• 06
  • August
    2010

On Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the U.S. Department of Justice was officially releasing its first-ever National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. The strategy provides a comprehensive threat assessment of the many dangers facing children (child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation) and outlines several ways in which the federal government plans to combat these various dangers.

The strategy's many highlights include:

• The creation of a national database that allows authorities on the state, federal, tribal and international level to share information, as well as coordinate undercover operations.

• The creation of 38 new Assistant U.S. Attorney posts dedicated to prosecuting child-exploitation cases.

• The launch of an operation by the United States Marshals Service targeting 500 of the most dangerous, noncompliant sex offenders across the nation

"Although we've made meaningful progress in protecting children across the country, and although we've brought a record number of offenders to justice in recent year, it is time to renew our commitment to this work. It is time to intensify our efforts. This new strategy provides the roadmap necessary to do just that - to streamline our education, prevention and prosecution activities; to improve information sharing and collaboration; and to make the most effective use of limited resources," said Attorney General Holder.

 

The strategy report, which is 280 pages in length, clearly delineates the steps the federal government plans to take to combat crimes against children. It also shares past successes by state and federal authorities, including Operation Cybersafe, which helped identify more than 200 children being exploited by a group of defendants.

According to Attorney General Holder, the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction sends the message that "the U.S. government, and our nation's Department of Justice, has never been more committed to protecting our children and to bringing offenders to justice."

Stay tuned for future news stories regarding the federal government's efforts to crack down on child pornography and sex crimes involving children ...

Related Resources:

• Justice Dept. Reveals Strategy to Fight Child Abuse, Exploitation (The Denver Post)
• Feds Unveil National Strategy to Combat Child Porn (Kilgore News Herald)