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 initiative 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:
- Identify, investigate, and prosecute sexual predators who
use the Internet and other online services to sexually exploit
children.
- Identify and rescue witting and unwitting child victims.
- Establish a law enforcement presence on the Internet as a
deterrent to subjects that exploit children.
THE HISTORY OF THE INNOCENT IMAGES NATIONAL INITIATIVE:
While investigating the disappearance of a juvenile
in May 1993, FBI Special Agents and Prince Georges 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 central operation and case management system
for all FBI online CP/CSE investigations is located at the Maryland
Metropolitan Office at Calverton, Baltimore Division. The Innocent
Images field supervisor and investigative personnel work closely
with the Innocent Images National Initiative manager at FBI
Headquarters in investigative, administrative and policy matters
involving the initiative. All FBI field offices forward copies
of text and images obtained in all online CP/CSE investigations
to the Innocent Images National Initiative for incorporation
into the Innocent Images case management system. The Innocent
Images initiative provides for a coordinated FBI response to
a nationwide problem by collating and analyzing information
and images obtained from numerous sources and avoids duplication
of effort by all FBI field offices.
Today the FBIs Innocent Images National
Initiative focuses on:
- Individuals who indicate a willingness to travel interstate
for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a minor.
- Online organizations, enterprises, and communities that exploit
children.
- Producers of child pornography.
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.
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 has 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, online
CP/CSE is one of the most significant cyber crime problems confronting
the FBI. Between fiscal years 1996 and 2002, there was a 1997%
increase in the number of IINI cases opened (113 to 2370) 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 several 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 as a child does not know whether he or she
is 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:
- Internet websites that post child pornography
- Internet News Groups
- Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Channels
- File Servers (FServes)
- Bulletin Board Systems (BBBs)
- Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file transfer programs
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
-A complaint by an online service provider
-A referral from a law enforcement agency
Crimes under the IINI may be 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.
FBI TEN MOST WANTED FUGITIVES LIST:
To date there have been 3 Innocent Images subjects
placed on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list:
-
On 12/27/2000, 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 himself and an eleven-year-old female
child. On 08/21/2001, Rosser was captured in Thailand and
served a 2-year sentence there. He has since been extradited
to the U.S. and is expected to stand trial in early 2004.
Rosser could face up to 70 years in prison if convicted on
all charges.
-
On 01/31/2002, 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 9 years
in state prison for committing aggravated assault against
his girlfriend's minor children. During that incident, Bliss
repeatedly struck 3 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 9 year-old began. Bliss was arrested in Los Angeles,
California, on 04/23/2002, 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 06/02/2003, and is expected to be sentenced later
this year.
-
On 06/14/2002, Richard Steve Goldberg became the third child
predator to be placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
List. Goldberg is being sought for allegedly engaging in lewd
acts in Long Beach, California, with several girls under ten
years old. He also allegedly produced and possessed child
pornography images of these sex acts, which were found on
his computer. Goldberg gained the trust of his victimss
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 11/25/2002, a federal arrest warrant
was issued by the United States District Court for the Central
District of California charging Goldberg with the production
of child pornography and the unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Goldberg's whereabouts are currently unknown. Goldberg has
ties to, or may have traveled to, New Jersey, Nevada, Colorado,
Arizona, and Georgia. Goldberg was the president of a gun
club in Long Beach, California, and should be considered armed
and dangerous. A reward of up to $50,000 is being offered
for any information leading directly to the arrest of Richard
Steve Goldberg.
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED
CHILDREN
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 multilingual
hotline at telephone number 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. A FBI Supervisory Special Agent and three Investigative
Analysts are assigned full-time at the NCMEC to coordinate the
cross utilization of FBI and NCMEC resources and to facilitate
the most effective FBI response to these CyberTipline reports.
INNOCENT IMAGES STATISTICAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Between fiscal year 1996 and fiscal year FY 2003
(2nd Quarter), the Innocent Images National Initiative has recorded
the following statistical accomplishments:
Number of Cases Opened: 9,366
Number of Informations/Indictments: 2,520
Number of Arrests/Locates/Summons: 2,608
Number of Convictions/Pretrial Diversions: 2,569 |
For additional information on the FBIs
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 official FBI website www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/crimesmain.htm.
A hard copy of the brochure may be obtained by contacting a
Crimes Against Children Coordinator at your local FBI field
office. 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 Unit
FBI Headquarters Room 5842
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535
Revised 09/24/2003
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