Bill > HB1098

This bill establishes the Investigation and Prosecution of Internet Crimes Against Children Program within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, designed to combat online sexual offenses targeting minors. The program will provide grants to law enforcement agencies to create or support task forces that investigate and prosecute specific internet-related crimes against children, including human trafficking, sexual abuse, unlawful contact with minors, and sexual exploitation of children. These task forces can include investigators, prosecutors, forensic specialists, and education specialists. The bill allows for grants to supplement existing federal funding (specifically from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) grant program), and to provide training for task force members in best practices for detecting and prosecuting these types of crimes. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency will develop guidelines for administering the program, including a scoring process for grant awards that considers the geographical distribution of task forces. These grants are intended to be additional funding, complementing existing federal and state financial resources, with the goal of protecting children from online sexual crimes.