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Managing America: Crime

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Week Ending November 16, 2007

H.R.3845  `Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to Our Children Act of 2007'

Based on findings that the Internet has facilitated growth of a multi-billion dollar global business in child pornography claiming young victims and exposing youth to diabolical sexual predators, the bill establishes the Special Counsel for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. (Counsel)

The Counsel will coordinate policies and strategies of the Department of Justice related to prevention and investigation of child exploitation cases including policies and strategies of the Office of Justice Programs, the Criminal Division, the Executive Office of the US Attorneys, the FBI and other Federal agencies related to child exploitation. The Counsel will also pursue memorandums of understanding and other interagency agreements related to preventing, investigating and apprehending child exploiters.

Cooperation will be sought with the Departments of Immigration, State, Commerce, Education and other agencies and will direct and oversee the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and its resources that are also established in this bill.

The Counsel will develop and provide and coordinate technical assistance and training for Federal State and local and tribal law enforcement agencies for prevention, investigation, prosecution, forensic computer examination and analysis, education and Internet safety. The Counsel will report to the President and Congress.

The ICAC Task Force will increase investigative capabilities of State and local law enforcement, conduct investigations and provide training assistance and enhance national response to and awareness of Internet crimes against children. The task forces will consist of State and local investigators. Prosecutors, forensic specialists and education specialists.

Also established is a National Internet Crimes Against Children Data Network Center to assist law enforcement with secure, online information –sharing and for resolving case conflicts and the ICAC Data Network Center Steering Committee to provide guidance to the Center and assist in developing strategies.

Grants will be made to States through a formula based on State population, the number of cases and the number of successful prosecutions. The grants may be used to hire personnel, establish forensic laboratories, support investigations, conduct training and related activities.

The bill excludes consensual sex between a minor over age 16 and under age 18.

Sponsor:  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz (D-FL-20^th)

Vote: Passed House November 14, 2007 RC 1091

Cost to the taxpayers: $695 million through 2014.

Earmark Certification:   Not applicable to this bill.

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MORE INFORMATION

Congress finds the following:

(1) The Internet has facilitated the growth of a multi-billion dollar global market for images and video of children being sexually-displayed, raped, and tortured, far exceeding the capacity of law enforcement to respond at the Federal, State, and local level.

(2) The explosion of child pornography trafficking is claiming very young victims. Research by the Department of Justice, the University of New Hampshire, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicates that among those arrested for possession of child pornography, 83 percent have images of children 6-12 years old, 39 percent have images of children 3-5 years old, and 19 percent have images of children under the age of 3 years old.

(3) The images and videos being trafficked typically depict sexual assaults that are both graphic and brutal. The research described in paragraph (2) also indicates that 80 percent of known child pornography possessors have images of children being sexually penetrated and 21 percent have images depicting children bound, gagged, blindfolded, or `otherwise enduring sadistic sex.' Just one percent of such possessors restricted their collecting to images of simple child nudity.

(4) Millions of children and teens in the United States are at risk from sexual predators who are hunting, stalking, and luring minors online. Along with the incredible access to the world offered our children by the Internet, the Internet also offers the world access to our children.

(5) The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force program (ICAC Program) of the Department of Justice has identified millions of child pornography transactions involving images and video of child sexual assault from millions of computer IP addresses worldwide.

(6) The ICAC Program has been highly successful in creating and sustaining an emerging national network of 46 Federal, State, and local task forces, which form the backbone of national readiness to combat child exploitation.

(7) In testimony before Congress, law enforcement experts have expressed consensus that lack of dedicated forensic analysis capacity is a severe problem at the Federal, State, and local level, severely limiting the number of predators that can be interdicted and children that can be identified and rescued.

(8) The Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and the United States Postal Inspection Service have each developed highly specialized and successful child exploitation investigative capabilities, yet these agencies have testified to Congress that they must triage the overwhelming number of child exploitation crimes and cannot investigate a large percentage of known crimes.

(9) Child pornography and online child enticement crimes have among the highest conviction rates of any child sexual offense, and the research funded by the Department of Justice indicates that the majority of child pornography offenders have committed or attempted direct sexual contact offenses against children. Investigating and prosecuting these predators is one of the most concrete and measurable strategies for the prevention of future child sexual abuse.

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