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reactive, and most can no longer engage in the proactive operations that are designed to target <br /> the most dangerous offenders.5 <br /> It is important to understand that the CyberTipline is challenging law enforcement not only with <br /> respect to the quantity of leads, but also the quality of leads. Most of the investigative leads <br /> provided by service providers, through NCMEC, to the ICAC Task Forces are not actionable, <br /> meaning they do not contain sufficient information to permit an investigation to begin. The lack <br /> of uniformity in what is reported by service providers results in law enforcement being forced to <br /> sort through thousands of leads trying desperately to identify worth-while cases. Cases where <br /> abusers and offenders who are considered particularly sadistic and dangerous. The Ackerman <br /> case out of the Fourth Circuit, and the Wilson case out of the Ninth Circuit, have also increased <br /> the burden on law enforcement officers trying to review CyberTips. <br /> As noted above, the sheer volume of Cybertips also prevents law enforcement from pursuing <br /> proactive investigative effort that would efficiently target the most egregious offenders. For <br /> example,peer-to-peer file sharing investigations and operations used to allow ICAC Task Forces <br /> to efficiently locate and apprehend hands-on offenders.'In the last 90 days, alone, there have <br /> been 99,172 IP addresses throughout the United States that have distributed known CSAM <br /> images and videos through peer-to-peer networks. Yet only 782 - less than 1% - are being <br /> investigated(see Exhibit 1). Consistently, 75% of these cases have resulted in successful <br /> prosecutions. Significantly, the most rigorous studies involving interviews with offenders have <br /> shown that between 57% and 85% of individuals arrested for these crimes have committed <br /> undetected sexual abuse of minors; on average, those offenders have assaulted between 10 to 13 <br /> victims.'Due to the overwhelming volume of Cybertips, law enforcement is simply not <br /> investigating peer-to-peer to the degree that it wants and should. <br /> EXHIBIT 1 <br /> 5 Reactive investigations take place when law enforcement receives information,such as a CyberTip,that a crime <br /> has occurred. A proactive investigation involves the use of intelligence to try to identify potential offenders. <br /> 6111;1�s ://wwwrii ro�rw4)a )'a' l;lzl <br /> 'lnitf�S://www t��.�Ovh� p,.S/vzrti l 1zl�ena /�Ibs(ra,sc(�s/I�eit(,iet;s(ii.dY:: F c17ax�r��� �L izn�zclr�r�:r;:::1nands,child vi tiliz�gion::°. <br /> child.. <br /> ........................... <br />