January 25, 2008

OPERATION PREDATOR

Child exploitation and sexual crimes

Each year, millions of children fall prey to sexual predators. Experts estimate that one-in-five girls and one-in-ten boys in the United States are sexually exploited before they reach adulthood. These young victims are left with permanent psychological, physical, and emotional scars. ICE targets child pornographers, child sex tourists and facilitators, human smugglers and traffickers of minors, criminal aliens convicted of offenses against minors and those deported for child exploitation offenses who have returned illegally.

Seeking to bring an end to this criminal activity and protect children worldwide, ICE developed Operation Predator in 2003, an initiative to identify, investigate and arrest child predators and sexual offenders. Operation Predator draws on ICE's unique investigative and enforcement authorities to safeguard children.

Coordinated nationally and internationally, Operation Predator brings together an array of ICE disciplines and resources to target these child sex abusers. As part of the effort

• ICE has created a National Child Victim Identification System (NCVIS) in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service, the Department of Justice, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces and other agencies.
• ICE agents stationed internationally work with foreign governments, INTERPOL and others to enhance coordination and cooperation on crimes that cross borders.
• ICE is a member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, joining law enforcement agencies around the world to fight child exploitation information and images that travel over the Internet.

Results

ICE arrested more than 10,700 child predators nationwide in its first four years. The targets include U.S. citizens and non-citizens. ICE has arrested individuals who have committed a wide range of child sex exploitation crimes.

Non-Citizen Child Predators

Almost 85% of the arrests made as part of Operation Predator have been arrests of non-citizen sex offenders whose crimes make them removable from the United States. Of 9,100 non-citizens arrested to date, more than 5,600 of them have been been removed. Others are still serving their sentences. These predators have included New Jersey, New York and California men who repeatedly molested their own daughters as well as an Austrian-national soccer coach convicted of fondling a mentally impaired minor.

Child Sex Tourists

Working cooperatively with foreign governments through ICE attaché offices worldwide, ICE agents have made more than 67 arrests under the child sex tourism provisions of the PROTECT Act. Of those, 47 have been convicted and others are still being prosecuted. For example, on Feb. 21, 2007, Steven Eric Prowler pleaded guilty to federal charges of traveling abroad with the intent to have sex with a minor and to engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors in another country. Prowler was deported from Thailand after serving one year in a Thai prison for sexual encounters with approximately 100 underage Thai boys. Thai officials and ICE agents investigated the case and discovered detailed journals kept by Prowler of his sexual encounters with underage boys in Thailand, Cambodia and Mexico. Prowler was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Human Smuggling & Trafficking of Children

The criminal networks engaged in human smuggling and trafficking have become more violent and profit-driven than ever before. In one case, a predator tried to purchase 9- to 11-year-old girls from Mexico . ICE agents arrested the individual when he traveled to Arizona to have sex with the girls. In another case, ICE agents working undercover on the Internet encountered a Texas predator negotiating for a child online. His arrest led them to two other suspected predators.

Internet Child Pornography

Drawing on the agency's cyber crime investigative expertise and international law enforcement partnerships, ICE is tackling the crimes that cross the nation's virtual borders. In one major investigation, ICE agents arrested 669 individuals in the United States for trading, buying, and distributing child pornography online. Acting on ICE investigative leads, law enforcement officials in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom arrested more than 1,900 individuals worldwide. Another operation that is still ongoing resulted in the rescue of 12 children from active molestation.

Predators Face Severe Penalties

Several laws increase the probability that sexual predators who harm children will suffer severe consequences, including the Mann Act, the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 1994, the PROTECT Act of 2003 and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Federal law bars U.S. residents from engaging in sexual or pornographic activities anywhere in the world with a child under 18. ICE is working with law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups around the globe to investigate crimes of this nature. Those convicted in the U.S. face significant penalties:

• Possession, manufacture, distribution of child pornography: maximum 30 years in prison
• Child sex tourist, child sex tour operator, or participant in these crimes: maximum 30 years in prison
• Sex trafficking of children for prostitution: maximum life sentence

YOU CAN HELP: REPORT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN

Report suspicious activity to ICE by telephone or email:
1-866-DHS-2ICE or Operation.Predator@dhs.gov

Report suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children to NCMEC
1-800-843-5678 or www.cybertipline.com

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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