Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office is set to receive a $100,000 grant from the Attorney General Alliance. The funding aims to support the mental health of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force team members and child victims.
“Our ICAC team works tirelessly to investigate and prosecute the predators who exploit our children online. That means our people are constantly exposed to disturbing child sexual abuse material as they catalog the photos and videos as evidence and look for victims who might still be being abused,” stated Attorney General Wilson. “Dealing with such traumatic content takes a toll on their mental and emotional health, so we’re grateful for this grant that will allow us to put several new mental health tools in place, which will also help us when we deal with victims.”
The grant will also provide aid to child victims dealing with trauma. Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General Camille Guthrie, head of the ICAC section, expressed gratitude for the grant from AG Alliance. “This will allow our agency to provide further for the mental health needs of our dedicated investigators and attorneys, while also helping us provide additional comfort and aid to the victims of the crimes we prosecute.”
Attorney General Wilson emphasized hopes that enhanced mental health support will aid in retaining employees dedicated to this challenging work. “Dealing with such horrific material all the time has made it difficult to recruit and retain people to do this vital work in protecting our children and catching predators, so we appreciate the difference this grant from the AGA will make,” he said.
