The Office of the Attorney General is committed to protecting all Kentuckians, especially children, from online predators.​​The Cyber Crimes Unit, a branch of the Department of Criminal Investigations, is devoted to getting child predators offline and off the streets. Beshear's Cyber Crimes Unit launched "Operation Shielded Child" and the work of the cyber investigators in 2016 led to the arrest of more online child predators than in any year in our history. Investigators from this unit concentrate their undercover investigation efforts on reducing child pornography online and catching adults soliciting minor children online for sex. The office's Special Prosecutions Unit then goes to work, prosecuting many of these cases and ensuring child predators go to jail and are placed on the Sex Offender Registry. Then the Office of Criminal Appeals defends these convictions, making sure the dangerous predators stay behind bars.

What can caregivers, parents and children do to be safe online?

The Cyber Crimes Unit makes it a priority to educate parents, children, prosecutors and law enforcement on the dangers lurking behind the internet, and has provided awareness and investigative training to approximately 1,912 students over the last biennium.

In addition, to help keep children safe online, the Office of the Attorney General has partnered with Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky to offer statewide trainings for parents and caregivers, and anyone in a position to protect children on how to keep kids safe online. The trainings offer a free Internet Safety Toolkit, which provides helpful information about how to protect children from cyber bullying to online predators. To learn more about current and upcoming child protection training opportunities in your community, visit our Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Trainings page.