Kiwanis Club of Citrus Heights

3 weeks ago

Deputy District Attorney Teresa Sydow was our guest speaker on July 15. She has been with the Prosecutors office for 27 years, the bulk of that time on child abuse cases. Since January 2023, she has worked closely with law enforcement, focusing on internet-originated crimes against children. She said that “these crimes are growing faster than we can keep up with them.”
The CyberTipline receives reports from the public and online electronic service providers (ESPs) with the majority coming from ESPs. Some of the cases are reported by friends revealing activities of their friends, and there are also misguided vigilante groups who try to help law enforcement. The federal law requiring social media sites and online services to report child exploitation crimes is 18 U.S. Code § 2258A. (“But the fact is that online predators have corporate sponsorship.”)
The challenges that her office faces:
• A lax approach in this state to these types of crime, even by judges
• A huge lack of financial resources
• Short staffing in the DA’s office
• Staff burnout from constantly facing such horrors
The main thing we can do is let all the kids on our lives know that they have a safe person to talk to.
For help and information, a good source is www.missingkids.org/home ... See MoreSee Less