Senator Joe Griffo Secures Funding to Help Fight Child Sex Crimes

The Oneida County Child Advocacy Center is now able to add a number of new tools to their arsenal for fighting sex crimes. Senator Joe Griffo's efforts to secure $15,000 in funding will help provide much needed equipment to help protect children and bring their abusers to justice.

The announcement of the funding took place on Monday afternoon at the Child Advocacy Center in West Utica. The money secured is part of the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Program, which provides federal funding to state and local jurisdictions.

This financial assistance will provide two important pieces of equipment for battling sex crimes against children. The first is a Voice Stress Analyzer, which acts as an auditory lie-detector test. It will also allow more investigators to be trained for this, so interviews can be conducted in a more timely fashion.

Another piece of equipment purchased with this funding is the Cellebrite Mobile Cell Phone Extraction Device. This device will allow the Child Advocacy Center to immediately search cell phones for texts or images relevant to sex crime investigations.

The securing of this funding is a huge help to law enforcement. Oneida County Sheriff Rob Maciol says, "I cannot thank Senator Griffo enough for his continuous support of Oneida County’s law enforcement and for his compassion toward the children of our community, especially those served by the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center."

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