Numerous child exploitation cases in the home-state Texas district of U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) have been solved thanks to a law the congressman sponsored to protect the world of cyberspace.
The Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017, H.R. 1616, signed into law in November 2017, bolsters the abilities of law enforcement at the state and local levels to combat cybercrime via enhanced digital tools, according to an Oct. 11 statement released by Rep. Ratcliffe’s office.
“I’m incredibly grateful that my new law allows law enforcement officers in northeast Texas to better leverage digital avenues to get dangerous child sex offenders off the streets,” Rep. Ratcliffe said.
H.R. 1616, which the congressman introduced on March 17, 2017, amended the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) within the U.S. Secret Service for fiscal years 2017 through 2022, according to the congressional record. The NCFI has been established in Hoover, Ala.
The NCFI conducts several operations, including the dissemination of information related to the investigation and prevention of cyber and electronic crime and related threats; and the education and training required to enable state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges to fight cybercrimes, according to the official summary.
“Whether it’s a cell phone call that was made, or a geolocation that was sent – we’ve got many emerging ways to pinpoint predators in our communities,” Rep. Ratcliffe said last week. “It’s critical that our state and local police know what digital evidence to look for and how to find it, so we can prosecute those who commit sickening crimes against the most vulnerable in our society.”
Chief Investigator Corley Weatherford of the Hopkins County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office, a recent graduate of several NCFI classes, recently met with Rep. Ratcliffe’s district staff to highlight the law’s impact in the congressman’s northeast Texas district.
Weatherford said the NCFI classes, such as one on computer forensics, have helped him solve child exploitation crimes in coordinated efforts with the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. “Forensics were once looked at as something that is reserved for only the highest priority cases,” he said.
As the former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, Rep. Ratcliffe prosecuted and successfully spearheaded the conviction of a Nacogdoches, Texas sheriff’s deputy for child sex crimes in a case that gained statewide acclaim and later informed his work on the new law.
The lawmaker, who plans to continue fighting child exploitation in 2019, said such “horrific child exploitation crimes” still haunt him. “They’re what spurred me to prioritize legislative efforts in Congress that focus on protecting children, and I won’t give up on this important fight,” said Rep. Ratcliffe.