Syracuse, NY -- John Walsh, the host of Fox Television’s America’s Most Wanted, joined Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh this morning in a news conference announcing a couple of new law enforcement initiatives. Software designed to catch the exchange of child pornography between peer-to-peer computer users will be tried in Onondaga County in what the television host said will...
John Walsh, left, host of "America's Most Wanted," and Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh, announce a pilot crime-fighting program in Onondaga County that targets sex offenders.Syracuse, NY -- John Walsh, the host of Fox Television’s America’s Most Wanted, joined Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh this morning in a news conference announcing a couple of new law enforcement initiatives.
Software designed to catch the exchange of child pornography between peer-to-peer computer users will be tried in Onondaga County in what the television host said will be a trial project for the state of New York.
Walsh was involved in Operation Orange Tree, Florida’s first use of the secret software that can recognize child pornography. That operation resulted in the arrests of 77 people on charges ranging from child pornography to sexual battery, according the Florida governor’s office.
“Fifteen of these creeps were exchanging a manual on how to have sex with a child under 8 and get away with it, even if it is your child,” Walsh said.
Walsh was so impressed that he arranged to have it made available for free to the local sheriff’s office, he said.
The software can recognize child pornography and identify the sender and receiver without the sender and receiver being aware, Walsh said. He said he was not privy to the exact way it works.
Kevin Walsh said after the software flags a picture as child pornography, the officers secure search warrants for both involved in the peer-to-peer exchange. The concentration will be on Onondaga County and Central New York exchanges, but on the Internet, the two involved could be anywhere.
The sheriff’s office would share information with other agencies and will be partnering with other counties.
The sheriff’s office is also in discussions with Time Warner Cable on getting a dedicated cable channel that will show the faces of registered sex offenders living in the county, the two Walshes said.
That idea came from a discussion the two had. John Walsh is a native of Auburn and the two have known each other since school, Kevin Walsh said.
“My belief is that soccer dads and soccer moms can go to a TV channel and see if a predator lives next door,” John Walsh said.
The continuous showing will feature current photos of registered sex offenders and will also show those whose location is known as well as offenders who have not reregistered as the law requires and their location is not known, Kevin Walsh said.
The sheriff said he is arranging a meeting with Time Warner officials to work out the details.
John Walsh is the father of Adam Walsh, who’s 6-year-old son was abducted and killed in 1981. America’s Most Wanted is entering its 24th season this fall, which claims to have aided in the capture of 1127 fugitives around the world.