Service awards presented to retiring members of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force

Indianapolis – United States Attorney Josh J. Minkler announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented service awards to Indiana State Police Captain Charles “Chuck” L. Cohen and Indiana Department of Education Director Catherine “Cathy” J. Danyluk to recognize them for their extraordinary work on behalf of the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office would like to congratulate Chuck Cohen and Cathy Danyluk on their retirement, to thank them for their tireless efforts, and for their exemplary work in protecting children from being sexually exploited by online predators,” said Minkler. 

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program (ICAC) is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. These agencies are engaged in both proactive and reactive investigations, forensic examinations, and criminal prosecutions. By helping state and local agencies develop effective, sustainable responses to online child victimization – including responses to child sexual abuse images, the ICAC Program has increased law enforcements capacity to combat technology facilitated crimes against children at every level.

The ICAC Program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet and other technology, the proliferation of child sexual abuse images available electronically, and the heightened online activity by predators seeking unsupervised contact with potential underage victims. Because ICAC Members understand that arrests alone cannot resolve the problem of technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation, the ICAC Program is also dedicated to training law enforcement officers and prosecutors, as well as educating parents and youth about the potential dangers of online activity.

Chuck Cohen, Captain of the Indiana State Police (ISP) and the Commander of Intelligence and Investigative Technologies, will retire in December after having been employed with ISP since 1994. Chuck is also the ICAC Task Force Commander and the Indiana Intelligence Fusion Center Executive Director. Chuck is responsible for the cybercrime, electronic surveillance, technical services, and internet crimes against children units along with overseeing the department’s overt and covert criminal intelligence functions. Chuck speaks internationally on topics including the implications of online social networks in criminal investigations and criminal intelligence gathering, cybercrime, online fraud, money laundering, corruption investigations, and the investigation of skilled criminal offenders. Chuck has trained investigators and analysts on five continents.     

Cathy Danyluk, the Director of Student Services and State Attendance Officer for the Indiana Department of Education, has retired after 35 years of service with the department. In that role, Danyluk worked with the Indiana ICAC to provide educational services to teachers, coaches, and other school personnel about online child exploitation. Danyluk and her staff helped the U.S. Attorney’s Office produce videos featuring interviews of convicted sex offenders to help others to understand the offenders’ methods of victim selection and criminal tradecraft. Danyluk also assisted law enforcement in their efforts to identify school aged children in Indiana who had been sexually exploited, but who could not be identified by other methods. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is proud of Chuck Cohen and Cathy Danyluk and we are grateful for their service in protecting children against internet crimes.