YouTube to boost moderator team preventing child exploitation videos

By Ben Lovejoy

Following reports of sexualised videos of children attracting hundreds of comments from suspected pedophiles, YouTube has announced that it will be boosting its content moderator team to 10,000 people – but only by the end of 2018. The current team is reported to be around 8,000 people.

A Times investigation first uncovered the scale of the problem eleven days ago, with volunteer flaggers claiming that YouTube wasn’t taking the problem seriously …

YouTube, part of one of the most valuable enterprises in the world, gave them no help, according to one of the flaggers who spoke to The Times anonymously.

YouTube’s initial response was to acknowledge that it needed to do more to tackle the problem through both machine-learning and additional human resources.

A few days later, the company said that it had removed 150,000 videos, turned off comments on 625,000 more and terminated 270 accounts.

In a new blog post last night, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announced the additional measures the company would be taking.

We will continue the significant growth of our teams into next year, with the goal of bringing the total number of people across Google working to address content that might violate our policies to over 10,000 in 2018.

At the same time, we are expanding the network of academics, industry groups and subject matter experts who we can learn from and support to help us better understand emerging issues.

We will use our cutting-edge machine learning more widely to allow us to quickly and efficiently remove content that violates our guidelines.

Wojcicki said that machine-learning had already shown ‘tremendous progress’ in tackling extremist content, and that the company had begun training AI systems to detect videos that may impact child safety, though Buzzfeed notes that the challenge here may be greater.

It’s unclear whether machine learning can adequately catch and limit disturbing children’s content — much of which is creepy in ways that may be difficult for a moderation algorithm to discern.

Part of the issue comprises videos uploaded by children, which may be innocent in intent, but which attract creepy comments and worse from pedophiles.

Screenshots show how one YouTube user left dozens of inappropriate comments on videos posted by boys aged between seven and 14.

“Send me the 2 minute naked wrestling match private,” the user wrote. “And I will tell you everything you need to know to grow your channel. I wanna see u naked. It feels awesome to be naked on YouTube, try it bro.”

The blog post says that YouTube is also ramping up its team of ad reviewers to ensure advertising doesn’t appear alongside or within inappropriate videos.

We believe this requires a new approach to advertising on YouTube, carefully considering which channels and videos are eligible for advertising. We are planning to apply stricter criteria, conduct more manual curation, while also significantly ramping up our team of ad reviewers to ensure ads are only running where they should.

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Trinity Mount Ministries
http://www.TrinityMount.Info

79 alleged child predators have been arrested across New Jersey:

TRENTON, N.J. (WPVI) --

A total of 79 alleged child predators have been arrested across New Jersey.

Attorney General Christopher Porrino announced the massive roundup of predators and child pornography offenders on Friday.

Among those accused include a camp counselor, a youth minister and several adults who allegedly tried to have children transported across state lines for the purposes of sex.

The attorney general has a strong message for those engaging in these disturbing acts.

"If you're lurking in a chat room looking to exploit a child, our investigators are lurking alongside you," Porrino said.

The roundup was part of Operation Safety Net.

Those arrested were identified as:

William Esker, 22, of Bayonne, N.J., was charged on Sept. 7 by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office with aggravated criminal sexual contact for allegedly engaging in sexual conduct with a girl, 14, over whom he had direct supervision as a camp counselor. He also is charged with providing obscene material to a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Donald Beckwith, 34, of Browns Mills, N.J., is charged in Delaware with sexual solicitation of a minor and attempt to commit unlawful sexual contact with a minor. Beckwith, a captain in the Air Force stationed in New Jersey, met a girl, 14, through an online chat group for children and allegedly engaged her in sexual conversations, ultimately asking her to meet him in person. He allegedly met the girl twice in Delaware. The first time, he allegedly reached under her shirt and tried to touch her breast, and the second time he allegedly hugged her and repeatedly asked her to lie on a bed in the back of his vehicle and watch a movie with him. The New Jersey State Police arrested Beckwith on Aug. 16 in an investigation initiated by the Delaware State Police. Detectives allegedly found over 10 nude images of an underage girl on his phone.

Michael DeBlock, 22, of Hopatcong, N.J., a youth minister, was arrested on Oct. 10 and charged by the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office with possession of child pornography and conveying obscene materials to a child. DeBlock allegedly exchanged sexual photos and texts with a girl, 14, including a photo of his penis.

Brandon Morris, 24, of Hammonton, N.J., was arrested on Oct. 17 and charged by the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office with manufacturing child pornography, endangering the welfare of a child by sexual conduct, conveying obscene materials to a child, and possession of child pornography. Morris allegedly engaged multiple underage girls in conversations on FaceTime, instructing them to perform sexual acts on themselves, which he recorded.

A 17-year-old student from Bergen County, whose name is not being released due to his juvenile status, was arrested on Aug. 17 and charged by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office with manufacturing, distributing and possessing child pornography, as well as invasion of privacy. The juvenile allegedly had over 1,000 files of suspected child pornography on his electronic devices, including video recordings he allegedly made by hiding his smartphone in a private bathroom in order to record underage boys who were nude, showering or urinating.

Craig Kirschner, 39, of Marlboro, N.J., was arrested on Aug. 21 and charged by the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office with luring a child, attempted sexual assault of a minor, and conveying obscene material to a minor. Kirschner allegedly solicited an undercover detective, whom he believed to be a 15-year-old male, to meet for oral sex. The detective was monitoring a mobile app when he encountered Kirschner. After the undercover detective identified himself as a 15-year-old boy, Kirschner allegedly sent him photos of an erect penis, asked him to meet for oral sex, and stated "I can be generous for your trouble."

Isaac Toney, 40, of Trenton, N.J., was arrested on July 17 by the New Jersey State Police and charged with luring a child. He allegedly used a mobile app to solicit an undercover detective, whom he believed was a 14-year-old male, for oral sex. He was arrested at Veterans Park in Hamilton, Mercer County, where he allegedly was to meet the "boy" for a sexual encounter.

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Trinity Mount Ministries Website: http://www.TrinityMount.Info

California Teen Who Pimped Out Younger Girls Gets 13 years

Marc Benjamin of The Sacramento Bee writes:

An 18-year-old Hanford woman was sentenced to 13 years in prison for her role in the pimping and human trafficking of younger girls.

Hanford police detectives arrested Jelinajane Bedrijo Almario in May 2016. Though a juvenile, she was tried as an adult for human trafficking, sending threatening emails to a family member of at least one of the girls and making terrorist threats.

The following is by Dr. John A. King

Please read the entire article; it is eye-opening.

A case we are involved with, spanning the last 9 months, includes dozens of female recruiters targeting hundreds of others through social media and recruiting parties. We know of one circle of people responsible for the abuse/trafficking of nearly 3000 girls and boys, many of them underage. When this group holds their parties on national holidays, the recruiters go into overdrive needing to supply hundreds of guests with young people to for sex. Not all ‘guests’ need their services as many bring their own ‘party favours’ to share and trade out for the evening. I know these numbers sound outrageous to people many don’t believe they could be true, they are. They have all we received them from the recruiters who are now in protective custody waiting to testify against the individuals involved.

To read the testimonies of the recruiters is horrific. Stories of their own abused laced with guilt-ridden confessions of trafficking others. Accounts of forced group sex and bestiality. Forced pornography and a range of other activities I don’t I feel comfortable writing about in a public document.

People often ask us how they can make a difference:

1) Share this post with your social media contacts.

2)  Support us as we run seminars around the country raising awareness with community groups, first responders and college students. You support is tax deductible.

3) Organise an event with Give Them A Voice Foundation in your area.

4) Attending a viewing or hold a screening of the multi-award winning documentary Stopping Traffic.

Everything counts and everything helps.

Dr John A. King

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner Introduces the CyberTipline Modernization Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner introduced a bill aimed at reforming the CyberTipline Reporting Requirements. The bill will provide much needed updates to better reflect the current operations of the CyberTipline and the process of sending, receiving, and handling the millions of reports expected each year.

The CyberTipline was first launched in 1998 by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  The CyberTipline provides the public and the technology industry with the ability to report online (and via toll-free telephone) instances of child sexual exploitation including child pornography, online enticement of children for sexual acts, child sex tourism, and child sex trafficking. The initial statute was last updated in 2008.

The CyberTipline Modernization Act will continue the initial work of the NCMEC by adding updated provisions to ensure the protection and safety of reports citing suspected exploitation. This common sense bill makes clear the requirements NCMEC and providers must follow in order to ensure these crucial protections are not needlessly subjected to outdated government regulations.

Congressman Sensenbrenner: “The modernization of this bill would be a significant step forward in the fight to reduce the sexual exploitation of children online. It’s imperative we improve safety standards so we can be actively engaged in preventing the victimization of children and efficiently process and investigate all reports of child sexual abuse.”

Project Safe Childhood Fact Sheet - Department of Justice

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

Project Safe Childhood is the Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat the proliferation of technology-facilitated crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.  The threat of sexual predators soliciting children for physical sexual contact is well-known and serious.  The danger of perpetrators who produce, distribute and possess child pornography is equally dramatic and disturbing.  There is often an international dimension to these crimes – for example, some offenders travel to victimize children outside of the United States or view live video streams (in addition to recorded still and video images) of children being abused in foreign countries.

The department is committed to the safety and well-being of every child and has placed a high priority on combating sexual exploitation of minors.  Through a network of federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and advocacy organizations, Project Safe Childhood attempts to protect children by investigating and prosecuting offenders involved in child sexual exploitation.

The department expanded Project Safe Childhood in May 2011 to encompass all federal crimes involving the sexual exploitation of a minor, including sex trafficking of a minor and crimes against children committed in Indian country. Failure to register as a sex offender offenses now also fall within the ambit of Project Safe Childhood.

Project Safe Childhood is implemented through partnerships with numerous stakeholders,  including: U.S. Attorneys’ Offices (USAOs) and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces; federal law enforcement partners, including the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS); advocacy organizations such as the National Institute of Justice; and state, local, tribal and military law enforcement officials.

READ THE  PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD FACT SHEET

Make a CyberTipline Report (NCMEC)

In March 1998, using hardware, software, and programming assistance donated by Sun MicroSystems, NCMEC launched the CyberTipline® to further NCMEC’s mission of helping to prevent and diminish the sexual exploitation of children. The CyberTipline provides the public and electronic service providers (ESPs) with the ability to report online (and via toll-free telephone) instances of online enticement of children for sexual acts, extra-familial child sexual molestation, child pornography, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the Internet. NCMEC continuously reviews CyberTipline reports to ensure that reports of children who may be in imminent danger get first priority. After NCMEC’s review is completed, all information in a CyberTipline report is made available to law enforcement.

In furtherance of NCMEC’s mission, the CyberTipline allows NCMEC to engage with the Internet industry on voluntary initiatives to help reduce the proliferation of child sexual abuse images online. NCMEC uses the information submitted to the CyberTipline to create and tailor NCMEC’s safety and prevention publications that are provided to educators, parents and the public to help to prevent future victimization.

More than 12.7 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been made to the CyberTipline between 1998 and June 2016.

Members of the public are encouraged to report information regarding possible child sexual exploitation to the CyberTipline.

21 arrested across Columbus in online child predator sting

COLUMBUS, Ga. — An undercover sting to root out child predators ended early Monday morning with a total 21 men behind bars.

Operation Hidden Guardian is an initiative by state and local investigators to use fake social media and phone app profiles operated by officers to root out predators.

Columbus Police Department Chief Ricky Boren says all 21 suspects agreed to travel to or around Columbus to meet who they thought were underage kids for sex.

Boren’s release says the operation first initiated when the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC) and the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) first contacted local law enforcement back in August to organize a sting.

Hidden Guardian started on November 9 and over the course of the investigation, more than 600 messages were exchanged between undercover officers and online profiles.  The release says around 400 of the exchanges were initiated by predators seeking a child and steering conversations towards sexual topics. The release says at times the adults exposed the “minor” to obscene, pornographic images or asked the “child” to take nude photos.

Over the past five days, the 21 suspects who either lived in Columbus or traveled to the area for sex with a minor were arrested.

Boren says the suspects range from 22 to 55 with all kinds of professions — from a local car wash attendant to a school custodian all the way from North Carolina.

“There is no profile, there is no standard child predator,” says Debbie Garner, the commander of the Georgia ICAC.

Garner says it’s not uncommon for such predators to have inappropriate encounters with children in their past, even if they have no prior convictions.

“Most often they admit to prior sexual contact with children in the past. As the commander of the task force, that’s very important to me. It tells me we are actually arresting the people who are preying on children and so that these operations really do work,” she says.

“You know there was one person who basically admitted that they had been thinking about touching children and that they felt as though that would have happened in the future. They were almost happy that they were caught.”

Garner suggests parents utilize resources like NetSmartz.Org, an site operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The site features tips to keep children’s information safe and signs to watch out for to avoid predators. NetSmartz.Org even has videos from survivors who tell their terrifying encounters with online predators.

Some of the tips include not talking to anyone you don’t know in real life, even if their profile age seems similar to your own.

“It may look like they are a 16-year-old boy or a 16-year-old girl and that’s not actually who they are. you know a lot of times kids will say well they’re a kid too and they’ll accept their friend request,” Garner says. “All they have to do, all a child predator has to do is get one kid to accept their friend request and then the other kids see that they’re friends with them, and then they accept their friend request, so it’s things like that we try to teach kids.”

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DELHI - LITTLE TO CELEBRATE AS CITY YET TO ENSURE SAFETY OF KIDS

New Delhi

As the nation celebrates its 53rd Children's Day on Tuesday, child safety in national capital paints a worrisome picture. While 17 children are reported to be missing every day, three children are sexually violated in Delhi daily, as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data of 2015.

In the past five years (2012 to 2017 till October 31), 478 cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have been registered and 40,404 children have gone missing.

Entire country was shocked when a Class II student of the Ryan International School in Gurugram was murdered on September 8, raising questions on the safety of children in their second home-school.

While the nation came to term with the horrid crime, within 24 hours, a five year-old girl was raped by her school peon in East Delhi's Gandhi Nagar.

Delhi Police officers claimed that ample measures have been taken to curb crimes against children in the city. There are trained officers who work round the clock to ensure safety and security of children.

Special Commissioner of Police Traffic and Chief spokesperson of the Delhi Police and Special CP (Traffic) Depender Pathak said, “Safety and security of children is of utmost importance for the Delhi Police. Steps have been taken to put a stop to the cases. Officers, who handle cases pertaining to minor children, have been instructed to be polite to the victims. Over the few years, cases have reduced.”

As per the 2015 data of the NCRB, 9,489 cases of crime against children were reported. This contributes as 10.1 to the cases across pan India. 56 lakh was the estimated population of children in the Union Territory. 169. 4 per cent of the cases were taken as cognizable offences.

There were 56 murder cases of children which included 54 victims. The rate of murder cases accounted to 60 per cent. Similarly, 927 rape cases of children were reported in the national Capital where in 928 children became victims. The rape cases accounted to 16.6, as per the NCRB data.

On the other hand, as per the data available with the Delhi Police, 73 cases pertaining to child sexual abuse were registered under the POCSO Act while 5,464 cases of missing children while four children were rescued under the Bonded Labour Act in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Monday said that that to ensure that children become aware of cyber bullying and other cyber-related crimes, the computer teachers in schools have been made partners in spreading cyber safety awareness among schoolchildren by organising workshops on cyber safety awareness for the teachers.

“The Delhi Police aims to harness the school computer teachers and computer centres in communicating the importance of cyber safety and how the young, school going kids can protect themselves from cyber crimes. The teachers will also act as eyes and ears for police in recognising the new challenges that the young children are likely to face,” said Suvashish Choudhary, Additional CP (Economic Offences Wing).

The Delhi Police has concluded its fifth Workshop on Cyber safety Awareness for school computer teachers. These Workshops have been attended by more than 723 computer teachers from over 577 schools spread across Delhi.

Aly Raisman on alleged abuser Larry Nassar

In an interview with 60 Minutes, three-time Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman said a longtime USA Gymnastics doctor accused of sexually abusing her and other women gained her trust by bringing her desserts or gifts.

Raisman, the captain of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams, told 60 Minutes that she first realized Larry Nassar had abused her after being interviewed by a USA Gymnastics investigator in 2015.

“I was just really innocent. I didn’t really know. You don’t think that of someone, so I trusted him,” Raisman said in the interview with 60 Minutes, which aired Sunday night.

“He would buy me little things, so I really thought he was a nice person,” Raisman said. “I really thought he was looking out for me. That’s why I want to do this interview. I want to talk about it. I want people to know that just because someone is nice to you, and just because everyone is saying they are the best person, it does not make it OK for them to ever make you uncomfortable, ever.”

Filling the Empty Nest (With Money)
Raisman declined to detail the abuse during the interview but said it started when she was 15. She also describes the alleged abuse in her book, Fierce, being released this week.

“You don’t want to let yourself believe, I am a victim of sexual abuse,” Raisman said in the interview. “It’s really not an easy thing to let yourself believe that.”

Raisman is the second member of the Fierce Five squad that won gold at the London Olympics who has said Nassar abused her.

Last month, fellow Fierce Fiver McKayla Maroney came forward to say Nassar abused her for several years, beginning when she was 13.

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Facebook identifies alleged child rapist; Bothell man arrested

Thomas Mahoney, 24, appeared by video in a Snohomish County courtroom Wednesday afternoon, hours after being booked into the Snohomish County Jail in Everett --- on suspicion of child rape and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

According to Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office documents, Mahoney met a then-13 year old girl on Facebook last year.

In September 2016, “when she was 14 years of age, she met with him in Bothell, and they had sex” at his home, according to investigators.

The documents reveal the girl’s family moved out of state, so “Mahoney travelled to California” in May and August of 2017, when he allegedly raped her again.

According to investigators, “Mahoney videotaped” the encounters.

Those videos - and explicit Facebook messages between Mahoney and the girl - are now evidence.

In court, Judge Tam Bui ordered Mahoney’s bail be set at $150,000 and issued a protection order to keep him away from the girl should he bail out.

“I’m not going to specifically delineate the kinds of contact, whether it be electronic, person, phone, whatever method,” Judge Bui told Mahoney.

“It is no contact.”

Mahoney has no criminal history.

He claimed in documents the girl told him she was 19 years old. 

However, the girl's mother told KIRO 7 Mahoney always knew the girl's real age and pursued her anyway.

Facebook has turned over to investigators messages where Mahoney allegedly refers to the girl as “this hot little 14 year old” while describing their sexual contact.

The mom says her daughter has been traumatized by the rapes. 

Mahoney has not yet been charged.

Shocking scale of trafficking and grooming in the West Midlands:

The shocking scale of trafficking and grooming gangs across the West Midlands has been revealed in a series of police reports.

Official documents dating back to 2009 show West Midlands Police was not fully aware of the extent of the region’s high level of vulnerable youngsters and how to deal with the problem.

One report says that although the majority of suspects were from an Asian background, police were concerned about the dangers of racial stereotyping when dealing with incidents of abuse.

Another document details the lack of trust between police and social workers and the dismissive attitudes officers had towards vulnerable runaways.

Reports also show how children living at home were targeted with more frequency than those in care, with abuse going on virtually unheeded for years.

It has also emerged that the force’s failure to cope with the rising problem was so acute the identities of many of those engaged in the abuse was either not known or outdated.

Police chief: We have made progress

Assistant Chief Constable Carl Foulkes

West Midlands Police says the force has undergone ‘a significant cultural change’ in how it investigates and tackles child sexual exploitation.

The comments come after confidential police reports dating back to 2009 revealed how it struggled to cope with the scale of abuse across the region.

Assistant Chief Constable Carl Foulkes said: “These reports, spanning six years, give a real insight into the journey we have undertaken along with our partners into investigating and tackling child sexual exploitation.

“There is no doubt that there has been a significant cultural change within the force in respect of this issue and it is now very clear that the responsibility of tackling CSE lies with every police officer, staff member, PCSO and special constable.

“The force has carried out extensive work to train officers across the force in how to identify and deal with CSE so we can gain as much intelligence as possible and thereby improving the outcomes for victims.

“We continue to take great steps and as a result of our efforts and without doubt the coverage within local and national media, we are seeing more victims coming forward to report abuse, knowing we will take their allegations seriously and treat them sensitively and respectfully.

“Tackling child sexual exploitation is at the heart of everything we do as a force working closely with our local authorities across the area and the respective Children’s Safeguarding Boards. This work has led to the creation of Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs and more effective joint responses to child protection issues.

“The force has invested heavily in its resources to tackle child sexual exploitation putting significant numbers of specialist officers into its Public Protection Unit, which provides us with robust investigation teams and more capacity to deal with the more complex cases.

“CSE affects all communities and remains a top priority for us – nothing is more important in policing than protecting vulnerable people. “

West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said ‘serious issues’ remained that police and partner agencies were working on together.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson

“These reports are self-critical and highlight where West Midlands Police recognised there to be issues. Progress has been made in identifying victims and offenders, but clearly there is much more to do.”

These police difficulties in dealing with the widespread and escalating scale of the abuse has not been made public until now.

In Sandwell in 2010, two vulnerable young women were noted as being ‘at high risk’ of sexual exploitation. Police believe they were being groomed for – or were already being sexually exploited – at the time of the report.

Two other young women were identified as being at high risk in Dudley, along with six girls in Walsall during the same period.

Officers in Wolverhampton, where two groups of young women had been identified, said alcohol, drugs and acts of physical violence were ‘key leverages’ used by offenders to groom victims into prostitution.

The worst area in the West Midlands was Birmingham, where almost half of all offenders were said to live. No recent figures have been released, although a report from this year could be issued in the coming weeks.

The reports also reveal the largest proportion of victims, at 44 per cent, did not reside in children’s homes and lived with their parents or other family members.

“The force has very limited insight into the threat, and the intelligence profile related to children who are not in care is non-existent,” a document said.

“The current situation poses significant challenges for West Midlands Police in protecting children and enhancing the trust and confidence agenda.” Victims were also said to frequently abscond from their family homes, leading to calls for the force to improve the way it deals with such situations.

The most common offenders were said to be Pakistani males aged between 16 and 26, and the majority of the victims were white.

But the report showed senior officers had warned of the dangers of racial stereotyping amid claims of a ‘widespread problem of British Pakistani men exploiting under-age white girls’. Police said ‘convenience and accessibility’ may be the prime drivers for those looking for victims, rather than race.

But another report, entitled Internal Human Trafficking For Sexual Exploitation Within the West Midlands, revealed that of 139 female victims, 78 per cent were white. A ‘significant proportion’ of the suspects were said to be of Muslim background.

The oldest document dates from October 2009 and highlights a lack of trust between police and social workers said to be prevalent at the time. Some of the unsympathetic attitudes from the authorities towards vulnerable runaways are also detailed.

“For a number of years children in care or residing in children’s homes have repeatedly run away,” it states. “Unfortunately they are often perceived to be streetwise and able to look after themselves while police officers consider them to be a nuisance and permanent drain on resources.

“Children’s services, home managers and social workers are frustrated by what they perceive to be a lack of interest and action from police officers.

“Officers are equally frustrated by their perception the workers are not protecting the children and let them runaway, often within minutes of a return to their home, which has undermined opportunities to protect missing children.”

The report adds children in care who regularly go missing ‘receive very little police attention’, despite police intelligence showing young girls were being groomed by older men who were often involved in drug trafficking and other criminality.

It also says the identity of those currently engaged in abuse was not known and some intelligence gained in 2008/09 was no longer current.

“There is no current intelligence on vehicles or telephone numbers,” it says.

Police identify three ‘organisational risks’ in the 2010 report, including missing opportunities to secure convictions by dealing with offences only in isolation.

The report also highlighted ‘repeat offence locations’, including hotels, parks, and private homes.

Offences were said to include group rape and sexual assault, indecent assault, child abuse and false imprisonment.

Source: Shocking scale of trafficking

Trinity Mount Ministries Website

Cracking down on child exploitation

KOAA.com | Continuous News | Colorado Springs and Pueblo

Between April and May 2015, the Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children task force arrested more than 40 people for sex crimes involving victims who are teens and young children.

Nationwide, more than 1,100 arrests were made during this two-month sweep operation.

“Child pornography now involves children as young as infants,” Judy Smith with the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Back in the 1980's there were hundreds of images online. Now, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has millions of images."

Smith goes after some of the worst child predators in Colorado.

"We focus on child traffickers, people who travel across the state to have sex with children under the age of 12 and people who have enormous amounts of child pornography,” she said.

Take Jon Baker for example. He shared more than 30,0000 pictures and 2,500 videos of child pornography.

He also shared explicit video clips of young girls in chat rooms, pretending to be the girl in the video in order to lure in more victims.

“Baker would play this video when he was chatting with underage boys between 10-12 years old and in doing that, he would get them to expose themselves and create their own child porn and then capture them on his computer and share it with others,” Smith said.

Baker is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence.

Locally, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force goes after the following criminals:

*Offenders who possess, manufacture, and distribute child pornography

*Offenders who engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes

*Offenders who engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of children (child prostitution)

*Offenders who engage in child sex tourism (traveling abroad)

In May, Colorado Springs police arrested Anthony Martinez, 25.

Authorities say he met up with underage girls he started chatting with online.

Police believe he may have had unlawful sexual contact with 140 victims across five states in addition to Colorado.

Martinez is currently behind bars in Arizona awaiting extradition. He has a court appearance on July 6.

While online child predator cases can be complex to solve, police say they'll catch the predators eventually.

“The predators believe they have anonymity and to a degree they do,” Lt. Robert Weber said. “However, we're constantly finding ways to uncover their anonymity.”

Police say they have tools to uncover a person's IP address, and trace a computer to a specific location.

The Colorado Springs Police Department builds a lot of their cases from tips.

If you have any information about a child being exploited or information about an active sex crimes case involving a child, call police at 444-7000.

In 2008, Congress recognized child exploitation as a national problem and imposed harsher penalties for first-time offenders.

A conviction for distributing child pornography carries a 5-year minimum sentence, while those caught producing child porn face a 15-year minimum sentence.

Source: Cracking down on child exploitation

Trinity Mount Ministries Website

30 LAWS IN 30 DAYS: FIGHTING CHILD EXPLOITATION

INDIANAPOLIS – A new law could mean young prostitutes are treated more like victims than criminals in an effort to save some from exploitation.

House Bill 1216 – passed in April – provides a defense to the crime of prostitution if the victim was under 18 and is found to be a victim of human trafficking at the time the crime was committed.

The bill also provides new resources for families dealing with cases of missing or trafficked children.

Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington said the goal of this law is not to criminalize victims.

“The purpose of the law is we want to help give these children a good life, away from a life of being abused and mistreated and help them as a victim as opposed to getting arrested,” Harrington said said. “We’re going to treat [them] like a victim and provide [them] with a safe space to be.”

Rep. Randy Truitt, R-West Lafayette, authored the legislation after Harrington brought the issues to his attention. Truitt said the bill dovetailed with a larger effort by the legislature to improve public safety. And he said he was happy to see this legislation pass both chambers with bipartisan support.

Harrington, who has been the Tippecanoe prosecutor for nine years, said he became more interested in the issue after “a few years ago several children were being trafficked, either into prostitution or involuntary labor. He said the current law did not allow the prosecutor’s office to classify those who were arrested as a victim.

Source: http://lakeshorepublicmedia.org/30-laws-in-30-days-fighting-child-exploitation/

Trinity Mount Ministries Website

Former Minister Pleads Guilty - llicit Sexual Conduct in Haiti:

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, January 18, 2013

Former Minister Pleads Guilty in North Carolina to
 Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct in Haiti

WASHINGTON – A former minister pleaded guilty today in North Carolina to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in Haiti, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Anne M. Tompkins and Brock D. Nicholson, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and the Carolinas.

Larry Michael Bollinger, 67, of Gastonia, N.C., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David S. Cayer in the Western District of North Carolina to two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place.  Bollinger was charged in an indictment filed on May 15, 2012.

According to filed court documents and court proceedings, Bollinger was a former Lutheran minister who performed missionary work in Haiti.   Court records show that Bollinger regularly travelled to Haiti and served as the Haiti director for a Lutheran charity.  Bollinger admitted that from about August 2009 to October 2009, he sexually molested four Haitian females, between the ages of 11 and 16.  According to court records, one of the victims said that Bollinger offered to give her food and money in exchange for sexual acts. 

Bollinger has been in federal custody since he was charged in May 2012.   Each count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  A sentencing date for Bollinger has not been set yet.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimlani M. Ford of  the Western District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney Michael W. Grant of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).  The investigation was conducted by ICE-HSI.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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Feds Seek Public’s Help To ID Woman In Child Porn Video:

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Federal investigators sought the public’s help on Friday in identifying a woman who allegedly produced pornographic videos featuring herself and an adult male engaging in sexual conduct with two young children.

U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents in Los Angeles have not been able to identify or locate the children in the videos, who officials believe are between the ages of three and seven years old.

“We known she and an unknown, unseen male in these videos have been molesting children, taping that material, and sharing it with others through the Internet,” said Danielle Bennett, ICE Public Affairs Officer.

The suspect is described as a white female between the ages of 25 and 35 with a medium build, dark brown hair and blue eyes. She has a large mole on the back of her left thigh.

Agents believe she is somewhere in the United States.

ICE officials discovered the two videos while examining a computer in an unrelated child pornography case and said the Victim Identification Program of HSI’s Child Exploitation Investigations Unit obtained a warrant for the woman’s arrest this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.


Anyone with information on her whereabouts was asked to call the HSI tip line at (866) 347-2423 or to contact agents using an online tip form at the ICE website. (More)

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Baseball hat, phone book could lead to clues in child exploitation case:

Posted: Nov 19, 2012 10:46 AM PSTUpdated: Nov 19, 2012 11:06 AM PST

By Chris Dyches - email

 

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - The Federal Bureau of Investigations is looking for answers, and a man, in connection to a child exploitation case that could have a Charlotte connection.

According to the Charlotte Division of the FBI, agents are seeking the public's assistance to identify an unknown individual who may be able to provide valuable information in the case.

Investigators say they found a series of photographs online showing a prepubescent female, approximately 10 years old, posing naked in sexually explicit positions.

An unknown man is seen in the photos witnessing the child's behavior from a bed nearby.

Agents have released portions of this images to the public in hopes of getting information about the incident. They say the photographs have been circulated and traded as child pornography among various illegal Internet forums.

Investigators were able to enhance the background of one of the photographs. They found what they believe to be a child's drinking cup from the QuikTrip chain of gas stations. 

According to investigators, they believe the photographs were likely taken prior to November of 2005, in or around 13 U.S. cities, including Charlotte and Greenville/Spartanburg in South Carolina.

"A baseball cap displaying what could be the logo of a local sports team, as well as a partial image of what appears to be a telephone book, are also clues which may provide valuable information regarding the location of this endangered child," a release from the FBI stated.

This unknown man's identity and current whereabouts are unknown.

"He appears to be an older, white male between the ages of 55 and 65 with brown eyes, gray hair, and a full beard and mustache," the FBI stated.

"The public is reminded that no charges have been filed in this case and the pictured individual is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law."

The information is coming out as a part of the FBI's Rescue Me and Endangered Child Alert Program (ECAP) initiatives, both of which represent strategic partnerships between the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  

Rescue Me focuses on utilizing clues obtained through in-depth image analysis to identify the child victims depicted in child exploitation material, while ECAP seeks national and international media exposure of unknown adults (referred to as John/Jane Doe) who visibly display their faces and/or other distinguishing characteristics in child pornography images.

Anyone with information to provide should contact their local FBI office at 704-672-6100, submit a tip online at https://tips.fbi.gov/ , or call the FBI's toll-free tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Copyright 2012 WBTV. All rights reserved.

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