ISP backs bill expanding its mission to investigate internet crimes
against children
[June 06, 2025]
By Jade Aubrey and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR)
SPRINGFIELD – While Illinois State Police has long investigated child
sex crimes, a new measure would explicitly name addressing internet
crimes against children as a core mission of its criminal division.
House Bill 2586, also called Alicia’s Law, would add to the current 13
missions of the Illinois State Police Department of Criminal
Investigations. It passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly
unanimously in late May.
The bill is named after Alicia Kozak, a survivor of and advocate against
online crimes against children, who was at the center of the first
nationally known case of child grooming and abduction in 2002. At age
13, Kozak was abducted from her home after months of online grooming by
a 38-year-old man, who took her across state lines and chained her in a
basement, where she was sexually assaulted and tortured for four days.
The perpetrator livestreamed Kozak’s abuse, which was quickly reported
to the FBI by a viewer, aiding in Kozak’s release.
“I’ve spent the last 25 years sharing my story and presenting to
audiences about online safety and advocating for critical change. And
through my work, I’ve heard so many heartbreaking ‘if only’ stories, ‘if
only we had known sooner’ or ‘if only we could have stopped it,’” Kozak
said in an interview. “Now, with Alicia’s Law in Illinois, Illinois
children are safer.”
If signed by the governor, Illinois will be the 13th state to adopt a
variation of Alicia’s Law. In most states that have passed a version of
the law, it allows states to create a task force to investigate internet
crimes against children. Illinois already has such a task force that was
created in 2004, although it’s currently under the attorney general’s
office.
Illinois’ task force coordinates the AG’s office with state law
enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute child exploitation
cases. During an October 2021 news conference, Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul said his office managed over 5,100 cyber tips the year
prior, an increase of over 2,000 since 2018. Raoul said he expected that
number to continue to grow, in part due to increased reporting and
awareness by social media and apps.
[to top of second column]
|
Illinois State Police squad cars are pictured in front of the
Illinois State Capitol in 2022 during a 100th anniversary
celebration of the agency. A measure headed to the governor would
add investigating internet crimes against children to the agency’s
core missions. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said although ISP has
become “much more engaged” in cases involving internet crimes against
children in recent years, he said he believes it needs to be explicitly
stated in statute that investigating those types of cases is one of
ISP’s core duties.
Through talks with Kozak about the issue, Kelly said ISP drafted the
bill and spearheaded efforts to get it passed during this year’s
legislative session.
“We believe that this is something that is critical, this is important
and that is essential to what our values are as the Illinois State
Police,” Kelly said. “Making sure that this is a legal, permanent
function of our agency is something that I think needed to be done
because we want to make sure that these efforts are sustained over
time.”
Kozak agreed.
“Before the law, investigating crimes against children in Illinois
wasn’t really a legal obligation, it was something Illinois state police
would choose to do when resources allowed,” Kozak said. “And now, with
Alicia’s Law, it’s a permanent responsibility, it’s no longer optional.”
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government
coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily
by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |
