Policing the web for child pornography by Attorney General John Cornyn Criminals today are breaking into their victims' homes, not on the telephone or by a knock on the door, but through computer modems. Pornographers in particular have found 113 million new potential victims for their crimes via the Internet. Purveyors of smut have found it convenient to use the Internet to transmit or trade pornographic images of minors from one user to another.
Many children use the Internet daily to play games, complete homework and write e-mail messages.
The ease of data transfer increases the probability that these innocent minors may also be exposed to illegal pornographic material. Increasingly, local Texas law enforcement officials are also called upon to use the Internet to break certain cases. This is why I am offering help to local law enforcement agencies from a specialized crime fighting unit within my Prosecutor Assistance Division. Governor George W. Bush's Criminal Justice Division has funded this unit with a grant to combat criminal activity targeting children on the Internet. Now, law enforcement officials statewide can turn to my office for help when they have limited resources, find conflicts of interest or simply have a need for specialized expertise on these crimes.