Right now, at the Maine State
Police’s Computer Crimes Unit a stack of computers and other electronic devices
is gathering dust in a storage room.
These devices contain
evidence in cases in which a computer was used in committing a crime, or in
cases where the computer was a target of a criminal act. Currently, there are
85 cases in this backlog, most of which originated between 2015 and 2017 and
about half of which pertain to the exploitation of children, such as child
pornography or an individual soliciting sex with a minor.
To be clear, this means that
criminal child predators are out on the streets and on the web, evading justice
and possibly plotting their next attack.
Unfortunately, this issue is
nothing new—the Bangor
Daily News reported in 2012 that the Computer
Crimes Unit had a backlog of 156 cases. The progress made since then is a
credit to the hard work of the analysts in the unit. However, more and more
crimes are being committed using computers, and technology improvements have
increased the complexity of cases handled by the unit, so analysts are facing
an uphill battle.
At the root of this problem
is the chronic underfunding and understaffing of the unit.
I’ve been working with the
State Police and the Computer Crimes Unit for 15 years, trying to secure the
appropriate funds to analyze the backlog of evidence against several child
predators so we can rescue the children who are being used to produce child
pornography videos for sale online. There have been proposals in past years to
bump up funding for the unit, and through our piece-meal efforts small
increases in funding have occurred, but our call to address the full need of
this important unit has fallen on deaf ears in both Republican and Democratic
administrations alike.
That could change this year.
After strategic planning
sessions this fall, it was decided that we should approach Gov. Janet Mills to
see if she would include in her budget the needed funding to reorganize the
entire Computer Crimes Unit, adding the necessary forensic analysts and
detectives to get the evidence backlog analyzed and sent to prosecutors for
arrests.
Gov. Mills recognized the
seriousness of the child pornography and exploitation problem and agreed to
include in her budget seven new positions at the unit. These positions will
include a new analyst and an administrative assistant to help take some
non-investigative work off current analysts’ plates.
With new funding, the unit
will work to create an affiliate program which would work with local
authorities to help identify and investigate more child sexual abuse cases. The
unit will also add three new detectives, which will increase the volume of
cases it is able to take on. A new quality control position will also be added.
We cannot continue to put the
financial squeeze on this critical investigative unit.
Underfunding its work
jeopardizes the safety of children in Maine and across the globe who are either
being sexually abused now or are at risk of becoming victims in the near future
if we allow child predators to continue to walk free among us.
We’ve never addressed this
problem the way we should, and we cannot wait any longer. If not now, when?
If you have any ideas,
questions or concerns, please feel free to contact my office at
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