Online child exploitation reports increased in Illinois during pandemic

Online child exploitation reports increased during pandemic

There has been an increase in reports of online child exploitation during the pandemic.

CHICAGO - There has been an increase in reports of online child exploitation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul was joined by other officials who are partnering to protect children with the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC).

Raoul's office projects a 16% increase in reports during 2021.

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"We have enough violent crime. We have these crimes that we're here to talk about today with regards to internet crimes against children," Raoul said. "Hell, we need every bit of resources we have to protect the children of the state of Illinois from these horrific crimes."

The ICAC Task Force says while most reports involved adults abusing children, the task force also saw an increase in reports from Snapchat and Instagram involving youth's sharing minors self-produced content.

Since 2006, the task force has been involved in more than 1,700 arrests of sexual predators.