DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS)
CEOS consists of 32 personnel, including 20 attorneys, a seven-person High Technology Investigative Unit (HTIU), an investigative analyst, a child victim-witness program coordinator, paralegals, and administrative staff. CEOS leads DOJ’s Criminal Division’s campaign against the sexual exploitation of children by shaping domestic and international policy, providing guidance and training to other prosecutors and law enforcement agents, identifying trends in online technology, initiating proactive national and international investigations, and employing first-of-their-kind investigative and prosecutorial tactics and techniques. In Fiscal Years 2013, 2014, and 2015, CEOS spearheaded 14 national and international operations that have resulted in the investigation of more than 2,600 individuals in the United States and generated leads against more than 8,000 foreign suspects.
CEOS’s HTIU provides critical case support for this work, both in individual cases and in systematically improving law enforcement’s response to these technological challenges. Examples of HTIU’s cutting-edge work include the development of a protocol to proactively mitigate offender’s use of encryption; the design of an efficient working model to handle cases with exceptionally large volumes of media; the development of forensic approaches to identify offenders who use mobile applications, and methods of conducting investigations on anonymous networks.
CEOS partners with all U.S. Attorney’s Offices and federal law enforcement agencies, as well as foreign law enforcement, to operate nationally and transnationally, and with key non-governmental organizations, foreign governments (through bilateral and multilateral efforts, and through international police organizations such as INTERPOL and Europol) and foreign entities such as the G8, the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online, and WePROTECT. CEOS also engages the private sector in order to help technology companies find ways to fight child sexual exploitation.
U.S. Attorney’s Offices (USAOs)
The 94 USAOs across the country prosecute crimes against children as part of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) program. With support from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) and CEOS, each U.S. Attorney guides the entire law enforcement community in his or her district to work as a cooperative team to combat sexual exploitation of children. First established in 2006 as a coordinated prosecution and training effort, PSC was initially focused on technology-facilitated crimes against children. In 2011, PSC was expanded from its original focus to include every type of federal crime involving sexual violence against children. Following the expansion, each U.S. Attorney conducted a threat assessment in his or her district and developed a strategic plan for addressing PSC crimes, which was coordinated through DOJ headquarters for consistency across all districts. These plans not only include ways to improve investigations and prosecutions of child sexual exploitation, but also address the integration of victim services and support into the PSC coalitions. Furthermore, each district’s victim assistance staff has been trained to ensure child victims have access to services aimed at addressing their unique and challenging needs and to coordinate their efforts with the Victim Assistance Specialists/Victim-Witness Coordinators within the PSC coalitions’ law enforcement agencies. As a result of the expanded PSC program, the number of federal child exploitation prosecutions has increased significantly, along with the number of federal, state, local, and tribal convictions, and the number of victims being identified. In Fiscal Year 2014, the 94 USAOs filed 3,248 indictments against 3,422 defendants, representing a 31% increase over Fiscal Year 2010.
INTERPOL Washington
INTERPOL Washington, a component of DOJ, is designated by the Attorney General as the official U.S. representative to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). As the national point of contact for INTERPOL in the United States, INTERPOL Washington routinely exchanges criminal investigative data with international counterparts on behalf of the more than 18,000 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States. Its work in the fight against child exploitation includes tracking sex offenders, providing law enforcement agencies with international investigative assistance, supporting international efforts to locate and recover missing children, maintaining the INTERPOL International Child Sexual Exploitation Database of images to assist investigators, and issuing international alerts for child sex offenders.
Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
BOP houses a substantial number of individuals with a current or prior conviction for a sexual offense. As of January 1, 2016, such individuals comprise approximately 12.1% of the Bureau’s total population, including inmates who victimized children, adults, and, in many cases, both. The Bureau offers reentry programs which afford sexual offenders in Bureau institutions the opportunity to change their behavior patterns, thereby reducing criminality and recidivism and increasing the likelihood that they will become productive, law-abiding citizens. This approach is guided by a respect for victims of sexual abuse and is based upon the belief that treatment services for sexual offenders can increase their ability to live healthy, non-abusive lives with the ultimate goal of making communities safer.
DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
Within OJP, several offices address child exploitation matters. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) provides national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. Among other responsibilities, OJJDP provides funding and training support for the ICAC program, a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 3,500 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. These agencies are engaged in both proactive and reactive investigations, forensic examinations, and criminal prosecutions. By helping state, local and tribal agencies develop effective, sustainable responses to online child victimization—including responses to child sexual abuse images—the ICAC program has increased law enforcement’s capacity to combat technology-facilitated crimes against children at every level. In addition, in 2010, OJJDP added a new initiative to bring the ICAC program to Indian Country. Finally, because the Department understands 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.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) supports law enforcement, courts, corrections, victim services, technology, and prevention initiatives that strengthen the nation’s criminal justice system. Since 2004, BJA has provided funding to more than 40 human trafficking task forces across the United States. Those task forces conducted nearly 5,544 investigations that resulted in charges against 1,558 traffickers. Among the 2,071 confirmed victims who were identified and recovered in the last five years were 1,052 minor victims.
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development, and evaluation agency of the Department and is dedicated to researching crime control and justice issues. NIJ provides objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the state and local levels. NIJ supports a variety of research in the area of child exploitation. Specific NIJ research projects and findings are detailed in Appendix C.
The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) enhances the nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and to provide leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims. OVC administers the Crime Victims Fund, created by the 1984 Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), a major source of funding for victim services throughout the nation, including those in the area of child victimization and human trafficking. The Fund supports thousands of programs annually that represent millions of dollars invested in victim compensation and assistance in every U.S. state and territory, as well as training and demonstration projects designed to enhance the skills of those who provide services to victims. OVC also administers two major grant programs, supporting direct services to crime victims in every state, the District of Columbia, and five territories, and providing discretionary funds in various program areas to meet emerging needs and fill gaps in existing services. And OVC operates a Training and Technical Assistance Center that provides training opportunities for providers and advocates at all levels of victim services. OVC is currently implementing the strategic framework of its Vision 21 Report by launching new programs, expanding the scope of existing initiatives, and continuing collaboration with partner agencies and organizations to develop innovative projects to enhance victim services.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is the principal federal statistical agency for criminal justice information. BJS released more than a dozen reports since 2011 with findings on victim services, child exploitation, and child pornography.
The SMART Office administers the standards for the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), providing jurisdictions with guidance regarding the implementation of SORNA, tracking important legislative and legal developments related to sex offenders, and spearheading sex offender management initiatives. In addition, the SMART Office provides technical assistance to territories, Indian tribes, federal, state, and local governments, and to public and private organizations. The SMART Office also responds to concerns from the public about sex offenders in their communities.
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
DOJ’s COPS has assisted in the development of various products to support law enforcement response to child exploitation. For example, COPS funded the International Association of Chiefs of Police to create series of training videos in which law enforcement officers demonstrate possible responses to various scenarios involving child sex trafficking. COPS funded the Texas Department of Public Safety to train patrol officers on the detection, interdiction, and recovery of child victims of crimes and the proper handling of these victims. And COPS worked with NCMEC to publish a guidebook entitled What You Need to Know About Background Screening. This guide provides information for measuring the effectiveness of applying background checks to youth-serving volunteers, which will help to minimize the risk to children, especially children that may be victimized and exploited.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
HHS administers programs to prevent human trafficking, identify victims of trafficking, and provide services to survivors, which includes minor victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) was established in 2015 to combat human trafficking by supporting and leading systems that prevent trafficking through public awareness and protect victims through identification and assistance, helping them re-build their lives and become self-sufficient. OTIP is responsible for the development of anti-trafficking strategies, policies, and programs to prevent human trafficking, build health and human service capacity to respond to human trafficking, increase victim identification and access to services, and strengthen health and well-being outcomes of trafficking survivors. The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) supports projects to increase child sexual exploitation prevention and intervention within runaway and homeless youth programs, many of whom have experienced abuse and neglect and are at-risk for exploitation when living on the streets. The Children’s Bureau (CB) focuses on improving the lives of children and families through programs that reduce child abuse and neglect, increase the number of adoptions, and strengthen foster care. CB accomplishes these goals through, among other means, grant funding for service providers and production of guidance documents.