21 July
2006 Chatmag News.
The following
is sworn testimony before a House subcommittee regarding online predators,
and the fight against online pornography involving children. Contrary to
statements made by online vigilante groups such as Perverted Justice, in
which they claim law enforcement is by and large ignoring the problem,
the FBI is taking a proactive stance in the fight against the exploitation
of children.
Statement of Raul
O. Roldan
Section Chief,
Cyber Division
Federal Bureau
of Investigation
Before the House
Committee on Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee
on Oversight and Investigations
May 3, 2006
Good afternoon
Mr. Chairman, Congressman Stupak, and members of the Subcommittee. On behalf
of the FBI, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to address the
FBI’s role in combating the sexual exploitation of children through the
use of the Internet. Specifically, I would like to explain to the Subcommittee
how the FBI manages the Innocent Images National Initiative on a national
and an international level.
Two weeks ago,
the Subcommittee heard the testimony of Acting Executive Assistant Director
Chris Swecker, which described this initiative and its accomplishments.
As he testified, over the past 10 years, the Innocent Images program has
grown exponentially. Between fiscal years 1996 and 2005, there has been
a 2,050 percent increase in cases opened (113 to 2,500). During this 10-year
period, the program has recorded over 15,556 investigations opened; 4,784
criminals being charged; 6,145 subjects being arrested, located or summoned
to appear in a court of law; and 4,822 convictions obtained.
The FBI’s Innocent
Images Unit is responsible for the creation and implementation of national
and international initiatives targeting those who use the Internet to sexually
exploit defenseless children. The unit, housed in Calverton, Maryland,
also works closely with and has a sizable contingent assigned to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The Innocent Images
Unit serves as a central location for addressing major cases such as the
sexual exploitation of children through pornographic websites, distributing
investigative leads to our field divisions and Legal Attaché offices
and managing the FBI’s national program. Its responsibilities include developing
and publishing policy, managing program funds, certifying undercover operations,
and the training of FBI employees, state, local, and international partners.
The number of
funded positions for the Innocent Images program is 127 positions. Due
to the seriousness of these matters, however, the FBI has consistently
utilized personnel resources at a higher level than those funded. We currently
have the equivalent of 242 agents working child sexual exploitation matters.
Not just anyone
can do this work. Our dedicated men and women are exposed to the most graphic
and disturbing images and movies that you could possibly imagine. They
wade through thousands of pieces of material every day, all day, and then
they go home and tuck their own children into bed. However, the men and
women of the Innocent Images Unit, and those involved in investigating
the sexual exploitation of children in our field offices, are some of the
most dedicated and hard working people in the federal government. They
enjoy my respect and sincere appreciation for the work that they do every
day. They are some of the most dedicated and passionate employees I have
met in my 18-year career as a special agent of the FBI.
At any one time,
the FBI has more than 2,400 active child sexual exploitation investigations.
Because of the magnitude of the crime problem, and in an effort to capitalize
on the FBI’s intelligence collection, analysis, and investigative strengths,
our primary focus is on complex investigations targeting organized criminal
groups involved in commercial child sexual abuse websites. As Mr. Swecker
testified, these investigations almost always span multiple jurisdictions
and usually expand beyond the borders of the United States. In an effort
to reach beyond the borders of the United States in a more efficient manner,
the FBI has partnered with law enforcement officials from several countries
who work side by side with FBI agents in Calverton, Maryland, in a task-force
setting.
Other areas where
the FBI makes a major impact include investigating the financiers of illegal
websites, as well as individuals or groups who engage in the production
of child-sexual-abuse images. The FBI also investigates sexual predators
that travel from one jurisdiction to another to engage in sex with minors.
Finally, we target
persons with large collections of child-sexual-abuse images. These individuals
represent a real danger as we find a large percentage of those we arrest
for possession of images of child sexual abuse are also committing contact
offenses.
Our investigative
efforts attempt to maximize the impact the FBI can have on this very serious
crime problem. I would like to describe how we work a typical case, such
as a child-sexual-abuse website investigation.
An investigation
may sometimes be initiated from a referral by the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children. We utilize a variety of investigative techniques,
to include administrative subpoenas and database checks, to capture evidence
in an attempt to locate the server where the website contents are physically
located. Once the server is located and upon finding probable cause, a
search warrant is requested and issued.
In many cases
the company that runs the server is not aware that its computers contain
illegal content, as they may also host hundreds of legitimate websites.
Once the search warrant is executed, the media containing the illegal content
is seized and delivered to our Computer Analysis and Research Teams (CART)
for forensic analysis. Given the tremendous amount of digital data seized
by the FBI, this analysis could take months to accomplish, as these teams
are responsible for the forensic examination of digital data in all of
the FBI’s investigative programs, to include counterterrorism investigations
and other high-priority matters.
Once the computer
analysis is completed, the targets of the investigation are prioritized
in partnership with prosecutors from the Department of Justice.
I want to state
unequivocally that any information that would lead us to a child who is
being sexually abused is treated not only as a top priority, but also as
a matter of great urgency.
Our second priority
is the identification of the website administrators. Generally, these individuals
administer more than one child-sexual-abuse website. Thereafter, the producer
of the images is identified, as these images represent evidence of the
actual sexual molestation of a child. Next, the funding vehicle and the
financiers of the website are identified.
Once the illegal
website and the organizations managing, financing, and producing the child-sexual-abuse
and exploitation images have been taken out of business, the information
associated with the customers paying for access to the illegal website
is analyzed and acted upon. Of course we recognize that the customers of
the websites may also be sexually exploiting children and we do everything
possible to investigate these individuals. But this endeavor is complex
and labor intensive.
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