MADISON, Wis. — Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney on Monday again criticized Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul for backlogs within the state justice department’s Division of Criminal Investigation, this time as they pertain to Internet Crimes Against Children referrals.
Toney, a Republican challenging Kaul to become the state’s top prosecutor, claimed the backlog of referrals is at more than 1,000.
During a news conference late Monday morning in Madison, Toney said he submitted an open records request asking Kaul’s office for the number of referrals and when they were assigned for investigation. According to Toney, Kaul’s office has not released the latter.
“As prosecutors and law enforcement, when we seek to do search warrants and subpoenas, we have to have information that’s fresh for a court to be able to sign off on that so we can continue those types of investigations,” he said.
MORE: Toney calls out Kaul over DOJ delays
Kaul did not address Toney’s comments during an event in Wausau around the same time as Toney’s in Madison. Reached by phone Monday afternoon, Kaul’s campaign communications director referred News 3 Now to the attorney general’s comments during Friday’s debate between the two candidates.
During the debate, Kaul said while it’s true the number of tips has gone up “dramatically” in recent years as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children identifies more tips, every tip is “quickly” reviewed.
“At the Department of Justice, every tip we receive we have reviewed,” Kaul said, “and what we do is we prioritize the cases where the information that we’re receiving could lead to harm to a child.”
The Wisconsin Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, led by the state’s justice department, has been responsible for 1,400 arrests during the first three years of his term, Kaul said, an increase over the administration of former Attorney General Brad Schimel.
Kaul also said he requested extra resources in his first budget but that the Legislature rejected one position.
Toney rebutted during the debate, saying there’s a difference between a tip being reviewed and investigated. It’s the investigation, he said, where the backlog lies.
Toney has previously pressed Kaul on DCI agent staffing, to which Kaul said he has “worked to fill every position that we can afford to fill at DOJ.”
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
