Columbus Dispatch...
DeWine takes aim at child sex abuse 
November 21, 2011 

Attorney General Mike DeWine will put the “full weight” of his office behind an initiative to prevent child sex abuse by hiring 15 investigators to catch pedophiles and child pornographers on the Internet, he said yesterday. 

The plan has been in the works for two months, before the recent scandal at Penn State University drew national attention to sex crimes involving children. 

DeWine called what is alleged at Penn State “unconscionable” and said he worries that people will shrug it off as an isolated case. 

“The tragic reality is that horrible crimes, unthinkable crimes, are happening against children every single day,” the father of eight and grandfather of 17 said during a news conference at his office. “We’re simply not going to tolerate this anymore.” 

Until now, DeWine said, the job of catching those who prey on children has been left primarily to local authorities. He plans to increase the state’s role. 

A new 15-member branch of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation — an agency within the attorney general’s office — will be dubbed the Crimes Against Children Unit. 

In addition to analyzing computers and cellphones for local law-enforcement agencies, the new investigators will scour file-sharing websites for child porn and enter chat rooms posing as underage boys and girls. 

Asked whether luring would-be predators to rendezvous with undercover agents is entrapment, DeWine said he is on solid legal ground because the “jackasses” and “sharks” have a predisposition to prey on children. 

When the Republican took office in January, the state’s Cyber Crimes Unit had 15 employees to help local authorities with computer-related investigations and prosecutions. 

DeWine has added six, not including the 15 agents being brought on in coming months to focus solely on investigating child sex crimes. The attorney general said he can afford to hire them because other jobs have gone unfilled. 

DeWine’s initiative was welcomed by Westerville Police Chief Joe Morbitzer, who attended the news conference with sheriffs and others. He said his department has two officers devoted to the growing number of cyber crimes, and the investigations are labor- 

intensive and costly because of the equipment needed. 

“This is an opportunity to work together,” Morbitzer said. 

Besides adding BCI agents, DeWine plans to hire another attorney in the Special Prosecutions Unit to focus on crimes against children. 

His office also will offer training to local law-enforcement officers and create a “rapid response” team to help victims. 

DeWine also will publicize photos of 109 Ohio sex offenders who he said molested children but have not reported their whereabouts since leaving prison and are wanted on arrest warrants. 

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “The safety of children in this state is our top priority, and we’re dead serious about this.” 

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