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OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores addressed a working group meeting on a Multi-Pronged Approach to Internet Child Safety, March 27, 2008, in Boston, MA.

The intensive 2-day workshop and conference convened individuals from across the United States, all experienced in the area of online child sexual victimization, to share ideas and information.

In his remarks to the group, Administrator Flores said all preventive measures must be fully availed, and that the danger to children could not be understated, noting:

Juveniles make up 12 percent of all crime victims coming to police attention, including 71 percent of all sex crime victims and 38 percent of all kidnapping victims.

The event included a class on forensic mental health, a panel discussion on pornography and online offenders, and numerous guest speakers in addition to Administrator Flores.

The working group was spurred by a joint effort between the Justice Resource Institute, Boston College, and Villanova University. The primary goal of their proposed research is to reduce online sexual victimization of children and adolescents by using a multipronged approach to examine the problem from multiple perspectives. A secondary goal of the project is to study the evolution and impact of adult and child pornography on Internet sexual offenders.

This 2-year project proposes to build on pilot work supported by OJJDP in three important ways:

• Conducting in-depth structured interviews of a large, diverse sample of Internet sexual offenders.
• Examining the age spectrum of exposure to, use of, and technical familiarity with Internet pornography among high school students, college students, and offenders.
• Reviewing the efficacy of existing child protection software with recommendations for the next "generation" of such filters.

The proposed project is intended to advance the much-needed empirical research required to combat online sexual victimization of children and adolescents and improve Internet safety strategies.