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Innocent Images National Initiative |
Online Child Pornography/Child Sexual Exploitation
Investigations
The Innocent Images National Initiative (IINI), a component of FBI's Cyber
Crimes Program, is an intelligence driven, proactive, multi-agency investigative
operation to combat the proliferation of child pornography/child sexual exploitation
(CP/CSE) facilitated by an online computer. The IINI provides centralized coordination
and analysis of case information that by its very nature is national and international
in scope, requiring unprecedented coordination with state, local, and international
governments and among FBI field offices and Legal Attachés.
Today, computer telecommunications have become one of the most prevalent techniques
used by pedophiles to share illegal photographic images of minors and to lure
children into illicit sexual relationships. The Internet has dramatically increased
the access of the preferential sex offenders to the population they seek to
victimize and provides them greater access to a community of people who validate
their sexual preferences.
The mission of the IINI is to reduce the vulnerability of children to acts
of sexual exploitation and abuse which are facilitated through the use of computers;
to identify and rescue child victims; to investigate and prosecute sexual predators
who use the Internet and other online services to sexually exploit children
for personal or financial gain; and to strengthen the capabilities of federal,
state, local, and international law enforcement through training programs and
investigative assistance.
The History of the Innocent Images National
Initiative
While investigating the disappearance of
a juvenile in May 1993, FBI special agents and Prince George’s County,
Maryland, police detectives identified two suspects who had sexually exploited
numerous juveniles over
a 25-year
period. Investigation into these activities determined that adults were
routinely utilizing
computers to transmit sexually explicit images to minors and in some
instances to lure minors into engaging in illicit sexual activity. Further
investigation
and discussions with experts, both within the FBI and in the private
sector, revealed that the utilization of computer telecommunications was rapidly
becoming one of the most prevalent techniques by which some sex offenders
shared pornographic
images of minors and identified and recruited children into sexually
illicit
relationships. In 1995, based on information developed during this investigation,
the Innocent Images National Initiative was started to address the illicit
activities conducted by users of commercial and private online services
and the Internet.
The IINI is managed by the Innocent Images
Unit within the FBI’s
Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. Innocent Images
field supervisors
and investigative personnel work closely with the Innocent Images
Unit regarding all IINI investigative, administrative, policy, and training
matters. The IINI
provides a coordinated FBI response to this nationwide crime problem
by collating and analyzing information obtained from all available sources.
Today the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative focuses
on:
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Online organizations, enterprises,
and communities that exploit children for profit or personal gain.
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Major
distributors of child pornography, such as those who appear to
have transmitted a large volume of child pornography
via an
online computer
on
several occasions to several other people.
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Producers
of child pornography.
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Individuals who travel, or indicate
a willingness to travel, for the purpose of engaging in sexual
activity with a minor.
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Possessors of child pornography.
The FBI and the Department
of Justice review all files and select the most egregious
subjects for prosecution. In addition, the
IINI works
to identify
child victims and obtain appropriate services/assistance
for them and to establish a law enforcement presence on the Internet
that
will act
as a deterrent
to
those who seek to sexually exploit children.
The Growth
of the Innocent Images National Initiative
Over the last several years, the FBI, local and state
law enforcement, and the public have developed an increased
awareness of the
CP/CSE crime problem,
and more incidents of online CP/CSE are being identified
for investigation than ever before. In fact, more personnel
resources
are currently
expended towards violations worked under the IINI than
any other program within
the FBI's Cyber Division. Between fiscal years 1996 and
2007, there was a 2062
percent increase in the number of IINI cases opened (113
to 2443) throughout the FBI. It is anticipated that the
number
of cases
opened and the
resources utilized to address the crime problem will
continue to rise.
The increase in Innocent Images investigations demonstrated
the need for a mechanism to track subject transactions
and to correlate
the
seemingly unrelated
activities of thousands of subjects in a cyberspace environment.
As a result,
the Innocent Images case management system was developed
and has proven to be an effective system to archive and
retrieve
the information
necessary
to identify and target priority subjects. All relevant
data obtained during
an
undercover session is loaded into the Innocent Images
case management system where it is updated, reviewed,
and analyzed
on a daily basis
to identify
priority subjects.
Innocent Images National Initiative Investigations
IINI undercover operations are being conducted in many
FBI field offices by task forces that combine the
resources of
the FBI
with other federal,
state,
and local law enforcement agencies. Each of the
FBI's 56 field offices has worked investigations developed
by the
IINI. International
investigations
are coordinated through the FBI's Legal Attaché program,
which coordinates investigations with the appropriate
foreign law enforcement.
IINI investigations
are also coordinated with Internet Crimes Against Children
(ICAC) Task Forces, which are funded by the Department
of Justice. Furthermore,
IINI
training is
provided to all law enforcement involved in these investigations,
including federal, state, local, and foreign law enforcement
agencies.
During the early stages of Innocent Images, a substantial
amount of time was spent conducting investigations
on commercial online
service
providers
that
provide numerous easily accessible “chat rooms” in
which teenagers and pre-teens can meet and converse
with each other. By
using chat rooms,
children can chat for hours with unknown individuals,
often without the knowledge or
approval of their parents. Investigation revealed that
computer-sex offenders utilized the chat rooms to contact
children, since
children do not know
whether they are chatting with a 14-year-old or a 40-year-old.
Chat rooms offer the
advantage of immediate communication around the world
and provide the pedophile with an anonymous means of
identifying
and recruiting
children into sexually
illicit relationships.
Innocent Images has expanded to include investigations
involving all areas of the Internet and online
services including:
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Internet websites that
post child pornography
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Internet News Groups
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Internet
Relay Chat (IRC) Channels
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File Servers (“FServes”)
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Online
Groups and Organizations (eGroups)
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Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing
programs
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Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs)
and other online forums
FBI agents
and task force officers go online undercover into predicated locations
utilizing fictitious
screen names and
engaging in real-time
chat or e-mail
conversations with subjects to obtain
evidence of criminal activity. Investigation of specific
online
locations
can be initiated through:
A citizen
complaint
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A complaint by an online service
provider
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A referral
from a law enforcement agency
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The name of the online
location (such
as a chat room), which
can suggest illicit
activity
The Innocent Images International
Task Force became operational
on October 6,
2004 and
includes law
enforcement officers
from the following
countries:
United Kingdom, Norway, Finland,
Ukraine, Belarus, Australia,
Thailand, the Philippines,
Croatia,
Latvia, Germany,
the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Canada,
Sweden, Fiji, Cyprus, Iceland,
Denmark, Panama, and Europol.
To date, more than
47 international
officers
have traveled
to the
United States
and have
worked side-by-side with special
agents of the FBI at the Innocent
Images Unit.
The
task force
allows
for the
real-time
transfer
of information from and to
the FBI and between task-force
members and their countries.
Task Force officers
stay
in the United
States for several
months and
remain an
integral
part
of the task force once they
return to their home countries. The
FBI’s
Innocent Images International
Task Force successfully brings
together law enforcement
from around the world to address
the global crime problem
of online child exploitation.
The most common crimes investigated
under the IINI are in violation
of Title 18
United States
Code
(USC):
§ 1462. Importation or Transportation of Obscene Matters
§ 1465. Transportation of Obscene Matters for Sale or Distribution
§ 1466. Engaging in the Business of Selling or Transferring Obscene Matter
§ 1467. Criminal Forfeiture
§ 1470. Transfer of Obscene Material to Minors
§ 2241(a)(b)(c). Aggravated Sexual Abuse
§ 2251(a)(b)(c). Sexual Exploitation of Children
§ 2251A(a)(b). Selling or Buying of Children
§ 2252. Certain Activities Relating to Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation
of Minors
§ 2252A. Certain Activities Relating to Material Constituting or Containing
Child Pornography
§ 2253. Criminal Forfeiture
§ 2254. Civil Forfeiture
§ 2257. Record Keeping Requirements
§ 2260(a)(b). Production of Sexually Explicit Depictions of a Minor for
Importation into the US
§ 2421. Transportation Generally
§ 2422. Coercion and Enticement
§ 2423(a). Transportation of Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual
Activity
§ 2423(b). Interstate or Foreign Travel with Intent to Engage in a Sexual
Act with a Juvenile
§ 2425. Use of Interstate Facilities to Transmit Information about a Minor
§ 13032. Reporting of Child Pornography by Electronic Communication Service
Providers
The FBI has taken the necessary steps
to ensure that the Innocent Images
National Initiative
remains viable and productive through
the use of
new technology
and sophisticated investigative
techniques, coordination of the national
investigative
strategy, and a
national liaison
initiative
with a significant
number of commercial
and independent online service
providers. The
Innocent Images National Initiative
has been highly successful.
It has proven
to be a logical,
efficient, and
effective method to identify
and investigate individuals who are
using
the Internet for
the sole purpose of sexually
exploiting children.
To date there have been four Innocent
Images subjects placed on the
FBI’s
Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list:
On December 27, 2000, Eric
Franklin Rosser became the first child predator to
be placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.
Rosser was charged with the production, distribution, receipt, and transportation
of child pornography,
as well as conspiracy to do the same. His offenses
included the production of a videotape in Thailand that allegedly
depicts sexually
explicit conduct
between him and an eleven-year-old female child.
In February 2000,
Rosser was arrested in Thailand on various charges, including possessing
child pornography.
He was released on bail and disappeared. A federal
grand jury
in Indianapolis, Indiana, indicted Rosser in March 2000. After a tip
from the public,
Rosser
was again arrested in Thailand on August 21, 2001.
The Thai police said Rosser underwent liposuction, had cosmetic surgery
to his face,
and then
traveled
to the Netherlands, England, and France before returning
to Thailand and being arrested. Rosser served a two-year sentence in
Thailand
and
was then
extradited
to the United States. Rosser pled guilty and was
sentenced on October 24, 2003 to more than 16 years in federal prison.
Rosser's co-conspirator
William
Platz
was sentenced in June 2000 to 11 years in prison.
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On
January 31, 2002, Michael Scott Bliss became the second child
predator to be placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.
Bliss
was being sought by the FBI for the repeated molestation of a nine-year-old
female
victim in
Vermont. Bliss videotaped these molestations,
and the
videos
were converted to computer files for possible placement on the
Internet. Bliss has
a violent
criminal history towards children and served
nine years in state prison for committing aggravated assault against
his girlfriend's
minor
children.
During
that incident, Bliss repeatedly struck three
of his girlfriend's children with an aluminum baseball bat, rendering
two of them unconscious.
Bliss was released
from prison just two months before the alleged
molestations of the nine-year-old began. Bliss was arrested in Los
Angeles, California,
on April
23, 2002, and
was charged in the state of Vermont with 11 federal
counts
of various statutes related to sexual exploitation of children.
Bliss pled guilty to all
11 counts
on June 2, 2003 and was sentenced on February
18, 2004 to
22 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised
release.
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On June 14, 2002, Richard Steve
Goldberg became the third child predator to be placed on the FBI's
Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
List. Goldberg was being sought
for engaging in lewd acts in Long Beach,
California, with several girls under ten years old. He also produced
and possessed
child pornography images of these
sex acts, which were found on his computer.
Goldberg gained the trust of his victims’ parents and then
befriended their children. He entertained the girls by allowing them
to play with
his pets, watch television,
and use his
computer to play games. Some of these girls
also
took short trips with him. In July 2001,
a state arrest warrant
was
issued in California
charging Goldberg
with six counts of lewd acts upon a child
and two counts of possession of child pornography. On November
25, 2002,
a federal
arrest warrant
was issued charging
Goldberg with the production of child pornography
and the unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
On May 12,
2007, Goldberg
was
arrested in Montreal by Canadian
authorities and was extradited to the United
States to face federal and state charges of sexual exploitation
of children,
unlawful
flight to avoid prosecution,
lewd acts upon a child, and possession of
child pornography. Goldberg (age 62) pled guilty and was sentenced
on
December
10, 2007 to
20 years in federal
prison.
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On September 7, 2007, Jon Savarino
Schillaci became the fourth child predator to be placed on the
FBI’s
Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. Schillaci is being sought for the
alleged sexual assault of a young boy in Deefield, New
Hampshire in 1999. Prior to the alleged sexual
abuse, Schillaci corresponded with the boy’s family when he
was in a Texas prison serving a conviction for child molestation.
After his
release, Schillaci
moved in with the family,
who offered him an opportunity at a new life
the
alleged sexual abuse occurred later that
year. A Rockingham County
Superior
Court bench warrant was issued
for Schillaci in late 1999, and in April
2000 a federal arrest warrant was issued charging Schillaci with
unlawful flight
to avoid prosecution. Schillaci
is an Oklahoma native who has ties to New
Hampshire, Texas, Mexico, and California. He is well educated
and is believed
to have earned
masters degrees in humanities
and literature. Schillaci is known to speak
Spanish, French, and German. His current whereabouts are unknown.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) operates a
CyberTipline at www.cybertipline.com that allows parents and children to report
child pornography and other incidents of sexual exploitation of children by
submitting an online form. The NCMEC also maintains a 24-hour hotline of 1-800-THE-LOST
and a website at www.missingkids.com.
Complaints received by the NCMEC that indicate a violation of federal law
are referred to the FBI for appropriate action. An FBI supervisory special
agent and five analysts are assigned full-time at the NCMEC to assist with
these complaints. The analysts review and analyze information received by
the NCMEC’s CyberTipline. The analysts conduct research and analysis
in order to identify individuals suspected of any of the following: possession,
manufacture and/or distribution of child pornography; online enticement of
children for sexual acts; child sexual tourism; and/or other sexual exploitation
of children. The analysts utilize various Internet tools and Administrative
Subpoenas in their efforts to identify individuals who prey on children.
Once a potential suspect has been identified, they compile an investigative
packet that includes the applicable CyberTipline reports, subpoena results,
public records search results, the illegal images associated with the suspect,
and a myriad of other information that is forwarded to the appropriate FBI
field office for investigation.
Innocent Images Statistical Accomplishments
Online child pornography/child sexual exploitation investigations, which
are worked under the FBI's Innocent Images National Initiative, accounted
for 39 percent of all investigations worked under the FBI's Cyber Division
in fiscal year 2007.
Innocent Images grew exponentially between fiscal years 1996 and 2007
with a:
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2062 percent increase in Cases Opened (113 to 2443)
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1003
percent increase in Informations & Indictments (99 to
1092)
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2501 percent increase in Arrests, Locates & Summons
(68 to 1769)
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1404 percent increase in Convictions & Pretrial
Diversions (68 to 1023)
Between
fiscal years 1996-2007, the Innocent Images National Initiative has recorded
the following statistical accomplishments:
Number of Cases Opened: 20,134
Number of Informations & Indictments: 6,844
Number of Arrests, Locates & Summons: 9,469
Number of Convictions & Pretrial Diversions: 6,863
For additional information on the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative
and Internet safety, please read the FBI brochure titled 'A Parent's Guide
to Internet Safety.' This brochure, as well as other information about crimes
against children, is available on the FBI website, www.fbi.gov/innocent.htm.
Individual FBI field offices serve as primary points of contact for persons
requesting FBI assistance. For further information about FBI services or
to request assistance, please contact a Crimes Against Children Coordinator
at your local FBI field office.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Innocent Images National Initiative, Suite 200
11700 Beltsville Drive
Beltsville, MD 20705-3146
Revised 12/11/2007
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