Denzil S. Fearon has been a New York State Trooper since 2002. He is currently assigned to the Computer Crimes Unit where he is a Senior Investigator, responsible for 11 counties in New York State. His past experience includes, four years on the Cyber Terrorism Unit where he provided technical and investigative experience to state, local, and Federal Agencies involving computer and technology related crimes.

Senior Investigator Fearon will discuss CHILD PORNOGRAPHY: INVESTIGATIONS, TRENDS, AND LEGAL ISSUES. Since its increase in popularity in the late 1990’s, the Internet has been used as a medium to share, advertise, and sell child pornography. The notion of anonymity and the ability to make contact with people around the world has given individuals who exploit children a useful means to continue their crimes. This presentation will give a brief recap of techniques used by individuals to trade child pornography, and focus on current trends in the online exploitation of children. Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces, Project Safe Childhood, and local efforts to investigate and prosecute child exploitation will also be discussed. Current tools used to conduct field previews, along with challenges, will be addressed. Legal concerns such as search warrants, court orders will be briefly covered.