DOJ: Innocence Lost National Initiative and Operation Independence Day 2019 - No Word On Foster Care & Adoption

I sincerely hope this initiative will expand to include foster care and adoption, where the trauma of being drugged, raped, beaten, and tortured for years takes a toll on a kid, that is if they are lucky enough to make it to the age of consent.

You know what they say, "A foster kid has to eat!"

The procuring and purveying of tiny humans crosses the spectrum of society, from our police departments to churches, you will find some operation where a kid is doing what they do not want to do, and it will be done online, cloaked by propaganda.

Then, there are the ones who run the servers and networks.

No one talks about those, highly technically skilled individuals.

"Have a great day!"

FBI Announces New Program Focusing on the Recovery of Child Victims From Commercial Sex Trafficking

The Department of Justice announced today the FBI-led recovery or identification of 103 child victims and the arrest of 67 sex traffickers through Operation Independence Day.  This initiative — a revamping of a previously successful program — was executed during the month of July through 161 operations conducted nationwide.

Operation Independence Day relied on the 86 FBI-led Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Forces (CEHTTFs), which leveraged the resources and intelligence of other federal, state, local, and tribal partners.  Overall, more than 400 agencies participate in these task forces.

Operation Independence Day prioritized locating and rescuing missing minors who are at great risk for sexual exploitation, and arresting the traffickers exploiting them.  To that end, through its partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), FBI special agents and intelligence analysts reviewed information provided through NCMEC’s CyberTipline, to identify missing minor children at risk for sexual exploitation, and then worked with state and local partners to execute law enforcement activity designed to recover those children and arrest traffickers.

The health and welfare of recovered minor and adult trafficking victims was a further priority.  To facilitate these efforts, the FBI’s Victim Services Division and victim specialists stationed in each of our 56 field offices also worked closely with the task forces during the operation to ensure recovered children received the help they needed.  Victim specialists put internal and external resources in place before the operation to ensure victim assistance was a priority in the aftermath of the law enforcement operations.   

“This initiative has two crucial goals: rescuing children being sold for sex and prosecuting their adult traffickers,” said Attorney General William P. Barr.  “Child sex trafficking is a heinous crime that preys on the most vulnerable in our society.  Perpetrators victimize children in communities throughout the country, and we are determined to find and rescue them.  Through the FBI’s leadership, we have recovered thousands of child victims, and this latest operation adds to the success of that decades-long effort.”  

“Make no mistake, the FBI is fiercely focused on recovering child victims and arresting the sex traffickers who exploit them,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.  “Through operations like this, the FBI helps child victims escape the abusive life of sex trafficking.  Our agents, intelligence analysts, professional staff, and victim specialists work tirelessly before, during and after these operations to make sure that victims get the help they need to reclaim their lives.”

“The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is proud to be part of this extraordinary partnership with the FBI.  The FBI and the Department of Justice have been instrumental in spearheading multi-agency collaboration between organizations to locate and provide resources to victims of child sex trafficking,” said John Clark, President and CEO of NCMEC.  “We know this horrendous crime impacts communities across our country every day and we applaud the FBI for continuing to work tirelessly to locate these victims and hold accountable those who are selling children for sex.”

In June 2003, the FBI, in conjunction with the Justice Department Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and NCMEC, launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative (ILNI).  This combined effort was aimed at addressing the growing problem of domestic sex trafficking of children in the United States.  In the years since its inception, the ILNI has expanded to 86 dedicated CEHTTFs.  These task forces, with the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the FBI’s Victim Services Division, have worked successfully to rescue thousands of children.

Through ILNI, the FBI, along with its local law enforcement partners, uses task forces to leverage resources and intelligence to identify and recover child victims and prosecute those responsible for their exploitation.  This collaborative effort has led to the recovery or identification of more than 6,600 child victims.  The initiative has also led to more than 2,750 convictions, including more than 15 life sentences and many other sentences ranging from 25 years to life.

In 2008, the ILNI initiated Operation Cross Country (OCC)—a focused, national campaign that targeted the venues where children were the victims of commercial sex trafficking.  Since 2008, there have been 11 iterations of OCC, recovering more than 900 child victims and arresting nearly 1,400 traffickers.  The last operation was held in October 2017 with 78 task forces participating.

The FBI determined that after 11 years of OCC success, it was time to re-evaluate the program.  The newly renamed Operation Independence Day was conducted over an entire month, rather than a few days, but continued to focus on the recovery of child victims from commercial sex trafficking.

The FBI’s Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Unit and DOJ coordinated the operation.  For additional information on Operation Independence Day and the Innocence Lost initiative, please visit https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/operation-independence-day-2019.

I noticed there were no partnerships with Child Protective Services.

Awesome.

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DOJ: SESTA FOSTA Tool Used To Stop The Trafficking Of Tiny Humans

This is what SESTA-FOSTA.

They are going after the money behind the culture of the residuals of the peculiar institution, which is why I call it the trafficking of tiny humans.

Children are our most precious treasures and we must invest in the best interests for a profitable, future return, as a productive individual.

This is why the powers are with the U.S. Treasury.

They are doing the conjugal collaborative in building state and local partnerships for intelligence sharing.

We have the databases.

Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan Delivers Remarks at the 2018 National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation

Atlanta, GA

 ~

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning, everyone.   Thank you, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Alan Hanson, for that kind introduction – and more importantly, thanks to you and your team for putting together such a comprehensive and cutting-edge agenda for the next few days.  Alan’s Office of Justice Programs – under the leadership of Acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio – provides invaluable support to our mission to end child exploitation, whether by organizing a conference like this one or supporting the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program.  The ICAC Task Force Program, much like the Department’s Project Safe Childhood, marshal federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

It is remarkable to have so many dedicated prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and advocates gathered together in one place and in pursuit of the same shared mission.  As the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, I have the privilege of overseeing approximately 700 attorneys who prosecute some of the most serious criminal threats facing our country.  Even among the many significant, groundbreaking matters handled in the Criminal Division, the incredible work of the dedicated prosecutors in our Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section – or “CEOS” – stands out.

"CEOS".  Very clever. ̣Chief Executive Officers.

At CEOS, we are proud to help lead the Department’s fight against child exploitation.  We dismantle the constantly evolving platforms that predators use to victimize children online, and we aggressively prosecute those responsible for devising these truly reprehensible ways to facilitate abuse.  We help develop policy and legislative solutions that will enhance our capacity to bring those offenders to justice.  We conduct innovative trainings across the country – at events like this week’s conference. 

And we spearhead and coordinate massive nationwide and international operations to disrupt and destroy child exploitation networks.  Given the diffusion, reach, and sophistication of the predators we target, these law enforcement operations are most successful only when we can rely on our close partnerships with the many federal, state, local, tribal, and non-governmental partners here today.

Operation Pacifier was a prime example.  In that case, we worked together to target the administrators and users of a highly sophisticated, global enterprise on the dark web called “Playpen,” where users exchanged tens of thousands of postings relating to the sexual abuse of children – even, revoltingly, children as young as infants and toddlers.  Operation Pacifier was a model of law enforcement ingenuity.  Agents identified and seized the “Playpen” server, which gave the FBI a very short window of time to deploy court-authorized techniques to identify site users.  Many of the investigations that were generated by the FBI were then pursued by state and local authorities.

The results of Operation Pacifier have been staggering – both in the United States and abroad.  Multiple administrators who ran this horrible enterprise have been convicted and have received lengthy prison sentences.  To date, Operation Pacifier has led to the arrests of at least 348 U.S.-based individuals and 548 individuals abroad, the prosecution of 25 U.S.-based child pornography producers and 51 U.S.-based hands-on abusers, and, most important of all, the rescue or identification of 55 children in the United States and 296 children abroad. 

In fact, over the past five years alone, our operations like Pacifier have collectively resulted in investigations into approximately 3,500 individuals and have generated more than 10,000 leads targeting foreign suspects.  As a result of our joint efforts, hundreds of child victims have been identified – children who no longer face the unspeakable abuse they once endured. 

But amid these tremendous achievements, formidable challenges remain.  Criminal actors are becoming more sophisticated each day.  New and emerging technologies have enabled an illicit, dark corner of cyberspace to flourish.  Readily available encryption and anonymizing networks provide a cheap and hidden mechanism to commit horrific crimes against children.  These technological advancements have ushered in a historic rise in the production of child pornography, in the number of images being shared online, and in the degree of violence we’ve seen from the child predators.  Sadly, the only statistic for which we’ve seen a decline has been in the age of the victims – with more and more offenders targeting infants and toddlers, probably in no small part because of their inability to disclose their abuse.

The internet has also provided criminals with convenient and profitable platforms to advertise children for sex.  But, as we recently demonstrated, they do so at their own risk.

In April, Backpage.com – the internet’s leading forum to advertise child prostitution – was seized and shut down, thanks to the collective action by CEOS and our federal and state partners.  The Backpage website was a criminal haven where sex traffickers marketed their young victims.  The Backpage takedown – and the contemporaneous arrests of individuals allegedly responsible for administering the site – struck a monumental blow against child sex traffickers. 

But other sites inevitably will seek to fill the void left by Backpage, and we must be vigilant in bringing those criminals to justice as well.  With the recent passage of the SESTA-FOSTA legislation, state and local prosecutors are now positioned to more effectively prosecute criminals that host online sex trafficking markets that victimize our children.

And it is not just children in America that we must protect.  Child sex tourism continues to thrive, with offenders in the United States able to communicate with their young victims across the globe in cybersex dens, without ever leaving their own homes.  We recently prosecuted a Virginia man named Carl Sara.  Sara paid tens of thousands of dollars to direct the sexual abuse of minors in the Philippines via webcams.  But Sara was not content with just abusing his young victims online.  He also traveled to the Philippines intending to have sex with an eight-year-old he had met online, and while in the Philippines, Sara in fact paid for sex with a minor. 

Less than a month ago, Daniel Stephen Johnson was convicted after trial in Oregon.  Johnson started an orphanage in Cambodia and held himself out as a selfless Christian missionary.  But he was far from one.  Over several years, Johnson repeatedly abused young children at that Cambodian orphanage.  His victims ranged in age from eight to 17.  At Johnson’s trial, we presented testimony from multiple victims who traveled to the United States to confront their abuser.  Johnson’s conviction was a true testament to the courage of those victims, as well as to our steadfast commitment to hold accountable child predators for their appalling crimes.

Abhorrent, unconscionable crimes like these serve as a stark reminder of the extraordinary importance of the work that you all do.  And they also serve as a reminder that protecting our children from sex predators demands a coordinated, strategic response.  We must work together, we must remain focused and engaged, and we must maintain the momentum we have built.  That is why this week’s conference – and the state-of-the-art training that will be conducted by CEOS, other federal and state prosecutors, investigators, and our non-government and industry partners – is so critical to our success. 

I’m told there are more than 1,400 of us who have come together this week.  One-thousand four-hundred dedicated women and men, committed to taking our efforts to prevent child exploitation to a new level.  What an incredibly impressive assembly of experienced, talented, and dedicated leaders in our fight.  Take advantage of that.  Over the next three days, you have the opportunity to learn not only from the presenters and panels, but also from one another.  Share ideas and best practices, identify and discuss trends, forge relationships.  Working together, we will only strengthen our collective efforts to eradicate child exploitation.

I end by saying, “thank you.”  Thank you for your commitment to the fight.  Thank you for all you do to save our children from unspeakable abuse.  Keep up the amazing work, and never forget the importance of what you are doing each and every day standing up for some of the most vulnerable members of our society.

Enjoy the conference. 

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FOSTA, SESTA, Intellectual Property & Trafficking Tiny Humans: The Law Of Chattels

Now, I know why FBI Rod Rosenstein covers up trafficking of tiny humans:

It was financial and political: Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA)

Proud that passage of H.R.1865 is having an IMMEDIATE impact on websites advertising prostitution, several shutting down in the past few days. #fosta-#sesta

— Bob Goodlatte (@RepGoodlatte) March 23, 2018

Here is the campaign to Stop SESTA.

I have no position at this time except to say that this looks exactly like the Stop SOPA/PIPA campaign, which was about intellectual property, the law of chattels, which is nothing more than child welfare.

The best way of ending human trafficking is to stop making people poor.

Besides, how do you think children who age out of foster care, or run away, or just live on the streets because there is no assistance, eat?

I will be watching because Lil' Miss Nancy Pelosi should be watching this, too.

FOSTA and SESTA: The Anti-Trafficking Legislation that is a Giveaway to Traffickers

Two “anti-trafficking” bills are making their rounds in Congress right now with some powerful support: the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA).  To date, FOSTA has passed the House alone and SESTA has only been introduced, but the passing of one or the other is so expected that changes are already happening with various sites shutting down and other sites dropping sections of their websites.

However, far from helping fight sex trafficking, which these two bill superficially attempt to do, these bills are a giveaway to human traffickers who will find it easier to find individuals to traffick even if it is harder to market them – it is still a net win for traffickers.

Rather, these bills targets sex workers, individuals who voluntarily engage in the sex trade for their subsistence.  It is not the sex traffickers who will suffer, but those who freelance in sex work and are already finding themselves more vulnerable to abuse, violence, and even being trafficked as slaves.

READ MORE: https://yttribune.com/2018/04/03/fosta-and-sesta-the-anti-trafficking-legislation-that-is-a-giveaway-to-traffickers/

DOJ Seizes Backpage.com Weeks After Congress Passes Sex Trafficking Law

The Justice Department today seized the website of BackPage.com and replaced it with a banner indicating that it has been seized by the government.

Backpage, for years, has been accused of accepting classified ads promoting prostitution which allegedly resulted in sex trafficking of both adults and minors.

READ MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2018/04/06/doj-seizes-backpage-com-weeks-after-congress-passes-sex-trafficking-law/#2eb911a150ba

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to clarify that section 230 of such Act does not prohibit the enforcement against providers and users of interactive computer services of Federal and State criminal and civil law relating to sexual exploitation of children or sex trafficking, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017”.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1) section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230; commonly known as the “Communications Decency Act of 1996”) was never intended to provide legal protection to websites that unlawfully promote and facilitate prostitution and websites that facilitate traffickers in advertising the sale of unlawful sex acts with sex trafficking victims;

(2) websites that promote and facilitate prostitution have been reckless in allowing the sale of sex trafficking victims and have done nothing to prevent the trafficking of children and victims of force, fraud, and coercion; and

(3) clarification of such section is warranted to ensure that such section does not provide such protection to such websites.

SEC. 3. PROMOTION OF PROSTITUTION AND RECKLESS DISREGARD OF SEX TRAFFICKING.

(a) Promotion Of Prostitution.—Chapter 117 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 2421 the following:

“§ 2421A. Promotion or facilitation of prostitution and reckless disregard of sex trafficking

“(a) In General.—Whoever, using a facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, owns, manages, or operates an interactive computer service (as such term is defined in defined in section 230(f) the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f))), or conspires or attempts to do so, with the intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

“(b) Aggravated Violation.—Whoever, using a facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, owns, manages, or operates an interactive computer service (as such term is defined in defined in section 230(f) the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(f))), or conspires or attempts to do so, with the intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person and—

“(1) promotes or facilitates the prostitution of 5 or more persons; or

“(2) acts in reckless disregard of the fact that such conduct contributed to sex trafficking, in violation of 1591(a),

shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 25 years, or both.

“(c) Civil Recovery.—Any person injured by reason of a violation of section 2421A(b) may recover damages and reasonable attorneys’ fees in an action before any appropriate United States district court.

“(d) Mandatory Restitution.—Notwithstanding sections 3663 or 3663A and in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties authorized by law, the court shall order restitution for any violation of subsection (b)(2). The scope and nature of such restitution shall be consistent with section 2327(b).

“(e) Affirmative Defense.—It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of violating subsection (a), or subsection (b)(1) where the defendant proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the promotion or facilitation of prostitution is legal in the jurisdiction where the promotion or facilitation was targeted.”.

(b) Table Of Contents.—The table of contents for such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2421 the following:

“2421A. Promotion or facilitation of prostitution and reckless disregard of sex trafficking.”.

SEC. 4. ENSURING ABILITY TO ENFORCE FEDERAL AND STATE CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW RELATING TO SEX TRAFFICKING.

(a) In General.—Section 230(e) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(5) NO EFFECT ON SEX TRAFFICKING LAW.—Nothing in this section (other than subsection (c)(2)(A)) shall be construed to impair or limit—

“(A) any claim in a civil action brought under section 1595 of title 18, United States Code, if the conduct underlying the claim constitutes a violation of section 1591 of that title;

“(B) any charge in a criminal prosecution brought under State law if the conduct underlying the charge would constitute a violation of section 1591 of title 18, United States Code; or

“(C) any charge in a criminal prosecution brought under State law if the conduct underlying the charge would constitute a violation of section 2421A of title 18, United States Code, and promotion or facilitation of prostitution is illegal in the jurisdiction where the defendant’s promotion or facilitation of prostitution was targeted.”.

(b) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and the amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply regardless of whether the conduct alleged occurred, or is alleged to have occurred, before, on, or after such date of enactment.

SEC. 5. ENSURING FEDERAL LIABILITY FOR PUBLISHING INFORMATION DESIGNED TO FACILITATE SEX TRAFFICKING OR OTHERWISE FACILITATING SEX TRAFFICKING.

Section 1591(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:

“(4) The term ‘participation in a venture’ means knowingly assisting, supporting, or facilitating a violation of subsection (a)(1).”.

SEC. 6. ACTIONS BY STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.

(a) In General.—Section 1595 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(d) In any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of that State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by any person who violates section 1591, the attorney general of the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action against such person on behalf of the residents of the State in an appropriate district court of the United States to obtain appropriate relief.”.

(b) Technical And Conforming Amendments.—Section 1595 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking “this section” and inserting “subsection (a)”; and

(2) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “this section” and inserting “subsection (a)”.

SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE.

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to limit or preempt any civil action or criminal prosecution under Federal law or State law (including State statutory law and State common law) filed before or after the day before the date of enactment of this Act that was not limited or preempted by section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230), as such section was in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 8. GAO STUDY.

On the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study and submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of the Senate, the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, a report which includes the following:

(1) Information on each civil action brought pursuant to section 2421A(c) of title 18, United States Code, that resulted in an award of damages, including the amount claimed, the nature or description of the losses claimed to support the amount claimed, the losses proven, and the nature or description of the losses proven to support the amount awarded.

(2) Information on each civil action brought pursuant to section 2421A(c) of title 18, United States Code, that did not result in an award of damages, including—

(A) the amount claimed and the nature or description of the losses claimed to support the amount claimed; and

(B) whether the case was dismissed, and if the case was dismissed, information describing the reason for the dismissal.

(3) Information on each order of restitution entered pursuant to section 2421A(d) of title 18, United States Code, including—

(A) whether the defendant was a corporation or an individual;

(B) the amount requested by the Government and the justification for, and calculation of, the amount requested, if restitution was requested; and

(C) the amount ordered by the court and the justification for, and calculation of, the amount ordered.

(4) For each defendant convicted of violating section 2421A(b) of title 18, United States Code, that was not ordered to pay restitution—

(A) whether the defendant was a corporation or an individual;

(B) the amount requested by the Government, if restitution was requested; and

(C) information describing the reason that the court did not order restitution.

Attest:

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Attest:

Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.

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