ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — The exploitation of children on the internet has once again come under the spotlight as the Internet Crimes Against Children and the Ross County Sheriff’s Office investigate reports of alleged child pornography. Two cases have been reported in the county, with ICAC alerting the sheriff’s office to both.
The first case was reported on December 8th, 2022, after ICAC was alerted to an IP address. A search revealed that the IP address was linked to a residence in the 12000 block of Pleasant Valley Road. The case was assigned to a detective for further investigation.
In the second case, ICAC alerted investigators that a photograph of a teenage adolescent was downloaded from an internet dating site on December 27th, 2022. Authorities traced the IP address back to a residence in the 500 block of Happy Hollow.
At present, no charges have been filed, and both cases remain under investigation.
The exploitation of children on the internet is a growing concern worldwide. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the number of reports of suspected child sexual exploitation online has increased dramatically in recent years. In 2020 alone, NCMEC received over 21 million reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation.
Efforts are being made to tackle the problem, with law enforcement agencies working together to investigate and prosecute those who exploit children online. However, more needs to be done to protect vulnerable children and prevent the spread of child pornography on the internet.
