For the Reporter

Washington’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force on Monday honored Sen. Pam Roach for securing state funding that will let the organization target more of the sex criminals who use the Internet to prey on children.

“ICAC needed more resources to hire more investigators to go after those who create and trade online in child sex-abuse videos,” said Roach, R-Sumner. “I immediately went to work, and now, for the first time, the task force is receiving direct funding from the state to help protect and rescue children from the internet’s dark side.”

The plaque given to Roach on Monday morning in Seattle reads: “This award is presented to you for your hard work and dedication in your efforts to protect our most valuable resource, our children, by establishing the Washington Internet Crimes Against Children Account to support the efforts of law enforcement and prosecutorial professionals who comprise the Washington State Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.”

Roach had introduced Senate Bill 5215 to create the account dedicated to ICAC; after it received unanimous support from the Legislature, Roach then secured a total of $858,000 in the new two-year state budget to go in the ICAC account.

“It was shocking to learn Washington ranked first in the nation, based on population, for this despicable form of child abuse. ICAC leaders told us there were 17,000 investigative leads to pursue and only a handful of investigators to follow them. My goal was to help the task force put more people on the front line, without raising taxes, and I am proud that we succeeded,” Roach said.

Roach has long been known as a defender of children and families and supporter of law enforcement. She was recently appointed to a new state task force against the trafficking of persons, and as a longtime member of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, is continuing to give Washington’s criminal-justice system the tools needed to fight against sex trafficking.