit organization formed under the
    laws of the State of New York. (Its legal name is "Wired Kids,
    Inc.") This publication is copyrighted to Parry Aftab, Esq. All
    rights reserved. For permission to duplicate this publication,
    contact parry@aftab.com.

    Appendix 3 and Appendix 4
    WiredSafety.org's Print PSAs

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you.  Thank you so much, Ms. Aftab.
    And Ms. Sullivan?
            MS. SULLIVAN.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  Good afternoon.
    My name is Shannon Sullivan.  I am 14 years old and I will be
    entering tenth grade in the fall.  Teenangels is a group of 13 to 18-
    year-old volunteers that have been specially trained by the local
    law enforcement and many other safety experts in all aspects of
    online safety, privacy and security.  We go through extensive
    training by Parry Aftab, Executive Director of WiredSafety.org.
    Teenangels was founded in 1999 in New Jersey, and I have been a
    part of the program since I was 13.  We are more than just teens
    who learn how to use the Internet and other interactive
    technologies safely.  We are experts who advise many leading
    corporations.  It is a great program because it is not teachers or
    parents just telling you another thing you shouldn't be doing.  It is
    your friends, another teen, someone who is in the same situation
    you are and understands the trends and what all teens want to do.
    	An interesting fact about Teenangels is that there are more
    Teenangels in the State of New Jersey than any other State in the
    country or any other place in the world.  More of us means more
    teens being taught about Internet safety, more parents aware of the
    dangers of the Internet, and a lot more teachers and schools
    involved in our fight for a safer Internet for people of all ages.  The
    fact is, kids do stupid stuff on the Internet.  They pose in
    appropriate pictures, post personal information, and speak to
    people they do not really know.  But the answer is not getting rid
    of social networking.  Social networking is here to stay.  I am sure
    it has become a part of your teens, or teens you know, lives and an
    essential communication for people of all ages.
    	WiredSafety is working with websites, law enforcement,
    parents, and schools to help create a total solution.  We do not
    want to get rid of social networking, but there are so many ways to
    make it safer and more kid and teen-orientated to protect our
    children.  There is not one answer to solving the problems of social
    networking.  Everyone needs to work together in order to solve the
    problem and to make sure social networking has more benefits
    than dangers.  One answer is teaching.  It is our job as Teenangels,
    and your job as elected officials, teachers, and parents, to inform
    all kids of what not to do and what they are allowed to do on the
    Internet.  We explain the dangers and the consequences of posting
    personal information, posing in inappropriate pictures, and
    speaking to people they do not know in real life, the teens, then
    they will be a lot of safer on the Internet.
    	The problem is, not enough teens understand the dangers.
    They do not believe it will ever happen to them.  But the fact is, it
    can happen to anyone.  And a lot of parents are unaware and are
    almost afraid of finding out what their kids are doing.  They feel
    very uncomfortable when using a computer.  Parents need to know
    what their kids are doing on the Internet.  Now, when a parent tells
    a teenager, or my mom tells me something to do, I am not
    necessarily going to listen or take it as seriously as when my peer
    or another teen tells me what to do.
    	Learning from your mistakes.  When I was in eighth grade my
    friend set me up with a profile on myspace.com.  All my friends
    have profiles and I figured it would be a good way to connect with
    my friends.  So on my page I had my picture, my first and last
    name, my age and school I attended and what year I was
    graduating.  I had no idea that it wasn't just my friends looking at
    my pages; anyone who wanted to.  Any predator who was looking
    for a 13-year-old girl from Woodbridge, New Jersey, could easily
    find one.  I learned from my mistake and I understand that
    anything posted on the Internet can be seen by anyone at any time.
    But teens need to learn from my mistake.  As we get teens to come
    out and tell their stories, either about how they have gotten in
    trouble on the Internet or about the mistakes they have made, then
    other teens would learn from what they did and not make the same
    mistake.
    	So what do we need to do?  As well-informed teens, elected
    officials, teachers, and parents, it is our job to teach kids and teens
    about the dangers of the Internet, inform parents about what their
    children are doing on the computer, and give teachers and schools
    options about how to deal with social networking and each coming
    trend on the computer.  The Internet is a great learning tool and it
    is great for people of all ages to use.  But if not used properly, it
    can become extremely dangerous and hazardous to our children's
    lives.  So if we all come together and work to make the Internet
    safer and teach today's teens and tweens how to be safer, then the
    Internet will stay as a great learning tool and a vital part of our
    lives.  Thank you.
    	[The prepared statement of Shannon Sullivan follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF SHANNON SULLIVAN, TEEN ANGEL, WIREDSAFETY

    Opening Statement:

            Thank you for inviting me here today to share information
    about Teenangels, WiredSafety.org and how we can protect
    everyone online. My name is Shannon Sullivan, and I am 14 years
    old from New Jersey. I will begin 10th grade in the fall. I have been
    a Teenangel for one year. I became one after my mother found out
    I had a MySpace. I had the opportunity of testifying before this
    sub-committee on the opening day of the hearings in Washington,
    following the testimony of Justin Berry.
            I have recently been honored by Teen People Magazine as a
    representative of Teenangels for our role in helping change the
    world. That is a big challenge. But it is one that teens can live up
    to.
            Teenangels are more than teens who learn how to use the
    Internet and other interactive technologies more safely. They are
    experts who advise many leading corporations.  They have become
    well-known for their special insight into technology from a teen's
    perspective. Teenangels now advise major corporations on Internet
    and technology uses, including Disney, the CTIA, Microsoft,
    AOL, Yahoo!, Marvel and others. They assist law enforcement
    agencies in designing more effective undercover investigation
    methods. They work with large industry groups, such as the
    Motion Picture Association of America, in building educational
    programs and public service messages.
            They have helped create safer interactive gaming technologies,
    safer cell phone features and more secure social networking
    programs. They have hosted briefings at the House of Parliament,
    conducted training for law enforcement agencies and written
    articles for leading magazines. They do presentations within their
    community for parents, students and senior citizens on safe use of
    the Internet and new interactive technologies. They spend a great
    deal of time on Internet sexual predators issues, anti-piracy and
    cyberbullying. We teach good cybercitizenship and responsible
    technology use, not only safety and privacy.
            Teenangels are 13-18 year olds who train in all aspects of
    Internet and interactive technology safety, security and responsible
    use. (Tweenangels is the younger and lighter version of
    Teenangels, comprised of 9 to 12 year olds.) Once we are trained
    by Parry Aftab, leading law enforcement agencies and industry
    leaders around the world, these special teen experts create their
    own programs to teach safe and responsible technology use.
            Some Teenangels are technological experts, creating
    animations, Flash applications, videos and computer games that
    help deliver their messages. Others concentrate on law and policy.
    Many have good public speaking, research or writing skills. The
    best thing about Teenangels is that it helps young people develop
    their own talents and help others at the same time.
            We challenge teens and preteens, "Think you know more than
    most adults about the Internet? Share what you know, and learn
    more from the experts. Be part of the solution. Be a Teenangel!"
            It is important that we teach young people that being safe isn't
    lame. That it's not cool to pretend you were out drinking all
    weekend, or to pose in your bra online. Many teens and preteens
    are lying about their ages to use social networking websites. And
    when they are there, they are often doing high risk things. But, it's
    important that parents understand that most teens and preteens are
    using the technology safely and responsibly. We just need to
    address them in our own language.
            Recently, Teenangels began working with Nick Lachey. When
    Parry wasn't able to attend a luncheon with Teen People
    introducing me (she was in Spain launching her new book), Nick
    came instead. He learned that Internet sexual predators were using
    his name to lure teens into sending sexual pics online. Since he
    first met Parry he has donated his time to helping us keep kids
    safer. He is even helping us with public service announcements
    and a fun new animated educational series we are producing using
            Teenangels to teach safer and more responsible technology use.
    Teenangels is now working with Nick's new site, YFly.com, to
    help create a safer teen social networking site. We helped create
    Don't Be Stupid to teach teens that engaging in reckless behavior
    online is stupid, not cool.
            As Teenangels, we have the mission of helping make the
    Internet safer. We need your help to do that. First I would like to
    thank you for helping us by providing funding. We just received an
    earmark from Congress, through the Department of Justice, for
    $50,000. Since Teenangels hold bake sales and wash cars to raise
    money for our programs, this will change our world. We cannot
    thank you enough!
            Next, I would like to share thoughts about what we can all do
    to help keep young people safer online.....
    Why Teenangels works and how teens can help keep each
    other and themelves safer online:
    	 We are more than just teens who learn how to use the
    Internet and other interactive technologies safely.  We are
    experts who advise many leading corporations
    	 It is a great program because its not teachers or parents
    just telling you another thing you shouldn't be doing, instead
    it's your friend, another teen, someone who is in the same
    situation you are and understands the trends and what all
    teens want to do.
    	 And an important part about TeenAngels is that there are
    more TeenAngels in state of New Jersey than any other
    state in country, or any other place in world
    	 More of us means more teens being taught about internet
    safety, more parents aware of the dangers of the internet,
    and a lot more teachers and schools involved in our fight
    for a safer internet for people of all ages

            Kids do stupid things on the internet, we need to recognize that
    if we are going to try and address the problem:
    	 Pose in inappropriate pictures
    	 Post personal information
    	 Speak to people they don't really know

            The answer is not getting rid of Social Networking
    	 Social Networking is here to stay
    	 I'm sure it has become a part of your teen's or teens you
    know lives
    	 It is the central communication for people of all ages
                    o Bands posting when shows are

            How Wiredsafety can help...
    	 WiredSafety is working with websites, law enforcements,
    parents, and schools to help create a total solution
    	 We don't want to get rid of social networking but there are
    so many ways to make it safer and more kid and teen
    orientated to protect our children
    	 There is not one answer to solving the problems with social
    networking
    	 Everyone needs to work together in order to solve the
    problems and to make sure social networking has more
    benefits than dangers
    	 And our Executive Director lives here in NJ too!

            One answer is teaching kids and teens to thinkb4uclick!
    	 It is our job as TeenAngels and your job as elected
    officials, teachers, and parents to inform all kids of what
    not to do and what they are allowed to do on the internet
    	 If we explain the dangers and the consequences of posting
    personal information, posing in inappropriate picture, and
    speaking to people they do not know in real life to teens
    they would change their behavior and be a lot safer on the
    internet
    	 The problem not enough teens understand the dangers, they
    don't believe it will ever happen to them, but the fact is it
    can happen to anyone
    	 And a lot of parents are unaware and are almost afraid of
    finding out what their kids are doing.  They feel very
    uncomfortable when using the computer.  Parents to know
    what their kids are doing on the internet.
    	 Now when a parent tells a teenager or my mom tells me
    something to do I'm not necessarily going to listen or care
    as much as when my peer or another teen tells me to do
    something.

            Learning from your mistakes
    	 When I was in 8th grade my friend set me up with a profile
    on myspace.com (tell story)
    	 I learned from my mistake and I understand that anything
    posted on the internet can be seen by anyone at anytime but
    teens need to learn from my mistake
    	 If we got teens to come out and tell their stories either
    about how they got in trouble on the internet or about the
    mistakes they've made then other teens would learn from
    what they did.

            So what we need to do
    	 As well informed teens, elected officials, teachers, and
    parents its our job to teach kids and teens about the dangers
    of the internet, inform parents about what their children are
    doing on the computer, and give teachers and schools
    options about how to deal with social networking and each
    coming trend on the computer

            Closing
    	 The internet is great learning tool and is great for people
    of all ages to use but if not used properly it can become
    extremely dangerous and hazardous to your children's
    lives.  So if we all come together and work to make the
    internet safer and teach today's teens and tweens how to be
    safer than the internet will stay as a great learning tool for
    people of all ages.

            Thank you for your time and caring enough to hold this
    hearing. And thank you for taking the time to listen to teens. It's
    nice to be included. And I will remember this day forever. On
    behalf of all my fellow Teenangels and Tweenangels, thank you.

    Shannon Sullivan, age 14
    New Jersey
    Teenangels.org

    Appendixes

    Appendix A: (from Teenangels.org)

    Safety Tips From the Mouths of Teenangels

    (The Real Experts)...

            While we have more extensive safety tip lists in Parry's book,
    here is a summarized version of the tips we thought were most
    important!
            As Teenangels, safety is our biggest concern. So here are some
    tips and ideas that we and others have to share. Some of the best
    suggestions come from TEENS, just like you!
            If you have a safety tip or story of something that has happened
    to you and how you handled it, please send it to us. We would love
    to hear from you! Email Teenangels.
            Thoughts for Parents, Teens & Kids from the Teenangels
            Parents... Don't be afraid of the Internet. It's an extremely
    useful tool & can't be dismissed because it is new & sometimes
    confusing. The Internet can be an excellent way for you & your
    children to bond & share a common interest. Be open with your
    kids & get involved. Most of all, learn all that you can about being
    safe, keeping your child safe, & taking advantage of the Internet's
    myriad uses. Tell your children not to be afraid to come to you
    with problems of any kind.
            Teenagers...Although the Internet is a great way to meet new
    people, do research, and chat with friends, there are dangers. Be
    aware of these dangers. Always use common sense. Although you
    may think that bad things won't happen to you, they most certainly
    can. Be open with your parents about what you do online. Don't
    meet people offline that you met online! Make sure a site is secure
    and trustworthy before giving in your personal information. Obey
    the law and don't steal music, motion pictures and software!
    Balance the time you spend online and offline. Remember your
    friends in real life and don't take them for granted. Go outside &
    enjoy life beyond cyberspace.
            Kids... While it's great to chat with people in kid-safe chat
    rooms online, you should spend time with friends in real life.
    School, family, & friends should always come before the Internet.
    Always tell your parents about what you do online. Let them sit
    with you, & teach them about the Internet. When they do sit with
    you, don't get mad at them. Just know they care about you & don't
    want to see you hurt in any way. Always remember that people
    online don't always tell the truth. Don't give out a lot of
    information about yourself. If anything bad ever happens to you on
    the Internet, always tell your parents or someone you trust. Always
    remember that it's never your fault.

    Appendix B: Don't Be Stupid!

    For Teens:

    Don't Be Stupid!

    What you need to know about cyberdating and staying safe

    The Downers:
            You never really know who someone is online. They may
    sound hot and their pic may be even hotter, but they could be
    someone you don't expect. They could be your little brother's
    snotty 12-year old friends having fun at your expense. Or three 15-
    year old mean girls posing as a heart throb to set you up for
    humiliation. Or they could be some 47 year old pervert. Either
    way, who needs it?
            And even if it is a cute 16-year old guy or girl, there is no
    guarantee that when things are over, that sexy pic you shared with
    them won't end up on some website or profile somewhere. Or they
    could use the password you shared with them to change your
    profile, pose as you and harass your friends or even lock you out of
    your own account. Or they could cyberbully, flame, cyber-harass
    or cyberstalk you or your friends.When you breakup, all bets are
    off!

    The Buck Stops Here...You Need to Protect Yourself Online
            Smart teens have been fooled by slimy adults posing as teens.
    There is no safe way to meet someone you only know online, (with
    maybe from a few phone calls to help), in RL. If you're thinking
    about meeting someone, think again. Talk to your friends. Check
    out Katiesplace.org and learn about how others have been hurt by
    adults posing as teens. Smart teens like you. Don't do it!
            We can't emphasize this enough! But, we also know that if you
    are convinced that this is a cute 16 year old boy or girl is the love
    of your life and destined for you from birth, you may ignore this
    advice and plan on meeting them in RL. If you are intent on taking
    this risk, do what you can to minimize it. Make sure you follow
    these Don't Be Stupid tips:
            1. Don't disclose too much personal info. Start by assuming
    that the person on the other end is a predator. That means no full
    names, street addresses, RL schedules or telephone numbers that
    can be reverse searched (check it out online or where you work, or
    similar info about your friends that can be used to find you offline.
    It's always a good idea to use a disposable e-mail address or IM
    account, something you set up just for this and that you can drop if
    things start going downhill (like yahoo, hotmail or MSN.) Make
    sure that this new screen name doesn't give away any information
    about who you are in RL either (Tiff1991@[fill in the blank]).
            2. Play detective. Photos can give away more information than
    you ever intended. Things in the background of the photo, like the
    license plate on your car, your house, the store where you work,
    the school or camp sweatshirt you're wearing or a pic with you in
    front of your school can be risky. So can photos posted by your
    friends. While you may be very careful about what you are sharing
    online, they may not be as careful. If you link to their profile and
    haven't told anyone where you live, but they post their best friends
    (including you), everyone can now figure out what town you live
    in and where you go to school. They just need to cross-reference a
    bit. The same thing happens with everything you or your friends
    post. Look over your profile and the profile of your friends. If you
    were a detective for Law & Order, could you find yourself in RL?
    If so, change whatever is giving too many clues away. Password
    protect it and guard your password, and ask your friends to do the
    same. Start a rule - never post info about a friend or their pic
    without asking first.
            3. Say Cheese! There are three issues about pics online -
    posting something you'll regret, shooting a lame pic or posting a
    pic that can be abused or misused by others. Sometimes to get
    attention, teens pose in provocative ways or snap a pic when they
    are doing things their parents would not want to see.
    Unfortunately, parents do see them. And so do principals and
    predators (and shortly college admission staff).
            We all know that lame "MySpace" pose - bad lighting, cheeks
    sucked in, lips pursed, head tilted up, with a flash in the mirror. :-)
    Is that really how you want to be remembered?
            Putting your best foot forward and using a good pic or a fun
    one is much better than doing the "I am so hot I can't stand it"
    pose. Boys posing shirtless and trying to make their pecs look
    bigger by crossing their arms underneath them, or girls posing in a
    bikini top (or worse) or very low cut pants will get you attention.
    But not the attention you may want. And cyberharassment where
    an innocent G-rated pic is manipulated and used to make you look
    bad or to morph your head on someone else's naked body is
    commonplace. You can avoid that by using photo-editing software
    to pixilate or blur the image, turn it into a sketch or cartoon, sepia
    or black and white. This makes your photos harder to abuse and
    less attractive to the harasser or a predator.
            Our new Best Food Forward (BFF) tips teach you how to make
    the impression you want to make, without being lame or stupid.
    You can read about them at Teenangels.org or at our Don't Be
    Stupid tips at YFly.com. These will help you come across the way
    you want to online.
            4. Look for the red flags. Beware of others online who:
            	 ask too many questions
    	         post things that don't make sense
    	         move too fast
    	         promise you ridiculous things (if it seems too good
                            to be true, it's not true!)
    	         like everything that you like, exactly the way you
                            like it
                     know too much about you
    	         engage in cybersex
    	         just don't feel right or make you uncomfortable
                     are evasive
    	         can't keep their story straight
    	         initiate sexual conversation or innuendo
    	         don't know the things most teens know (just know the
                    experienced predators make it their business to know these
                    things)
    	         pressure you to send sexy pics or meet in RL
    	         give you the creeps
            5. ThinkB4UClick. It's so easy to do things online that you
    would never do in RL. You don't have to look the other person in
    the eye. No one else is there to tell you to cool it. You are stronger,
    smarter, more empowered and braver online. You may not like
    your coach, principal or former best friend or boy or girl friend.
            You take their pic and morph it onto someone else's naked
    body. You post sex ads using their name and contact info. Maybe
    you take a pic of them with your cell phone in a locker room,
    bathroom, at a slumber party or in the changing room at the Gap.
    You build a profile telling everyone what a slut they are, or post
    these pics online anonymously. Or you send sexual images of
    yourself to someone you like, thinking they will want to go out
    with you if they see how sexy you are. They don't, but share the
    pic with their fifty nearest and dearest friends - who show it to
    their friends and so on and so forth....
            You think no one can find you, trace you or figure out who you
    are (you're wrong!). There is nothing between your impulse and
    your click...no time to think about it, no time to calm down. No
    time to use the "filter between your ears."
            You are also typing fast and aren't proofreading your text-
    messages, IM or posts, and often send it to the wrong person on
    your buddy list or misspell their screen name. You may forget to
    type in "jk" or the word "not." You may find yourself in trouble
    without knowing why. Think R-E-S-P-E-C-T! (Now do it like
    Aretha, with lots of style!) Taking that extra second to make sure
    you send it to the right person, aren't misunderstood and are
    willing to be accountable for what you are doing and saying online
    is crucial. It will save you lots of grief later!

    Appendix C

    For Teens:

    Finding Love in all the Cyberplaces...Don't Be Stupid!

            If you decide to meet someone in-person, and ignore
    everything we taught you -- at least follow these tips and trust your
    gut. If something feels wrong, get out of there and report it. And
    remember that about 30% of the victims are boys. They just don't
    report it. So be careful!
            1. Go public. Find out what they will be wearing and arrange
    for a place to meet. Then get there early and stake things out. The
    idea is to spot them before they spot you. Make sure that you meet
    in a well-lighted public place. It should be big and public enough
    so you can he help if you needed it, but not so big, crowded and
    noisy that you wouldn't be heard or couldn't get help. Don't meet in
    an amusement park, where screaming is part of the scenery. A mall
    is a good choice, but sit back and watch and see who shows up. If
    they are not what was promised, run...do not walk...home, to the
    security office or to the local police department. Make sure
    someone calls the police.
            Never meet at your place or theirs. Never get in a car with
    them. Go with lots of friends (preferably Sumo wrestlers). Ignoring
    these tips could cost you your life. Really. Several smart teens
    have been killed in the US over the last four years by people they
    met online. Don't become a victim.
            2. Bring backup. If you are going to meet, bring a lots of
    friends (preferably big ones :-)), and someone where you are
    going. Leave information about the person you are meeting. The
    bad guys will try and get you to erase the e-mails or bring your
    laptop or hard drive with you, so they can destroy the evidence.
    Best case scenario, trust your parents or another adult family
    member. This has saved more than one teen from being kidnapped,
    raped or killed.
            3. Find your own ride. Don't accept a ride from them or offer a
    ride to them...even if they appear to be cute and cuddly. Stay in
    control of where you go and how you are going to get there and
    back. Bring a cell phone and make sure it's charged. Have others
    check in on you too.
            4. Take it slow. Even if that's not your style, make it your style
    for any cyberdating situations. Just because they have told you
    their favorite bands, movies and food doesn't mean you have any
    idea who they really are. Treat it like a first date. It will feel weird
    at first. You feel closer than you would on a first date. They will
    know lots of things about you that you have shared. Often very
    personal things. But start from scratch. Don't move faster than you
    are comfortable doing and don't feel pressured. Keep others around
    for awhile as you get to know each other and trust your instincts.
            5. Rat on the Creep! Your parents will kill you if they found
    out you met someone from the Internet in RL. But if you don't
    report it to someone, this creep may kill some teen in reality! Most
    of the time when police arrest an Internet sexual predator, they find
    lots of e-mails on their computer threatening to call the police if
    they bothered the teen one more time. Had someone actually called
    the police, another teen might have been saved. Even if you won't
    tell your parents, find a way to report the creep. Check out
    Katiesplace.org for ways you can do that and more safety tips and
    real stories about real teens.

    copyright 2006, Parry Aftab, all rights reserved. For permission to
    reprint this, contact Parry at Parry@wiredsafety.org.

    Appendix D

    For Teens:

    Finding a Better Faith

            A fictional account.
            I thought I had met my dream guy. I really did. Now, I see
    where my mistake was, sure. It was in believing what I saw in the
    movies and on television. Believing what I read in magazines
    about true love and soul mates. I believed in the Madison Avenue
    picture of love, romance and happily ever after, and glossy views
    of happiness and popularity. I was taught these things my whole
    life by my everyone I knew and from books, movies, and songs. I
    was told that if I were good enough, thin enough, charming
    enough, pretty enough, and exciting enough my life would be
    fulfilling, happy and exciting. But no one ever tells you how
    dangerous this blind belief can be.
            When I was a freshman in high school, I was miserable. I lived
    in one of those towns where the same kids are in your grade all the
    way through school, so everyone gets to know each other pretty
    well. They knew me in middle school when I had acne and bad
    clothing and was shy and self-conscious. And then I grew out of
    that, but no one much noticed. I know I was pretty in the year or
    two before I died because people started noticing me - people who
    didn't go to my school, who didn't remember how I used to be
    awkward.
            And it felt good. I felt different and happy and hopeful. I
    thought to myself that maybe now I would have a boyfriend.
    Maybe he just couldn't find me before because I was shy and
    awkward, and it'll definitely happen now that I'm in high school
    and all the older boys can see how pretty I had become in the last
    few years. But it didn't. No one looked at me any differently than
    they ever had and I got depressed. I thought to myself that high
    school might just be middle school again - that maybe nothing
    would be different and I would have to go through three more
    years of being lonely and waiting until something better happened.
    For a while, I got resigned myself to this fate and then something
    changed and I got up one morning and said no. I think I said it out
    loud, actually, it's kind of funny to think of now. I decided that I
    would say no to this fate - that I wouldn't be alone and I wouldn't
    be miserable - not anymore. I decided that I would meet someone
    and I would have a boyfriend within a month or two - do or die -
    that I would take my life into my own hands. And that I did.
            I started going online and searching for people to talk to -
    people who would be more mature and would understand me. I
    sorted through people's profiles on Friendster and Xanga.com and
    set up my own. And then I met someone, and it was just as easy as
    I ever dreamed it could be. We IMed for hours, about everything
    and I felt, for the first time, that someone really understood me.
    Sounds pretty silly now. We talked about our families, our dreams,
    books that had changed us - everything. I thought I was falling in
    love. I knew I had found "the one." I was the lucky one, and had
    found my soul mate early.
            When he asked me if I wanted to meet, at first I said no, that I
    didn't know him well enough. He didn't push it, and instead, we
    started talking on the phone. He had a very deep voice, which
    didn't surprise me because he said he was 18, but it probably
    should have. Anyway, a month later he said he had to meet me. He
    said he couldn't' stand it anymore - that he loved me - and said
    that if I wouldn't meet him he would come find me because if he
    didn't see me he'd die. In the end, it didn't quite work that way,
    though.
            I realized that my parents would kill me if a random guy
    showed up at the house looking for me. I couldn't have that
    happen, so I agreed to meet him. It was stupid, I know, but I was
    told more time than one that it's okay to do stupid things when
    you're in love.
            I met him at the mall, in the food court. He was 37, not 18. I
    started crying and told him that he lied to me and I never wanted to
    see him again. I felt betrayed, and confused. He handed me the
    rose he had brought and a book of poems. I just stared at them,
    having problems separating the 18 year old I knew so well, form
    this man standing in front of me with tears rolling down his
    cheeks.
            While he cried quietly, he told me that he loved me so much -
    that he knew I would never date him if I knew how old he was,
    which is true. I worked up the courage to leave. But he started
    making a big scene - pleading with me not to leave him. Telling
    me how much he loved and appreciated me, when no one else did.
    I was afraid someone I knew or who my family knew might see so
    I agreed - his last request - to go outside to talk.
            He said he had a present for me in his car, and could he just
    give it to me. I said ok, probably the stupidest thing anyone's ever
    done. He clamped his hand over my mouth so no one could hear
    the screams. Then he pushed me in his car, throwing a blanket over
    me and holding me down so no one could see. He poured some
    smelly chemical over the blanket near my face. At first I held my
    breath, but finally had to take a breath. I knew I was in trouble, and
    felt dizzy immediately. I must have passed out. I don't know how
    long it was before I woke up, and realized this wasn't a horrible
    dream. It was real. He took me someplace in the woods, dragged
    me from the car and tied me up. He beat me, while he raped me,
    crying and telling me he loved me the whole time.  I felt like my
    insides were being ripped out. That was how I lost my virginity.
    And my innocence. And more.
            I still feel like its all my fault. Why did I believe him? Why did
    I believe that anybody normal could be that into me? Even after all
    this time, the only answer I can come up with is that I had believed
    in make-believe. If I hadn't wanted to fall in love so badly, if I
    hadn't needed someone wanting me to validate how I felt about
    myself, I wouldn't have let my judgment get clouded. I would
    probably be alone in my room, depressed, but I'd be better off than
    I am now.
            So believe in happily ever after, but reality too. It's okay to be
    hopeful because life would be too hard without it. But don't let it
    cloud your better judgment. Have faith in yourself and don't waste
    it on people who may or may not love you or save you or complete
    you. And don't trust people - at least for a while, at least till you
    know who they really are and what they are capable of. And never
    just because you talk with them online and on the phone and think
    you know them. Love and loneliness don't excuse stupid behavior,
    and they certainly don't buy you another chance to fix it.
            I will never know what could have happened in my life - who I
    could have met or what I might have done, because he killed me
    before leaving my body for some hikers to find weeks later.  I was
    almost unrecognizable. My parents had to identify me, and the
    hair, clothes and complexion I worked so hard to make perfect
    weren't even identifiable anymore. I was ashamed that I had done
    this to my parents, and my little sister, and most of all to myself.
    My friends didn't envy my "kewl" new life. They, instead,
    mourned me, and even my dearest friends talked about how
    "stupid" I was.
            My little sister couldn't stop sobbing. She held my hand, and
    clung to the casket when they tried to take it out of the church. I
    tried to hold her hand back, but nothing happened. I wanted to
    reach out and comfort her. But from now on, she wouldn't have a
    big sister to do that anymore. She couldn't climb into my bed and
    tell me about her kitten and why she wanted to be "just like me"
    when she grew up.
            I hope she wouldn't be just like me. I hope she is smarter than I
    was, and not as trusting. Not as naive
            I wish I had a second chance. I wish I could warn others about
    this kind of thing. But I can't. I'm dead.
            This "love of my life", my "soul mate" didn't only rob me of
    my innocence and any chance at happiness - I'll never know if I
    could have made it. I never got a fair shot. If you're in the same
    situation I was in, I can't say if it'll ever get better, or if you'll ever
    be successful, or rich, or pretty, or lose the weight, or get the guy,
    but I can say you better hang around and try, because I'd do just
    about anything for the second chance. A chance to find someone
    real. A chance to know if I could have been happy.

    Appendix E

    About Teenangels from a school technology director in Wisconsin:

            About 5 years ago, I got a phone call from one of the parents in
    our school district asking that her daughter's Internet and email
    privileges be revoked.  She decided that her daughter would no
    longer be allowed to be part of the "Cyber World."
            When I spoke more with this parent, I learned that the daughter
    had been harassed online.  She had given out personal information
    and was now receiving inappropriate emails and phone calls at her
    home.
            I immediately looked for resources online to help this family.
    The Internet is such an incredible resource - I wanted to find a way
    to convince the family that education regarding Internet use was a
    better solution than instituting a complete ban for their high school
    daughter.
            As a result of my searches, I happened on information about
    Parry - I contacted her and she agreed to speak at a school
    assembly with a parent information meeting to follow.  After
    Parry's talk, I literally had a line of students in my office - these
    students wanted to help other teens to be safe online.  From that
    group, our TeenAngel chapter was started.
            The Teens devoted an entire Spring Break to intensive training
    and the rest is history.  Our TeenAngel chapter works to educate
    Teens (and parents) about online safety.  We have a "Tech"
    division that works on programming and helps community
    members with problems ranging from P.C. trouble to instructions
    on virus removal.
            Our teens are highly motivated and highly technologically
    savvy.  Among other things, our group has attended the Wired
    Kids Summit in Washington D.C. working with legislators and
    corporate executives to help make the Internet a safer place for
    kids.  One of our teens was featured on "The John Walsh Show" in
    their "Hometown Hero" segment.  Locally, our teens have
    presented to numerous school, church, and parent groups as well as
    presented at state conferences focusing on issues relevant to Teens.
            This is a great program.  In our high school, it has become a
    place and program for our "Tech" guys to devote their energy and
    talent.

    Appendix F

            From Katiesplace.org, written by one of our Teenangels who
    wants to teach others how to avoid being victimized in the way she
    had been.

    When Your Mentor Becomes Your Tormentor - Alicia's Story
            You never notice yourself growing. It's so gradual, so smooth a
    process that the daily or even monthly changes are simply
    undetectable. Mirrors don't help - its only in comparing
    photographs, in seeing yourself at different stages, that one can
    notice the differences.
            My relationship online with Mac grew just that slowly. When
    we were first introduced online, he was courteous and interested
    and subtle, none of those childish IMs which are so common,
    among young teens, flaunting their new-found sexuality like so
    many new toys. He didn't try to have cyber sex with me, didn't
    make crude comments or ask me to go on the webcam. It doesn't
    work like that. He was thoughtful and gentle and nice, and, of
    course, entirely deceptive, and so we became friends. Just friends.
    And it was all very innocent - for a time.
            It was in the slowest, least noticeable way that he eased me into
    a more intimate relationship online. He was an expert, but, of
    course, I didn't know that at the time. The way the conversation
    moved into more personal territory never felt threatening because
    it moved so slowly. We would talk for a few minutes more each
    day, about something a little more personal each day, and some
    days we could talk about nothing personal at all. He never pushed,
    never insisted and so convinced me that I wanted to tell him
    personal things, or 'parrot' those things that he so wanted to hear
    from me. And I did.
            So we talked about everything - not just the sexual stuff. He
    was interested in me, as a person - my thoughts, my goals, my
    relationships with friends and family members. He gave me adult
    advice and always took my side. He was my advocate,
    unconditionally, at a time in my early teenage life where that was
    just what I needed. School was: well it was school, mean girls and
    nasty boys and everyone trying to be all that they're not- And my
    family and I, were very close, but we didn't always see eye-to eye
    about everything, sometimes they just seemed to think that I was
    still a child. But there was always Mac, and I could count on him
    to see things my way Always online. Always ready to talk. Always
    on my side. It was the most comforting thing imaginable.
            Soon enough, he wasn't just someone that I could trust, he
    became the someone I needed - I began to believe that he was the
    only one I could depend on to understand the real me, which is
    exactly what he wanted, of course. Somehow, in this process, this
    grooming of me, he had changed me, had destroyed my ability to
    reason. Imagine, I walked out the door, right out of my own front
    door into the darkest iciest winter night, with no money and no
    coat, to meet a madman who I thought was my best friend.
            Was I crazy? No. Was I duped? Entirely. When I review it all,
    comparing my mental photographs of our relationship at different
    times, I think, how could it have happened? How could my sanity,
    my reason, my mental state have decayed like that - how did he
    make me shrink away to nothing? How could I have gone from
    being a smart, sane girl having casual conversations with an online
    friend to doing something I would have sworn I could never do -
    who. shy timid little me?-never!!!!- meeting a total stranger in
    the dark, cold night - leaving home in the middle of a happy,
    loving, family holiday meal? My only answer is that I wasn't crazy
    - I was just under the spell of an incredibly skillful manipulator
    who knew that slow and steady wins the race - or at least the
    hearts of young girls. He took me apart and put me back together
    and bit by bit, day by day, byte by byte, he became the focus of my
    life and the one who understood me best. Why wouldn't I want to
    meet someone like that IRL? It felt right.
            And yet it was so wrong. The moment he persuaded me into
    the car, I immediately knew that I was in trouble. I knew. I had this
    terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as we drove down
    my street, out of my neighborhood, and then, onto the turnpike.
    Trapped "Quiet" he said. "Let's keep the trunk empty." I kept my
    eyes cast down, stealing quick furtive glances up at him from the
    corners of my eyes. Somehow, I instinctively knew that he was
    like a savage beast, and that I had only to make full eye contact to
    engage his anger, to force him to attack. I stared down at his shoes
    as we drove. At his pants, his socks, I studied them, eyes cast
    down. I could describe it all to you today - that image, that feeling,
    trapped .it will haunt me forever. Those hours sitting there, the
    waiting..
            What terrible fate awaited me when we arrived at his home? I
    never envisioned anything as terrible as the reality. When we
    arrived at his home it was - worse than even I had imagined it
    could be. It was way worse than a bad after-school movie. It was
    Friday the 13th and Texas- Chainsaw-Massacre! And he had it
    planned - days before, maybe months before, maybe the first time
    we ever spoke. I was stripped, tortured, beaten. .. Raped. Those
    words still stick to the roof of my mouth and are glued thickly to
    my tongue. I listened through the windows to cars passing by, to
    the voices of neighboring families going out for lunch and to the
    mall and coming home again at night, yet there I remained, collar
    around my neck, chained to a post, naked. This was me at age 13.
    Waiting for death. How would he do it? Would he stab me, would
    I bleed to death, my blood adding yet another stain to the filthy
    carpet" Would he beat me to death with whips and fists, chained
    helpless, unable to defend myself?
            Into this morbid fantasy, unbidden, a fairy tale that my mother
    had read to me while tucked warm and safe into my silken little
    'blankie' kept flashing into my mind. The one of an Arabian slave
    girl held captive by her master. The tale unfolds that at the moment
    her stories ceased to entertain him, to amuse him - then he would
    kill her, with this in mind, the helpless slave fought for her life
    with the only weapon she had - her mind... And she became my
    inspiration. I would persevere, I would not die. My captor would
    not win this battle. I knew that my family loved me, that they
    would move heaven and earth to find me. But I had to stay alive
    until they did. So I struggled, silently, determined to win back the
    life I had left behind. My life that somehow had seemed to become
    so empty, so sad. why? I understood now, in those cold hours
    alone, waiting for the monster's return, it all began to come clear. I
    wanted my life back! I wanted to feel my mom's gentle kisses
    good-night and my dad's crushing hugs, I wanted to run outside
    into the sun, to add my voice to the other happy children's, far, far
    away from the dark coldness of his dungeon. I wanted to
    experience anything - anything - except what was happening to
    me. I desperately wanted to live!
            So I waited it out. I prayed. It might not seem, to you, like the
    most courageous thing to do - I didn't fight him, didn't engage his
    anger. But, somehow, I knew that he would kill me, throw me
    away like trash in some cold shallow grave if I resisted anymore.
    He enjoyed my pain. So, I just wasn't there I left - mentally
    anyway. This wasn't happening to me. I escaped into my head and
    tried desperately to hang on to my sanity. It took my whole being
    to merely breathe. One breath at a time I waited for my death. I
    knew that one wrong move would cost me my life and so I simply
    waited, telling myself "today, yeah today they'll find me. rescue
    me," convincing myself that this would not be how it all ends, that
    my parents would not find their only daughter's dead and battered
    body in this evil man's filthy house. I couldn't, I wouldn't, let it
    end that way. So I resolved to live. Breath by breath. Moment by
    moment.
            And I did. I made it through, a miracle of survival, when so
    many other girls have been less fortunate. And I can't say if it was
    faith, or luck, or personal resolve that saved me. And it doesn't
    really matter. I truly feel that something greater than myself has
    directed me. I am alive. I was given the second chance that so
    many others had been denied.
            I promised myself in those dark and painful days and endless
    nights that if I were spared, if I were given a second chance at life,
    I would share my horror, to teach others - maybe you - how to
    avoid becoming his next victim. I would help them understand that
    the mentor you thought you found online might become the
    tormenter who steals your heart, your innocence and your faith in
    mankind. And ultimately, your life...
            Mac failed. While the emotional and physical scars may last a
    lifetime, he didn't shake my faith in myself or in mankind. He may
    have stolen days, weeks, months, he may have taken my
    childhood, but the rest of my life is mine. And I have reclaimed it.
    I will not allow him to torment me anymore. Only I have the power
    to control my future. I refuse to be defined by his betrayal of my
    trust, by his cruel sadistic acts or by those dark days, however
    devastating they may have been. I have a mission and an important
    role to play. I want to inspire others to move on, past their
    exploitation, to find their own life mission. I was spared and given
    a second chance. And I don't intend to waste it. I will continue to
    speak to young people and dedicate my life to helping catch
    criminals, like Mac. I am also helping, here, to build
    KatiesPlace.org and as a volunteer with WiredSafety.org and
    others.
            So, please don't remember me as the girl who was torn,
    twisted, confused, lured abducted and abused. Remember me for
    what I will accomplish. Please don't let this tragedy define me. I
    am so much more than that. And so are you. Join me in this
    mission. Together we can change the world, one child, and one life
    at a time. You can read about miraculous rescues and the dedicated
    and courageous men and woman responsible for bringing
    victimized children to safety here at KatiesPlace.org. And you can
    e-mail me through this site. Please, be safe.be aware.

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you, Ms. Sullivan.  And Ms. Hahn,
    you are recognized for 5 minutes.  Give her the microphone.
    MS. HAHN.  It is heavy.  Oh well.  Thank you for having me
    this afternoon.  As we all know, youth bullying is not a new issue.
    I am sure, growing up, many of you may have been a bully's
    victim or at least knew someone who had been called degrading
    names or in others way been harassed.  But bullying is one that can
    be easily overlooked as kids will be kids.
    	Bullying has become a universal issue that affects both boys
    and girls regardless of age or circumstance, and over the past few
    years has grown in epic proportions, from name-calling and to kids
    throwing sticks and stones on a playground to invading a person's
    home via text messaging and the Internet.  Thanks to the
    technologies of today, computer, websites, and cell phones, it has
    become increasingly easier and more appealing for bullies to seek
    out victims.  Kids who might have been hesitant to participate in
    bullying in the past can now hide behind an anonymous screen
    name without fear of being caught.
    	Name-calling, physical attacks, death threats, these are all
    things that I have personally gone through.  At the age of 12 and a
    half, I wound up in a state of depression.  I am able to be here
    today and to spread my story across New Jersey because I have
    gone through years of counseling and was able to recover.
    Unfortunately, that is not the case for every child.  We have kids
    committing suicide, as most of you know.  As a victim of severe
    bullying both online and off line for years, I fully understand the
    long-term effects bullying can have on a child.  My bullying
    experience started with a rumor that quickly escalated into verbal
    abuse and physical abuse, and eventually on to the Internet.  The
    bullying lasted for almost 6 years of my life.  I changed schools,
    but even that did not stop the bullying, because the bullies found
    new ways to torment me.  For me, the worst part of being bullied
    was when it was over the Internet, cyber bullying.  Because you
    have no idea who your attackers may be, they can hide behind a
    screen name, remaining anonymous, while the victims become
    increasingly vulnerable and defenseless, such as myself.  They can
    say cruel and malicious things, threatening, or even pretend to be
    other people.  Personally, I received instant messages and e-mails
    saying we are going to kill you, and in detail with what gun, what
    knife, what they were going to do with my body when they were
    finished with me.  I wouldn't go to the bathroom alone if I were
    you.  You better watch your back.  We are going to get you.  I am
    21 years old now I can honestly say that the scariest thing I have
    had to face in my life was cyber bullying; and it is something I
    continue to fear every day I sign on a computer.
    	So on the Internet, you have no idea who the bully is.  I was in
    class looking at every student as if he or she was the enemy.
    Because of the bully's mind games, I started having nightmares
    and couldn't eat.  I was physically making myself sick.  The bullies
    got inside my head and made me paranoid, always looking over
    my shoulder and wondering who the invisible attacker was.  After
    receiving online threats such as we are going to kill you and I
    wouldn't go to the bathroom, I refused to go to the bathroom while
    in school.  My grades dropped drastically because I couldn't
    concentrate.  I was threatened all the time and afraid to go
    anywhere by myself.  I wouldn't even leave my house without my
    parents.  This continued on and off from sixth grade all throughout
    high school.  Some weeks were quiet and I thought things might be
    calming down.  I would think, well, maybe the bullies got tired of
    me and moved on to someone new now, as awful as that sounds.
    But as soon as I got comfortable, the abuse would start all over
    again.
    	As hard as I tried, I just couldn't escape the situation.  I
    couldn't run away because there was nowhere to hide.  You are
    probably thinking like most people do and ask me, why didn't you
    just block the screen name or turn off your computer?  Well, I did
    just that and still the bullying continued.  I would block the screen
    name and in a matter of seconds a new one would be created.
    Usually the cyber abuse would happen over the weekends, where
    there was a sleepover or a party, and instead of listening to music
    or watching a movie, they would sign on the Internet for hours and
    just create screen names for hours.  I would shut off my computer
    and not go on for weeks at a time.  As soon as I would sign back
    on, the bullying would start all over again.
    	At first, like many kids do, I tried to ignore the bullies, thinking
    I was being oversensitive and hoping that by not bringing attention
    to them, they would just go away.  Not only did the bullies not go
    away, the bullying grew progressively worse and more physical.  I
    was pushed off a school bus onto the concrete and slammed into
    the glass doors of the school, receiving several concussions.  I
    couldn't hide the bullying anymore and my parents reported every
    situation to the school.  Nothing was being taken care of.  When a
    bully threw sheet metal at my face, my parents then took this issue
    to the board of education, only to find no records in regards to the
    bullying I endured.  My bullying experience was swept under the
    carpet.  But now with State laws on bullying requiring all schools
    to have an anti-bullying policy in place and detailing consequences
    for bullies, that can no longer happen.  It is vitally important for
    victims and parents to know this.
    	It has always been extremely important to me to get my story
    out to those who may be facing the same situations I faced in
    school.  Kids need to know that they are not alone and even more
    importantly, they need to realize that positive things can come out
    of negative situations.  In 2004, I started a Tolerance/Anti-Bullying
    program, bringing my message into dozens of schools across the
    State of New Jersey, reaching students from third grade through
    high school.  The program structured around my personal
    experiences, shows how bullying can affect its victims and their
    families.  The program soon earned the respect of the New Jersey
    State Attorney General's Office, and in October of 2004, I was
    asked to be the New Jersey State advocate for the New Jersey
    Cares About Bullying campaign.  As part of the Bias Crime Unit, I
    speak at State conferences and lectures.
    	I also work with i-SAFE, as you know, which is a national
    nonprofit Internet safety organization.  i-SAFE teaches safe and
    responsible Internet use through classroom lesson, through parent
    programs at home, and through unique peer-to-peer student
    mentoring.  As an i-SAFE mentor, I help teach students how best
    to avoid becoming a victim of cyber bullying and other online
    threats, like predators.  I teach, among other lessons, the four R's:
    recognize inappropriate behavior, refuse requests for personal
    information or a meeting, respond assertively, and report
    inappropriate online behavior to their parents and their Internet
    service provider.  I also challenge students to become i-MENTORs
    themselves, which empowers them to spread Internet safety
    education to their fellow students, their parents and others in their
    community.  There are 234 student mentors in New Jersey alone.
    Websites like myspace.com are attracting millions and millions of
    kids.  Many log on daily because it is fun to be a part of an online
    community; however, far too many of them are not aware of the
    risks or dangers.  Rumors and gossip, whether true or false, are
    spread around the world instantly.  Young children are posting
    pictures of themselves and they reveal personal information that
    can lead a cyber predator right to their front door.  Schools and
    parents need to do more to teach students how best to be safe on
    the Internet.
    	So far, 45,600 students have been taught i-SAFE lessons in
    New Jersey schools, but unfortunately, I was not one of those kids.
    I did not have the benefit of i-SAFE Internet safety lessons in any
    of the schools I went to before or during the time I was being
    bullied online.  My parents and I were left in the dark about what
    to do and I suffered greatly.  Now, based on my experience with
    middle and high school students, I know firsthand that Internet
    safety education works.  i-SAFE makes it cool to be cyber safe.  i-
    SAFE's Internet curriculum and community outreach programs
    connect with kids, enabling them to participate in a fun activity to
    help them better learn Internet safety lessons.  The same with
    parents.  Parents, who often just give up when it comes to
    computers and technology, learn how to keep their children safe
    online through i-PARENT boards and instructive parent night
    presentations.
    	At the conclusion of my presentations to students and parents, I
    challenge them to take action, take action to make a difference;
    take action to become an i-MENTOR; take action to demand that
    your district use i-SAFE.  So in that spirit, I call on Congress to
    take the same action, take action by passing legislation requiring
    Internet safety education be taught in all schools so every student
    will get quality and possible lifesaving education.  With that
    curriculum in place, beginning at an early age, students will learn
    to take control of their online experiences and be able to recognize
    and avoid dangerous, destructive and illegal online behavior, and
    to respond appropriately.  Thank you for your time.
    	[The prepared statement of Samantha Hahn follows:]

    PREPARED STATEMENT OF SAMANTHA HAHN, I-MENTOR, I-SAFE
    AMERICA

            Youth bullying is not a new issue. Growing up, many of you
    may have been a bully's victim or at least known someone who's
    been called degrading names, or in other ways been harassed. But
    bullying is something that can be easily overlooked with a "kids
    will be kids" attitude.
            Bullying has become a universal issue that affects both boys
    and girls regardless of age or circumstance and over the past few
    years has grown in epic proportions, from "name-calling" and
    throwing "sticks and stones" on the playground to invading a
    person's home via "text messaging" and the Internet. Thanks to the
    technologies of today (computers, web sites, and cell phones) it has
    become increasingly easier and more appealing for bullies to seek
    out victims. Kids who might have been hesitant to participate in
    bullying in the past can now hide behind an anonymous screen
    name without fear of being caught.
            Name calling, physical attacks, death threats, nightmares,
    depression, counseling, and recovery-as a victim of severe
    bullying both online and offline for years, I fully understand the
    long-term effects bullying can have on a child. My bullying
    experience started with a rumor that quickly escalated into verbal
    and physical abuse and eventually onto the Internet. The bullying
    lasted for almost 6 years.
            I changed schools three times. But even that did nothing to stop
    the bullying, because the bullies found new ways to torment me.
    For me, the worst part of being cyber bullied was on the Internet
    because you have no idea who your attackers may be. They can
    hide behind a screen name, remaining anonymous while the victim
    becomes increasingly vulnerable and defenseless. They can say
    cruel and malicious things, threaten, or even pretend to be other
    people. I received instant messages and e-mails saying, "We're
    going to kill you"; "I wouldn't go to the bathroom alone if I were
    you"; and "you better watch your back."
            So on the Internet, you have no idea who the bully is. You're in
    class looking at every student as if he or she is the enemy. Because
    of the bully's mind games, I started having nightmares and couldn't
    eat. I was physically making myself sick. The bullies got inside my
    head and made me paranoid, always looking over my shoulder
    wondering who the invisible attacker was. After receiving online
    threats such as "We're going to kill you" and "I wouldn't go to the
    bathroom," I refused to go to the bathroom while in school. My
    grades dropped drastically because I couldn't concentrate. I was
    frightened all the time and afraid to go anywhere by myself. This
    continued on and off from 6th grade all through high school. Some
    weeks were quiet, and I thought things might be calming down. I
    would think, "Wow, maybe the bullies got tired of me and moved
    on to someone new." But as soon as I got comfortable, the abuse
    would start all over again.
            As hard as I tried, I just couldn't escape the situation. I couldn't
    run away because there was nowhere to hide. You're probably
    thinking: "Why didn't you just block the screen name or turn off
    the computer?" Well, I did just that, and still the bullying
    continued. I would block screen names and in a matter of seconds
    a new one would be created. I would shut my computer off and not
    go on for weeks at a time but, as soon as I signed back on, the
    bullying started all over again.
            At first I tried to ignore the bullies by thinking I was being
    oversensitive and hoping that by not bringing attention to them-
    they would go away. Not only did the bullies NOT go away, the
    bullying grew progressively worse and more physical. I was
    pushed off the school bus onto the concrete and slammed into the
    glass doors of the school, receiving several concussions. I couldn't
    hide the bullying anymore, my parents reported every situation to
    the school. Nothing was being taken care of. When a boy threw
    sheet metal at my face my parents then took the issue to the Board
    of Education only to find no records in regards to the bullying I
    endured. My bullying experiences were swept under the carpet, but
    now with state laws on bullying requiring all schools to have an
    anti-bullying policy in place and detailing consequences for
    bullies, that can no longer happen. It is vitally important for
    victims and parents to know this.
     	It has always been extremely important for me to get my story
    out to the ones who may be facing the same situations I faced in
    school. Kids need to see they are not alone and even more
    importantly they need to realize that positive things can still come
    out of bad experiences. In 2004 I started a Tolerance/Anti-Bullying
    program bringing my message into dozens of schools throughout
    the state, reaching students from 3rd grade through high school.
    The program, structured around my personal experiences, shows
    how bullying can affect its victims and their families. The program
    soon earned the respect of the New Jersey State Attorney General's
    Office and in October 2004 I was asked to be the spokesperson on
    victim's behalf for the state's Anti-bullying Campaign "New
    Jersey Cares about Bullying." As part of the Bias Crime Unit, I
    speak at state conferences and lectures.
            I also work with i-SAFE, a national non-profit Internet-safety
    organization. i-SAFE teaches safe and responsible Internet use
    through classroom lessons, through parent programs at home, and
    through unique peer-to-peer student mentoring,
    As an i-SAFE mentor, I help teach students how best to avoid
    becoming a victim of a cyber bullying and other online threats, like
    predators. I teach, among other lessons, the four Rs: recognize
    inappropriate behavior, refuse requests for personal information or
    a meeting, respond assertively, and report inappropriate online
    behavior to their parents and their Internet Service Provider. I also
    challenge students to become i-MENTORs themselves, which
    empowers them to spread Internet safety education to their fellow
    students, their parents and others in their community. There are
    234 student mentors in New Jersey alone.
            Web sites like myspace.com are attracting millions and
    millions of kids. Many log on daily because it's fun to be part of an
    online community. However, far too many of them are not aware
    of the risks or dangers. Rumors and gossip-whether true or false-
    -are spread around the world instantly. Young children post
    pictures of themselves, and they reveal personal information that
    can lead a cyber predator right to their door. Schools and parents
    need to do more to teach students how best to be safe on the
    Internet.
     	So far, 45,600 students have been taught i-SAFE lessons in
    New Jersey schools. But, unfortunately I was not one of them. I
    did not have the benefit of i-SAFE Internet safety lessons in any of
    the schools I went to before or during the time I was being bullied
    online. My parents and I were left in the dark about what to do, and
    I suffered greatly. Now based on my experience with middle and
    high school students, I know first hand that Internet safety
    education works. i-SAFE makes it cool to be cyber safe. i-SAFE's
    interactive curriculum and community outreach programs connect
    with kids, enabling them to participate in a fun activity to help
    them better learn Internet safety lessons. It's the same with parents.
    Parents, who often just give up when it comes to computers and
    technology, learn how to keep their children safe online through
    i-PARENT Boards and instructive Parent Night presentations.
            At the conclusion of my presentations to students and parents, I
    challenge them to take action. Take action to make a difference,
    take action and become an i-MENTOR. Take action and demand
    that your district use i-SAFE. So in that spirit, I call on Congress to
    take action. Take action by passing legislation requiring Internet
    safety education be taught in all schools, so every student will get a
    quality and possible life saving education. With that curriculum in
    place beginning at an early age, students will learn to take control
    of their online experiences and be able to recognize and avoid
    dangerous, destructive and illegal online behavior, and to respond
    appropriately. Thank you.

    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you, Ms. Hahn.  Well, Mr. Livingston
    and Mr. Herrera, what about her suggestion that Internet safety be
    a required course for students?
    	MR. LIVINGSTON.  I think that makes an enormous amount of
    sense and that is what our trainings are going to be about and
    incorporating that into the--infuse it into the regular curriculum,
    where they are doing instruction on bullying and harassment.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Is bullying a real issue in the schools today?
    	MR. LIVINGSTON.  Yes, a tremendous issue.  And in fact, Mr.
    Herrera has a survey of students that was done at the Somerset
    High School.  And in each question regarding bullying, it is a clear
    problem students indicate, maybe 150, 200 students, I think, were
    surveyed on this--indicates that they many times don't report it.
    Many times they are bullied.  Many times they don't know what to
    do about it.  And sort of some of this survey gives you a reflection
    of the helplessness, a feeling of helplessness.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, Ms. Hahn talked about cyber bullying,
    but I suppose there are all sorts of bullying, right?
    	MR. LIVINGSTON.  Yes, yes.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Could you give me some examples of what
    you all have experienced, Mr. Herrera, in your school?
    	MR. HERRERA.  Yes.  Right now the Somerset County
    Vocational and Technical High School is following the oldest
    bullying prevention program, which was created by Dan Olweus in
    Norway.  And the program is the core elements.  What we did, we
    assessed our school needs through a questionnaire.  We have an
    antiviolence evaluation response team currently in place.  That is
    our school-base linkages program, and we identify and we prevent.
    We are a therapeutic, proactive community.  We have ongoing in-
    service to teachers.  We have the State Police come in and we
    decided to focus on the instructors who have the most contact and
    could identify students in need that are being bullied and harassed.
    	We increase supervision and supervision and supervision.  And
    the challenge that we are facing now as school administrators is
    when the bullying and harassment occurs outside the school, and
    what are we going to do to address that?  As school administrators,
    we are charged with responsibility and we can discipline students
    if it impacts the school environment.  Outside of the school, we
    need the continued cooperation that we have with the various local
    and State agencies.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Do you feel like you have the discipline tools
    that you need?  I mean, a lot of administrators of schools I talk to
    today sound like they are almost afraid to provide much discipline.
    	MR. HERRERA.  I believe that right now we do.  We also focus
    on the therapeutic and the rehabilitation of positive psycho-
    emotional growth of the students, so we target that in addition to
    the punitive, the educational, and the therapeutic.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And what is the relationship between
    bullying and child pornography?
    	MR. HERRERA.  I think it starts off with harassment and I think
    the three-pronged--the bullies, then you have the victims.  We do a
    lot of assertiveness training with our students, also, which I think is
    very, very important.  And also the bystanders.  The organization
    that Mrs. Aftab, which we will be investigating after today, is the
    peer-to-peer in a positive relationship, besides the meaningful
    conversations that students have with our instructors or faculty, but
    also with each other.  So we are going to definitely be research--
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Do you want to comment on that, Ms. Aftab?
    	MS. AFTAB.  Yes, if I may.  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  Our
    specific on site on cyber bullying is tostopcyberbullying.org, and
    the connection--to respond to your question, the connection
    between child pornography and cyber bullying is that cell phones
    that have photo capability and digital cameras are being used by
    cyber bullies to torment each other in sexual ways.  Kids that are at
    a slumber party, there is a kid they don't like, they wait until she is
    getting undressed and take her picture.  Dressing rooms, locker
    rooms, bathrooms are being used to take pictures of kids.  Up-skirt
    pictures are being taken with all kinds of different mechanics, a
    shopping bag, a purse opened to go next to somebody who has got
    a short skirt.  These are then published on the Internet.  They are
    all child pornography.  They are also incredibly, incredibly
    humiliating.
    	We also have cases where--young people are not known for
    great judgment and a young girl may like a boy, and we had a case
    in Westchester, New York, where a girl liked a boy, so she took a
    video of herself in mock performance of oral sex and she sent it to
    the boy she liked, thinking that that would intrigue him into dating
    her.  It didn't and he shared it with his 100 best and dearest friends
    and it is all over the Internet.  So this is a real issue.
    	In addition, you had asked a question about schools.  One of
    the big problems we have is a constitutional issue with public
    schools.  So cyber bullying typically happens, the actual act of
    posting it happens from home, from a cell phone outside of school
    premises after school hours, not using school equipment, not a
    school-sanctioned event.  And right now, constitutionally, the
    cases have held that if the school takes action during school, so
    that in a situation like this one, not on the in person bullying, if
    something was posted from a slumber party that affected her and
    the school takes action, the schools are sued and they generally
    lose that lawsuit and it costs them $50,000 or $60,000.  That has
    happened here in New Jersey frequently.  Actually here in Warren
    Township, it was one of the first cases where criminal charges
    were brought against a cyber bully for taking these actions.  So it is
    a real challenge.  We have a risk management program, and the
    program out of Norway is the best bullying program, and there was
    actually Federal money that was given to a sheriff in Ohio and we
    will be working with him on dovetailing our cyber bullying
    program with the Norwegian program.  So we will give you
    everything you need.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Okay.  Ms. Hahn, are you still an advocate in
    the Attorney General's Office?
    	MS. HAHN.  Yes, I am.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And could you briefly explain the
    responsibilities in that position now?
    	MS. HAHN.  At all the State-wide cyber bullying conferences, I
    speak on victims impact and I share my story for the educators that
    appear, and the law enforcement there.  And occasionally, very far
    and few between, I have gone to law enforcement training sessions
    where, there too, I share my story.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And you are finding that a lot of students
    have experienced this same bullying that you have, I am assuming.
    	MS. HAHN.  Yes.  At first it was very difficult for me, because I
    didn't realize how many kids are going through experiences
    exactly like mine.  Some students, yes, not as severe.  Others,
    exactly like mine or more so.  They, like myself, are having
    thoughts of suicide and why am I alive, and my teachers aren't
    doing anything.  I am going to faculty asking for help, and I went
    to my guidance counselor and they laughed at me, and this is a
    really big problem, especially knowing that there is a State law in
    effect.  It is happening all over and I think, with going into the
    whole cyber bullying and everything, I think the older generation,
    parents, we have mentioned a couple of times that we live in a
    generation where kids have their own cell phone with the picture
    phones and their own computers or laptops in their own rooms.
    The door closes.  Parents, mom and dad don't know what is going
    on.  They don't know if their child is the bully or the victim.
    Private schools now are requiring every student to have a laptop to
    travel class to class.  It is awful.  I know, in 2003, when the anti-
    bullying law was first passed, schools were giving classes and
    lessons and there were conferences and correctional officers were
    going through training.  I have spoken to many, many faculties and
    they say that since then, there really haven't been any training
    programs and that it is something that they want, especially
    Internet safety.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, thank you for the great job you are
    doing.  And Ms. Sullivan, you, of course, testified in Washington,
    but tell me again how long you have been a Teenangel?
    	MS. SULLIVAN.  For about 2 years now.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And you have spoken to how many different
    schools during that time?
    	MS. SULLIVAN.  I graduated from my grammar school, so I
    went to my high school and I have spoken to them and some other
    schools in my area.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Right.
    	MS. AFTAB.  And about Teen People.
    	MS. SULLIVAN.  Oh.  And then, I was honored by Teen People,
    as I said, when I was in Washington.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Right.  Well, we appreciate the great job that
    your organization is doing, and we look forward to working with
    you.  At this time, I will recognize Mr. Ferguson.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  I look forward to meeting Spiderman.  I was
    born in Bergen County and it ain't cheap there, either.  But first let
    me thank each of the five of you for being here.  Each of you in
    your different ways is having a really positive impact on different
    aspects of a problem which we are learning more and more about.
    And it is disturbing, it is upsetting, and I know--I mean, I speak as
    a former teacher, I speak as a legislator, but I also speak as a
    parent, and the work that you are doing is extraordinarily important
    in different ways, by raising people's awareness, encouraging
    people to learn more about the problems that some of this
    technology is raising.  We know that technology brings so much
    good and so many opportunities for good, but it is a double-edged
    sword and it brings incredible opportunities for people to do bad
    things too, and that is what this is about.  This is about--our
    investigation into this is about learning about what you all are
    doing on the frontlines and about how we can multiply the good
    efforts that you are doing to try and make other people aware of
    them.  So first, let me thank you for that, and I know, Mr.
    Chairman, we are bumping up against our time constraints here,
    but I really wanted to get that out first and foremost, to thank you
    for testifying in front of our subcommittee and for the work that
    you are doing in the field and in your various areas.
    	Mr. Livingston, could I just ask you about your district's
    interaction with some of these social networking sites?  Has the
    district had any contact with some of the direct networking sites, or
    the social networking sites, to express some concerns that you have
    had about some of what goes on here?
    	MR. LIVINGSTON.  Not to my knowledge.  They have had
    connections of concern among themselves and concerns about
    getting out the word and the message, and that is another reason
    now.  The concerns have raised to such a level at this point that we
    are doing this training in the fall to bring up to, I think, some need
    to have this information.  I think they need to hear what we are
    hearing today, the kinds of testimony you are hearing today, so
    they can bring it back and put it on the priorities.  As you know, in
    schools, there are a million priorities.  Everything is a priority.
    Everything is a mandate.  And I think that kind of training will
    help to bring it to conscious level--more work on this and more
    training in terms of the students, getting to the students and the
    teachers.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Would you comment on that briefly, if you
    would like?
    	MS. AFTAB.  Certainly.  As you know, we have been inside all
    of the major social networks for the last year and a half.  We
    started with MySpace when they were a twinkle in Tom's eye.  It
    had six million users in February a year ago, 2005.  At our request,
    they created a special e-mail address and people to work with
    schools at schools at--it is either school or schools@myspace.com.
    They are issues.  I am testifying tomorrow in Washington and you
    will hear more, and tomorrow we will be announcing a seal
    program.  People have been yelling at us.  They said that if I am an
    Internet privacy and security lawyer, I should take my expertise to
    work and help WiredSafety come up with a way of spotting the
    social networks who are doing a better job, who care more, who
    are implementing best practices, caring about kids' privacy in the
    various settings, and you will be able to spot them because it will
    have our seal on the front of the page.  So we will be talking about
    that tomorrow a little bit more.
    	It is a huge challenge and as the superintendent had testified,
    schools have these standards now, the No Child Left Behind.
    Schools don't have time to implement Internet safety programs as
    a stand alone, because then something else is going to fall aside.
    So we have our new curriculum that you will be hearing about in
    the next month and a half.  It launches in September.  Totally free.
    It builds into everything you are doing scholastically.  It is put
    together by Art Walinski, who you know, from New Jersey, part of
    the 21st Century Program.  A real simple, short thing that will teach
    kids and adults about cyber bullying and especially about
    responsible use of social networks.  So in little sneaky ways you
    have one from column A, two from column B.  You have to come
    up with all of these little things that will work.  And the social
    network challenge has changed the playing field.  I don't sleep
    anymore.  Unfortunately, it hasn't affected my eating patterns.  But
    we have to do something and our tag line--Ellen, do you have the
    one about the more information you give your kids?  We have two
    things that we are going to be launching and this is--well, I will be
    showing one tomorrow that is an animation, but this was put
    together on social networks and it is a print PSA, and that is it, and
    it is the more information you give your kids, the less information
    they will give a stranger.  And I can't train parents to teach their
    kids about Internet safety.  I can teach them to talk to their kids and
    give them little snippets as part of our Take Back the Net initiative.
    Well, you will hear about that--it is time.  And we now have the
    Mothers Against Internet Sexual Exploitation that will be
    announced, that was put together because of your hearings.
    Women, mothers come to me and say, we need to do something, so
    we are.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Thank you.
    	MR. FERGUSON.  Mr. Chairman, I am just very pleased to have
    this panel and our previous panels.  I am very pleased that you
    brought this subcommittee's hearing to our district here in New
    Jersey.  I am honored that you are here and very much appreciate
    your work and our staff's work in putting this day together.  I think
    it has been enormously instructive and I appreciate it and I yield
    back.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  Well, thank you very much for your
    continued leadership, Congressman Ferguson.  And we have
    enjoyed being in New Jersey very much, and I want to thank all of
    the panels, and I would remind you that we do read all of the
    opening statements.  I don't read all of them, the staff reads all of
    them and we use that information to go into other areas.  So we
    genuinely thank you for your time in preparing the opening
    statements as well as being here and giving the opening statements,
    and for your continued leadership.  And we are always open to
    suggestions that you might have.  So thank you very much.  We
    have really benefited from this and look forward to working with
    you and look forward to seeing you in Washington tomorrow.
    	MS. AFTAB.  Thank you.
    	MR. WHITFIELD.  And with that, the hearing is adjourned.
    	[Whereupon, at 1:25 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]