July 23, 2007-- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 SMC Introduces Cyber Crime Course In Paralegal Program
               

SPARTANBURG, SC – Eighteen students in the Spartanburg Methodist College Paralegal Certification Program are learning first-hand in the program’s current term of the growth of cyber crime and what the legal system is doing to crack down on such crimes.

This is the first term that the Cyber Crime and Computer Forensics course has been offered as part of the program. But because of the amount of interest and the course’s relevance to current crime trends, it is being made part of the program’s standard curriculum.

“This course was developed specifically to assist the Upstate legal community; but we hope it will serve to educate the general public, especially parents, on the dangers lurking in Cyberspace,” says Yvonne Harper, Director of the Paralegal Program.

Assistant Spartanburg County Solicitor Tony Leibert says that because of the growing number of such cases locally, in particular with online solicitation of minors, the Cyber Crime course is being taught to prepare more people to work on such cases.

“There is so much of that going on now that it is prudent that programs like the Paralegal Program at SMC take steps to education their students on the growth of these crimes against children and what the legal system is doing in regard to them. We’re even starting to see a lot of these types of cases locally,” says Leibert.

He says that since the local Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was established, Spartanburg county and city law enforcement have made 20 related arrests, of which two defendants have already been prosecuted and convicted. The task force is part of a federal program.

Because of that, Leibert said that programs such as SMC’s must stay on the cutting edge.

“We’re looking at a lot of different aspects of these cases, including how they are prosecuted,” says Leibert.

The students taking the course also recently visited the Spartanburg Sheriff’s Department to see first hand to see local online investigative tactics in action.

Because defendants in cyber crimes involving minors often cite their arrest and charges against them as a violation of their freedom of speech, the students have lengthy review and discussions on the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

As part of the Cyber Crime course, students also learn about crimes involving hacking and cybersquatting.

“We talk a lot about the law and how it applies to the various cases. We’ve had some very interesting and productive discussions this term,” he says.

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 96th year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.

For more information, please contact Yvonne Harper, Director of the SMC Paralegal Certification Program, at (864) 587-4278.