Indian American honoured for stopping sex predators

Jay Chaudhuri, general counsel and senior policy adviser to North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell, has been honoured with a top award by the National Association of Attorneys General for his efforts in protecting children from online predators on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Chaudhuri received the NAAG 2009 Marvin Award at its annual convention in Colorado Springs.

Chaudhuri, who till recently served as Special Counsel to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, told rediff.com that he was humbled by the honour.

The Marvin Award honours the hard work and dedication of law enforcement officials and lawyers from both North Carolina Attorney General's office and other state Attorneys Generals' offices from across the country.

"It is my sincere hope that our collective efforts has made a difference in protecting children online on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and other predator cyber crimes which unfortunately -- in as much as the Internet is a wonderful tool and invaluable asset -- has been increasing exponentially."

It was during his tenure in the AG's office that Chaudhuri worked to keep social networking sites free of cyber crimes, serving as co-lead counsel to a consortium of Attorneys General who reached a landmark agreement with MySpace, by which the online networking site agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and maintain site safety. The agreement resulted in dozens of website changes and the creation of an industry-wide task force to create online safety tools headed by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

The agreement has been described by the director of the National Attorneys Generals Programme at Columbia Law School as a 'creative and cooperative approach to law enforcement,' that would become 'the hallmark of future attorneys general initiatives.'

In other efforts towards the same end, Chaudhuri also helped to develop legislation and a parents' safety guide to protect children from online predators on these sites, and helped implement rapid deployment training for law enforcement officers. He also developed the Critical Incident Response Kit for school personnel and local law enforcement to respond to an event like the Columbine High School shooting and the Virginia Tech massacre -- an idea given to him by a State Bureau of Investigation agent. This kit has now been distributed to every school in North Carolina, and also to thousands of other schools and law enforcement agencies across the nation.
Chaudhuri, during his stint in the AG's office where he learned first-hand what it takes to stay ahead of a problem, led the campaign which resulted in North Carolina becoming the first state in the South to enact a law to prevent the illegal production of methamphetamines.

The Methamphetamine Prevention Lab Act of 2005, which restricts the sale of certain cold medicines, resulted in a 40 per cent drop in meth lab busts in North Carolina.

The Marvin Award follows close on the heels of the 2008 Citizen Lawyer Award from the North Carolina Bar Association for his commitment to the public good.

A glutton for challenges, Chaudhuri, in the midst of the worst financial downturn in decades, took a job in finance in January with Treasurer Cowell, after eight years in the Attorney General's Office in North Carolina.

"The idea of trying to solve a problem and protect the public from additional harm seemed attractive and interesting to me, and nothing fires me up like the need to be intellectually stimulated," he said while explaining the counter intuitive move.

In his role as senior advisor to Cowell, Chaudhuri is responsible for the legal advice and direction of the fund's corporate governance positions, internal auditing matters, and fiduciary obligations.

Chaudhuri acknowledged that it was not easy leaving the AG's office. "It was like leaving family," he said, although he hasn't left his cyber crime fighting expertise far behind -- he currently teaches a class in cyber crime at the North Carolina Central University School of Law.

 "I am thoroughly enjoying it because it's a great opportunity to discuss the most cutting-edge issues with students, and also to learn from them in terms of their insights and their ideas on how to tackle some of these issues," he said.