Algorithm tool could help law enforcement agencies protect children online

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A new algorithm tool could help law enforcement agencies filter out and focus on sex offenders most likely to set up face-to-face meetings with child victims.

law enforcement

The Chat Analysis Triage Tool (CATT) was presented by Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, assistant professor of computer and information technology at Purdue Polytechnic Institute, during the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts Conference in Anaheim, California.

The FBI estimates that 750,000 adults seek sex with youths on a daily basis, and in 2015 the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces arrested over 60,000 internet sex offenders.

However, investigating crimes against children -  specifically sexual solicitations - are complicated as some offenders are motivated by sexual fantasy chats, with others intent on persuading an underage victim into a face-to-face meeting.

CATT is said to allow officers to work through the volume of solicitations and use algorithms to examine the word usage and conversation patterns by a suspect. Seigfried-Spellar said data was taken from online conversations provided voluntarily by law enforcement agencies.

“We went through and tried to identify language-based differences and factors like self-disclosure,” she said in a statement. Self-disclosure is a tactic used by suspects who share personal stories to develop trust.

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