Cheezo Stats
District Attorney Investigators Mike and Cassandra Harris have been working Internet crimes against children since 1996. But when District Attorney Scott Storey took office in 2005, he recognized the urgency of the problem created by the amount of time kids spend unsupervised on the Internet. He created the Child Sex Offender Internet Investigations (CSOII) Unit under the direction of Mike Harris.
The Unit addresses the problem of sex offenders who prey on children from a preventative approach, as well as going undercover and following them into areas frequented by kids.
While the prevention programs were originally aimed at high school and middle school kids, CSOII has now taken Cheezo and his prevention program into elementary schools. The younger kids who are using the Internet are still very naïve and impressionable. The Harrises use a fun and education video promoting Internet safety designed for specifically for young kids. At a presentation at Belmar Elementary School in January, Cheezo the Lion Mascot, asked the kids to draw pictures of what they had learned at the presentation.
CHEEZO OPERATIONS 2005 - 2008
- 101 arrests of adults seeking children online for sex.
- Internet safety presentations to over 25,000 adults, children and other interested groups.
- Cheezo, our lion mascot, assists investigators in educating younger children about the dangers of the internet.
- 260 internet safety presentations to adults and children.
- Implementation of ?stranger danger - internet stranger? program.
Last Modified: Mar 28, 2009 10:19 PM
