REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ PRAISES WORK OF ICAC IN JARED FOGLE CASE

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23) issued the following statement today after the news that Jared Fogle has agreed to plead guilty:

“Today’s news that Jared Fogle has agreed to plead guilty underscores the critical work that agencies like the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces and organizations like PROTECT do to protect our children from cyber-predators. As the investigators and law enforcement announced at the press conference today, without a strong ICAC and the resources needed to pursue these child sexual predators, Jared Fogle would likely not have been caught.

“With more than 500,000 known computers trafficking child pornography in the U.S. alone, we must do all we can to ensure we are protecting some of society’s most vulnerable people – our children, no matter where they live. I commend the work of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children task force and the rest of the forensic and law enforcement specialists who do this critical work everyday.

“Each image of a child being sexually exploited or abused is not conventional pornography – they are crime scene photos. I will continue to fight for badly needed resources so our law enforcement professionals can catch more predators and rescue more children from harm.”