CAC Ontology

The CAC (Crimes Against Children) Ontology Family is an EXPERIMENTAL comprehensive semantic framework for modeling child exploitation investigations, operations, law enforcement organizations, legal processes, reporting, offender tradecraft, and digital forensics activities. This ontology family extends the Unified Cyber Ontology (UCO), the Cyber-investigation Analysis Standard Expression (CASE) Ontology, and the lightweight version of the Unified Foundational Ontology (gUFO). v3.0.0 introduces the Semantic Spine (cac-core: namespace) — a stable, top-level class hierarchy that mediates all alignment to gUFO, UCO, and CASE, giving domain modules a single, predictable anchoring layer. We use artificial intelligence to review data sources, map concepts to CAC Ontology, identify gaps, model new classes/properties/relationships, write example SPARQL queries and update documentation. There is a human in the loop to review changes and make adjustments. The Crimes Against Children domain of discourse is immense, has great depth and complexity, and is oftentimes reflective of legal process/precident and jurisdiction.

Project VIC International serves as the shephard of the CAC Ontology and we invite any other interested party to participate with us in developing it further. We released the CAC Ontology under an Apache 2 license making it open-source so that others can build upon it and adopt it freely. All we ask from adopters is to let us know that you are using it, and that if you are monetizing it, to consider providing financial support for the project.

Overview

The CAC Ontology Family consists of 35+ specialized modules organized into six domain areas plus a core semantic spine and bridge layer, enhanced with comprehensive gUFO (Unified Foundational Ontology) integration for improved semantic precision, temporal modeling, and validation capabilities. The ontology family is designed to support law enforcement agencies, hotline organizations and NGOs in general, digital forensics examiners and analysts, prosecutors, and researchers in modeling and analyzing crimes against children investigations. Each ontology has a corresponding SHACL shapes file that implements some business rules that validate the ontology. These shapes files are very useful to ensure that data is modeled correctly and that only conformant data is imported into the adopter's graph database.

Namespace: https://cacontology.projectvic.org

Documentation: cacontology.projectvic.org

Key Features

• 35+ Specialized Modules: Comprehensive coverage of child exploitation investigation domains
• Semantic Spine (v3.0.0): Stable cac-core: class hierarchy organizing all domain classes by ontological kind (Entity, Event, Situation, Role, Phase)
• gUFO Integration: Enhanced semantic precision with foundational ontology patterns, mediated through spine and bridge modules
• SHACL Validation: 20+ validation modules with comprehensive business rules, including spine shapes
• UCO/CASE Compatibility: Seamless integration with Unified Cyber Ontology and CASE frameworks via bridge modules
• Real-World Examples: 30+ example files based on actual law enforcement cases
• International Support: Global coordination frameworks for 120+ countries
• Namespace Standardization: Consistent cacontology and cac-core prefix and namespace structure

Ontology Modules

Semantic Spine & Bridges (5 modules)

• cacontology-core-spine.ttl - Top-level class hierarchy (cac-core:Entity, EnduringEntity, Event, Situation, Role, Phase and branches)
• cacontology-core-spine-shapes.ttl - SHACL shapes validating spine class constraints
• cacontology-bridge-gufo.ttl - Bridge to gUFO foundational ontology
• cacontology-bridge-case.ttl - Bridge to CASE investigation ontology
• cacontology-bridge-uco.ttl - Bridge to Unified Cyber Ontology

Core Framework (3 modules)

• cacontology-core.ttl - Base investigation framework and lifecycles
• cacontology-hotlines.ttl - Hotline operations and report management
• cacontology-us-ncmec.ttl - Enhanced NCMEC integration and tip analysis

International Coordination & Global Frameworks (4 modules)

• cacontology-international.ttl - Global coordination & cross-border operations
• cacontology-training.ttl - Professional development & capacity building
• cacontology-prevention.ttl - Prevention programs & education
• cacontology-legal-harmonization.ttl - International legal framework

High-Priority Criminal Activities (5+ modules)

• cacontology-production.ttl - CSAM production operations
• cacontology-custodial.ttl - Custodial relationships & positions of trust
• cacontology-grooming.ttl - Online grooming & enticement
• cacontology-sextortion.ttl - Sexual extortion incidents
• cacontology-athletic-exploitation.ttl - Athletic coaching exploitation

Specialized Investigation (5+ modules)

• cacontology-undercover.ttl - Undercover operations
• cacontology-physical-evidence.ttl - Physical evidence & procurement
• cacontology-tactical.ttl - Tactical law enforcement operations
• cacontology-multi-jurisdiction.ttl - Multi-jurisdictional operations
• cacontology-stranger-abduction.ttl - Stranger abduction patterns

Technical Support (4+ modules)

• cacontology-forensics.ttl - Digital forensics
• cacontology-detection.ttl - Content detection & classification
• cacontology-platforms.ttl - Technology platforms & service providers
• cacontology-street-recruitment.ttl - Street-based recruitment patterns

Victim Services & Task Force Management (5+ modules)

• cacontology-victim-impact.ttl - Victim impact assessment & recovery
• cacontology-taskforce.ttl - CAC task force organization
• cacontology-legal-outcomes.ttl - Legal outcomes & sentencing
• cacontology-specialized-units.ttl - Specialized units & advanced capabilities
• cacontology-sex-offender-registry.ttl - Sex offender registry management

Validation Components (30 modules)

• Comprehensive SHACL validation shapes for all major modules
• Cross-reference validation and business rule enforcement

Quick Start

Installation

git clone https://github.com/Project-VIC-International/CAC-Ontology.git
cd CAC-Ontology
pip install rdflib pyshacl

Using the Ontology

@prefix cacontology: <https://cacontology.projectvic.org#> .
@prefix cacontology-core: <https://cacontology.projectvic.org/core#> .
@prefix cac-core: <https://cacontology.projectvic.org/core#> .

# Example: Create a CAC investigation with spine-anchored classes
:investigation-001 a cacontology:CACInvestigation ;
    cacontology:hasReport :report-001 ;
    cacontology:status "active" .

# Phases, Roles, Events inherit spine types through the class hierarchy
:phase-001 a cacontology:InitialPhase ;      # inherits cac-core:Phase
    rdfs:label "Cybertip Triage" .

:action-001 a cacontology:ReceiveCybertipAction ;  # inherits cac-core:InvestigativeAction
    rdfs:label "Process incoming NCMEC CyberTip" .

Validation

The project includes comprehensive SHACL validation:

docker compose -f testing/docker-compose.yaml up -d
# Validation runs automatically on all ontology files

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is available:

• Architecture: docs/architecture.md - Complete system architecture and module relationships
• Design: docs/design.md - Design principles and technical specifications
• User Guide: docs/user_doc.md - User documentation and examples
• Product Requirements: docs/PRD.md - Product requirements and specifications
• Glossary: docs/glossary.md - Terminology and acronyms

Examples

The repository includes 30+ real-world example files based on actual law enforcement cases:

• examples_knowledge_graphs/brooklyn-morton-october-2024-example.ttl - Athletic coaching exploitation
• examples_knowledge_graphs/arkansas-operation-cyber-highway-safety-check-example.ttl - Large-scale operations
• examples_knowledge_graphs/operation-restore-justice-example.ttl - Nationwide coordination
• examples_knowledge_graphs/utah-dominic-christensen-example.ttl - Utah recidivism, registry compliance, and NCMEC-driven investigation
• And many more...

See the examples_knowledge_graphs/ directory for complete list.

Repository Structure

.
├── ontology/                     # All ontology modules (35+ files)
│   ├── cacontology-core-spine.ttl       # Semantic spine (cac-core: classes)
│   ├── cacontology-core-spine-shapes.ttl # SHACL shapes for spine
│   ├── cacontology-bridge-gufo.ttl      # gUFO alignment bridge
│   ├── cacontology-bridge-case.ttl      # CASE alignment bridge
│   ├── cacontology-bridge-uco.ttl       # UCO alignment bridge
│   ├── cacontology-core.ttl             # Base investigation framework
│   ├── cacontology-*.ttl                # Specialized domain modules
│   └── cacontology-*-shapes.ttl         # SHACL validation modules
├── examples_knowledge_graphs/    # Real-world example files (30+ files)
├── example_SPARQL_queries/       # Analytics and query examples
├── docs/                         # Documentation files
├── testing/                      # Testing and validation infrastructure
├── contexts/                     # JSON-LD context files
├── CHANGELOG.md                  # Version history
└── README.md                     # This file

Namespace and Prefixes

All ontology modules use the standardized namespace structure:

• Base Namespace: https://cacontology.projectvic.org
• Spine Namespace: https://cacontology.projectvic.org/core# (prefix cac-core:)
• Module Namespaces: https://cacontology.projectvic.org/{module-name}#
• Prefix Pattern: cacontology-{module-name}:

Example:

@prefix cac-core: <https://cacontology.projectvic.org/core#> .
@prefix cacontology: <https://cacontology.projectvic.org#> .
@prefix cacontology-core: <https://cacontology.projectvic.org/core#> .
@prefix cacontology-taskforce: <https://cacontology.projectvic.org/taskforce#> .

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution guidelines. The project follows semantic versioning and maintains comprehensive documentation.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See license.md for details.