THE ISSUE: Innocence Lost National Initiative

OUR OPINION: The scope of child sexual exploitation remains astounding

The FBI made the announcement before midday Monday: “Over the past 72 hours, the FBI, its local and state law enforcement partners, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concluded Operation Cross Country IV, a three-day national enforcement action as part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative. The operation included enforcement actions in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions around the country and led to the recovery of 52 children who were being victimized through prostitution. Additionally, 691 others ... were arrested on state and local charges.”

Seven arrests were made in the Columbia area, the FBI reports.

As much as the news must be considered good, it remains incredible that so many children in this country are being sexually exploited.

To date, according to the FBI, the 34 Innocence Lost Task Forces and Working Groups have recovered nearly 900 children from the streets. The investigations and subsequent 510 convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including multiple 25-years-to-life sentences and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in assets.

“Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces,” said Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “There is no work more important than protecting America’s children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization. Through our strategic partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, we are able to make a difference.”

In the spring of 2003, the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, in partnership with the Department of Justice’s CEOS and NCMEC, formed the Innocence Lost National Initiative to address the growing problem of children forced into prostitution.

Task force operations usually begin as local actions, targeting such places as truck stops, casinos, street “tracks,” and Internet Web sites, based on intelligence gathered by officers working in their respective jurisdictions. The FBI says initial arrests are often violations of local and state laws relating to prostitution or solicitation.

Information gleaned from those arrested often uncovers organized efforts to prostitute women and children across many states. FBI agents further develop this information in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and file federal charges where appropriate.

Americans everywhere can join in being thankful to law enforcement from the federal to local levels (the FBI says 1,599 officers took part) for their continuing actions to stop the exploitation of children.

As Ernie Allen, president and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, says: “Child trafficking for the purposes of prostitution is organized criminal activity using kids as commodities for sale or trade. These kids are victims. They lack the ability to walk away. This is 21st-century slavery.”

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