INNOCENT IMAGES
Looking Back Over the Years-And
Overseas
02/24/06
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(From
left) Ernie Allen, president and CEO
of the National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children, appears at FBI Headquarters
on February 24 with the following members
of the Innocent Images International
Task Force: Federal Agent Michael Hawkins,
Australian Federal Police; Supervising
Agent Ronald Aguto, National Bureau
of Investigation, the Philippines; and
Constable Judy Foy, Royal Canadian Mounted
Police
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Nearly
13 years ago, two special agents working a
missing child case out of our Baltimore field
office discovered something startling: pedophiles
were using computers to transmit sexually
explicit images of minors on a primitive form
of the Internet.
The
agents quickly learned the suspects were also
using electronic bulletin boards to lure minors
into engaging in illicit sexual activity.
In
May 1995 we launched the "Innocent Images
National Initiative," an undercover operation
to catch those who would prey on our children
using the Internet. We started with a handful
of agents.
In
the 10 years since we officially launched
the program and established the Innocent Images
Unit, we and our law enforcement partners-many
of whom we've trained-have opened more than
15,500 cases; charged more than 4,700 criminals;
and arrested more than 6,100 subjects.
Our
work has led to more than 4,800 convictions
and pre-trial diversions.
Now
hundreds of agents are working undercover
at more than 30 operations nationwide. They
plumb the depths of the Internet to root out
child pornography and to pose as minors to
snare adults who want to sexually exploit
children.
The
unit works with our partners at the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
which helps us identify victims through our
Child Victim Identification Program.
Innocent
Images is a component of our Cyber Division,
and is funded by an annual $10 million dedicated
earmark from Congress.
"Our
top investigative priority is the disruption
and dismantling of online groups, organizations,
and for-profit enterprises which seek to exploit
children," Louis M. Reigel III, assistant
director of the Cyber Division, said in remarks
delivered at an event February 24 marking
the 10th anniversary of the program.
"It
is impossible for you to appreciate the impact
Innocent Images has had, without knowing the
horribly dark and depraved world that exists
out there." said Andrew G. Oosterbaan,
chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity
Section at the Department of Justice.
Reigel
also announced that since September of 2004
we have been running the Innocent Images International
Task Force-comprised of international investigators
who work side-by-side with FBI agents to combat
global child exploitation.
The
international task force started as a six-month
project targeting websites that distribute
child pornography, but now pursues other child
exploitation investigations as well. Law enforcement
officials from foreign countries travel to
our Innocent Images Unit in Calverton, Maryland,
where they can share tactics and information
with each other and with us, and to cooperate
in international investigations.
The
task force has helped the Innocent Images
Unit tackle the increasingly complex child
exploitation cases, Reigel said. The task
force has generated more than 3,000 leads
in the United States and 2,000 in other nations.
"Online
child predators and child exploitation are
not just an American problem. They are worldwide
problems," FBI Director Robert S. Mueller
III said. "We have committed ourselves
to working with our partners around the world
to combat these problems."
So
far, we have hosted investigators from 12
countries, with more to come. Task force partners
from Australia, Belarus, Canada, the Philippines,
Thailand and the United Kingdom appeared at
the press conference with Mueller and Reigel.
"The
ability to share information and technical
expertise and engage in international covert
investigations is crucial to making the Internet
a safer place for everyone worldwide,"
said Lewis Hunt, a team leader of the Paedophile
On-Line Investigation Team at the National
Crime Squad based in London. "That fight
does not belong to one law enforcement agency
or one country."
Links:
FBI Innocent Images
National Initiative | More
Innocent Images statistics More stories
about Crimes
Against Children.
