Over the last decade, the internet has become of common means for the commission of sex offenses. Law enforcement agencies have made the investigation of internet crimes against children one of the top priorities and have dedicated significant personnel to that effort. The military works closely with federal and state authorities in joint investigations involving internet crimes. While the military still does not have sex offenses involving the internet specifically set forth under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the federal criminal code is assimilated by the military under the provisions of Article 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Internet sex crimes, especially child pornography offenses, are frequently considered to be “victimless” offenses, however in reality the market for child pornography is in many respects a major factor in the exploitation of children. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) maintains a data base of all children who’s images appear in child pornography and working with the military, federal and state authorities, significant efforts are made to identify the children. Military, federal and state law enforcement authorities have vast power in conducting investigations regarding the sexual exploitation of children and frequently use “sting operations” in an effort to identify persons who are involved with internet sex offenses. A frequent legal issue involved in internet sex offense cases is a constitutional challenge that related to the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizures.
It is commonplace for the authorities to secure search warrants to conduct searches of the homes and workplaces of people who are suspected of being involved in internet sex offenses, seizing computer equipment and media to conduct in depth forensic evaluation of the computer hard drives to recover suspected child pornography. Another frequently encountered scenario is where the Internet Service Provided (ISP) will be issued a subpoena requiring it to produce all internet records related to a person who is the subject of a military, federal or state investigation.
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