Most children who are sexually abused, know, and even trusted their abuser.
So, when the police track down someone responsible for creating child porn, they are often faced with a dilemma.
The question is, how to interrogate a parent or loved one accused of a terrible crime, when the victim is in the same house..
Idaho has a new tool to help them accomplish that, without causing more trauma to the victim.
In the past, initial investigations were done in the home.
Steve Benkula, commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force says, "It became very cumbersome and not very sanitary and not very private for everyone involved."
Interviews were sometimes conducted at the kitchen table while disturbing and embarrassing images were being dredged out of computer memory on a nearby countertop.
And that was a big concern. "We need to be very cognizant of the victims in the photographs and videos and who's watching them," says Benkula, "and we wanted a private area for our guys to be reviewing or previewing devices."
So, the Attorney Generals office got the grants and additional funding for a mobile tech lab that's changed much of the way they do business.
There are no flashy law enforcement markings on this vehicle. To see it driving down the road, you'd have no idea what it is, and that's for a very good reason.
The plain truck helps prevent stigmatization of the victims by keeping a low profile.
Inside, it's the mobile version of CSI Idaho.
Special write-block devices freeze the data on confiscated hard drives to ensure they are not contaminated while crews sift through them.
The truck has internet access and sophisticated software tools to help investigators do their job.
It's also split into two parts. "It's nice." says ICAC Forensic Examiner Christopher Deloria, "It adds a separate environment where an investigator can interview a suspect at that time."
And he says the victims don't have to hear it. Which Deloria says makes it that much easier to do one of the most difficult jobs in law enforcement.
"I know at the end of the day, what I do is for the children. For kids that don't have the voice to stop the abuse."
