The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction A REPORT TO CONGRESS APRIL 2016 Introduction by Attorney General Loretta Lynch National Strategy on Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction Child exploitation is one of the most reprehensible and destructive offenses confronting America today. It harms the safety and well-being of our young people; it devastates our families and communities; and it degrades our strength as a nation of laws and civic security. No matter what form child exploitation takes—from the creation and circulation of child pornography to the trafficking of children for sex—it demands the full attention of law enforcement, policymakers, community leaders, and service providers, each of whom plays an essential role in combating this unconscionable crime. At the Department of Justice, we’re advancing and expanding a number of efforts to protect our nation’s children, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to help victims reclaim their lives. We continue to build on initiatives like Project Safe Childhood, which brings together federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement in a comprehensive and unified response to the abuse and exploitation of minors. Our Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program has facilitated the training of more than 500,000 law enforcement professionals since its inception, providing valuable techniques related to investigating, prosecuting, and preventing technology-enabled crimes against children. Just last year, 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 3,500 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies conducted more than 54,000 investigations that resulted in the arrest of more than 8,500 individuals. And we are aggressively confronting evolving threats online by prosecuting those who use the so-called “Dark Net” in the service of child pornography and child sex trafficking, and by seeking to work closely with the private sector to ensure that state-of-the-art encryption technology is no shield for criminal activity. These are vital undertakings, and they have led to significant and life-changing progress —but we still have work to do. The pages that follow contain the National Strategy on Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction—a roadmap to building on our successes and tackling new challenges during the next several years. Formulated over the course of a year by an interagency working group, this strategy harnesses the expertise of law enforcement at all levels, as well as the experience and knowledge of non-governmental stakeholders. It identifies innovative ways in which the federal government and its partners can address child exploitation. And it reaffirms our unwavering commitment to ensuring that all children in America are able to reach their potential in a nation that protects them from violence and abuse. Investigating and prosecuting child exploitation crimes is extraordinarily difficult work, but the dedicated prosecutors and agents of the Department of Justice have proven themselves equal to the challenge. I am confident that with the help of this critical document—and with the hard work and partnership of federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement, victim-service organizations across the country and our allies overseas—we will continue to make lasting progress toward a brighter future for our children, and a safer nation for all our people. I look forward to everything that we will accomplish together in the service of that mission in the days and months to come. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary . 1 II. Introduction . 15 III. Review of Efforts to Combat Child Exploitation . 18 A. Federal Bureau of Investigation . 18 B. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations . 24 C. U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 31 D. U.S. Marshals Service . 34 E. Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. 35 F. U.S. Attorney’s Offices . 41 G. INTERPOL Washington . 44 H. Bureau of Prisons . 45 I. Office of Justice Programs . 48 J. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services . 60 K. Department of Health and Human Services . 61 L. President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons 65 M. Department of Defense . 65 N. Department of Education . 67 O. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. 68 IV. National Child Exploitation Threat Assessment 2016 . 71 V. Goals and Objectives for Continuing the Fight Against Child Exploitation. 80 A. Investigations and Prosecutions . 80 B. Outreach and Awareness Activities . 83 C. Victim Services .. 86 D. Policy and Legislative Initiatives . 91 VI. Child Exploitation in Indian Country . 97 VII. Conclusion . 108 Appendices A. Prosecution Accomplishments Summary. 110 B. Review of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program . 114 C. Department of Justice-Funded Research on Child Exploitation . 136 D. National Strategy on Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction 2016 Survey Analysis . 141 E. Legislative Proposals. 149 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION The PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008 requires that the Attorney General develop and implement a National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction (National Strategy). The first National Strategy was published in 2010. This, the second National Strategy, builds on that work. The National Strategy is a culmination of a year of discussions among members of an inter-agency working group convened by the National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Inter­ diction at the Department of Justice (DOJ, or the Department). The National Strategy first discusses the work of federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors since 2010, as well as other agencies and offices that play important roles in this work by supporting victims, providing grants to state, local, and tribal governments and non-profit partners, and educating the public about the dangers of child exploitation, and also the work of the non-governmental National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Second, it provides a threat assessment that addresses the nature and scope of the problem and updates the assessment contained in the 2010 National Strategy. Third, it lays out plans for continuing the fight against child exploitation in four key areas: investigations and prosecutions; outreach and education; victim services; and policy initiatives. Fourth, the National Strategy has a section dedicated solely to child exploitation in Indian County, as the issues there are often unique. Finally, a series of appendices include statistics on federal prosecutions; detailed tables of information on the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program (ICAC program) funded by DOJ; research on child exploitation funded by DOJ; a summary of the survey on which the threat assessment is based; and the text of DOJ legislative proposals. Throughout the National Strategy case studies are included as examples of child exploitation prosecutions brought by DOJ. 2. REVIEW OF EFFORTS TO COMBAT CHILD EXPLOITATION This section of the National Strategy provides a comprehensive overview of existing efforts to combat child exploitation, including those by non-governmental organizations such as NCMEC. A. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) The FBI leads Child Exploitation Task Forces (CETFs), collaborating with nearly 400 state, local, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute individuals and enterprises that sexually exploit children. The FBI also leads the Innocence Lost National Initiative (ILNI) to address the problem of children being recruited into prostitution by sex traffickers. Currently, the ILNI operates as part of 71 CETFs nationwide. Under the ILNI, the FBI conducts Operation Cross Country annually to recover children from sex traffickers and coordinate victim services for identified victims. 1 The FBI also leads the Innocent Images National Initiative (IINI), a proactive, intelligence-driven, multi-agency investigative operation that focuses on combating the proliferation of child pornography and child sexual exploitation worldwide. The IINI provides centralized coordination and analysis of case information that is both national and international in scope. In Fiscal Year 2014 through 2015, the IINI program was credited with over 2,900 arrests and 2,200 convictions involving the online sexual exploitation of children. In addition, the FBI operates a Child Sex Tourism (CST) Initiative targeting U.S. citizens who travel abroad to engage in sexual activity with children. Finally, the FBI operates a Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) Team to provide a nationwide resource to support child abduction and critically missing children investigations. The FBI’s work is supported by the Violent Crimes Against Children (VCAC) Intelligence Unit, which engages in intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination; identifies VCAC threats, trends, and vulnerabilities; writes national-in-scope intelligence products; identifies intelligence gaps and collection requirements; and provides actionable intelligence to law enforcement, policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, private industry, and the public to aid in the identification, recovery, and prevention of child victims. In addition, FBI’s Digital Analysis Research Center provides digital forensic extraction and analysis, testimony, and support to the FBI’s VCAC program. B. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/Homeland