National Child Victim Identification Program

Last updated

The National Child Victim Identification Program (NCVIP) is the world's largest database of child pornography, maintained by the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the United States Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for the purpose of identifying victims of child abuse. [1] [2]

The program was created by Andrew Oosterban, head of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. [3] Development of the database began in 1999, and it was launched in 2003. It contains images contributed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FBI, Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service, and several other organizations. [1] In March 2005, the Justice Department's database was merged with that of the NCMEC. [4] The database uses image analysis software developed by LTU Technologies to detect victims. [5]

As a security measure, police are not allowed to personally browse the database, and they cannot identify victims by name. Instead, they are given contact information for higher-level officers who have security clearance. [6] When child pornography is seized, specialist FBI investigators analyze the entire collection before running the images through the database, as the way the computer files are organized can help in identifying victims. Following a seizure of more than 10,000 images in California in 2007, two officers from the Washington Field Office of the FBI reviewed every image. [7]

In early 2006, United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzales used images from the NCVIP database to view child pornography, as part of a campaign for his Project Safe Childhood initiative. According to a speech he gave at the NCMEC, Gonzales saw images of "older men forcing naked young girls to have anal sex", "a young toddler, tied up with towels, desperately crying in pain while she is being brutally raped and sodomized by an adult man", and "a mere infant being savagely penetrated". He described the experience as "shocking". [8]

Related Research Articles

Operation Ore was a British police operation that commenced in 1999 following information received from US law enforcement, which was intended to prosecute thousands of users of a website reportedly featuring child pornography. It was the United Kingdom's biggest ever computer crime investigation, leading to 7,250 suspects identified, 4,283 homes searched, 3,744 arrests, 1,848 charged, 1,451 convictions, 493 cautioned and 140 children removed from suspected dangerous situations and an estimated 33 suicides. Operation Ore identified and prosecuted some sex offenders, but the validity of the police procedures was later questioned, as errors in the investigations resulted in many false arrests.

Operation Avalanche was a major United States investigation of child pornography on the Internet launched in 1999 after the arrest and conviction of Thomas and Janice Reedy, who operated an Internet pornography business called Landslide Productions in Fort Worth, Texas. It was made public in early August 2001 at the end of Operation Avalanche that 100 arrests were made out of 144 suspects. It was followed by Operation Ore in the United Kingdom, Operation Snowball in Canada, Operation Pecunia in Germany, Operation Amethyst in Ireland and Operation Genesis in Switzerland.

Operation Predator is an initiative started on July 9, 2003 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, to protect children from sexual predators.

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the President of the United States reauthorized the allocation of $40 million in funding for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as part of Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2013. The current chair of the organization is Jon Grosso of Kohls. NCMEC handles cases of missing or exploited children from infancy to young adults through age 20.

United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The United States Department of Justice Criminal Division is a federal agency of the United States Department of Justice that develops, enforces, and supervises the application of all federal criminal laws in the United States. Criminal Division attorneys prosecute many nationally significant cases and formulate and implement criminal enforcement policy. Division attorneys also provide advice and guidance to the Attorney General of the United States, the United States Congress, and the White House on matters of criminal law. The Division was founded in 1919.

The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with a regional presence in Brazil, Singapore, and Australia, is a private 501(c)(3) non-governmental, nonprofit global organization. It combats child sexual exploitation, child pornography, and child abduction.

Child Exploitation Tracking System (CETS) is a Microsoft software based solution that assists in managing and linking worldwide cases related to child protection. CETS was developed in collaboration with law enforcement in Canada. Administered by the loose partnership of Microsoft and law enforcement agencies, CETS offers tools to gather and share evidence and information so they can identify, prevent and punish those who commit crimes against children.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), formerly organized as Morality in Media (MIM) before changing its structure, is an American non-profit with the goal of "exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation". The group's current president is Patrick A. Trueman. The charity is known for its anti-pornography and anti-sex trafficking stance.

Child erotica is non-pornographic material relating to children that is used by any individuals for sexual purposes. It is a broader term than child pornography, incorporating material that may cause sexual arousal such as nonsexual images, books or magazines on children or pedophilia, toys, diaries, or clothes. Law enforcement investigators have found that child erotica is often collected by pedophiles and child sexual abuse offenders. Child erotica may be collected as a form of compulsive behavior and as a substitute for illegal child pornography and is often a form of evidence for criminal behavior.

Task Force Argos is a branch of the Queensland Police Service, responsible for the investigation of online child exploitation and abuse. Founded in 1997, the unit's original charter was to investigate institutional child abuse allegations arising from the Forde Inquiry.

The Obscenity Prosecution Task Force (OPTF) was an organization created in 2005 by the United States Department of Justice. The OPTF's job was to investigate and prosecute producers and distributors of hardcore pornography that meets the legal tests for obscenity, as defined by the Supreme Court of the United States. The group was led by U.S. Attorney Brent Ward.

Internet pornography Any pornography that is accessible over the internet

Internet pornography is any pornography that is accessible over the internet, primarily via websites, FTP servers peer-to-peer file sharing, or Usenet newsgroups. The availability of widespread public access to the World Wide Web in late 1990s led to the growth of internet pornography.

An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin obscēnus, obscaenus, "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. The word can be used to indicate strong moral repugnance and outrage, in expressions such as "obscene profits" and "the obscenity of war". As a legal term, it usually refers to graphic depictions of people engaged in sexual and excretory activity, and related utterances of profane speech.

In the United States, distribution of "obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy" materials is a federal crime. The determination of what is "obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy" is up to a jury in a trial, which must apply the Miller test; however, due to the prominence of pornography in most communities most pornographic materials are not considered "patently offensive" in the Miller test.

Child pornography laws in the United States specify that child pornography is illegal under federal law and in all states and is punishable by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a fine of $5000. The Supreme Court of the United States has found child pornography to be outside the protections of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Federal sentencing guidelines on child pornography differentiate between production, distribution, and purchasing/receiving, and also include variations in severity based on the age of the child involved in the materials, with significant increases in penalties when the offense involves a prepubescent child or a child under the age of 12. U.S. law distinguishes between pornographic images of an actual minor, realistic images that are not of an actual minor, and non-realistic images such as drawings. The latter two categories are legally protected unless found to be obscene, whereas the first does not require a finding of obscenity.

Child pornography is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a child or it may be simulated child pornography. Abuse of the child occurs during the sexual acts or lascivious exhibitions of genitals or pubic areas which are recorded in the production of child pornography. Child pornography may use a variety of mediums, including writings, magazines, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, video, and video games. Child pornography may be created for profit or other reasons.

The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 was a United States bill designed with the stated intention of increasing enforcement of laws related to the prosecution of child pornography and child sexual exploitation offenses. Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), sponsor of H.R. 1981, stated that, "When investigators develop leads that might result in saving a child or apprehending a pedophile, their efforts should not be frustrated because vital records were destroyed simply because there was no requirement to retain them."

<i>United States v. Shynkarenko</i>

Maksym Shynkarenko, a citizen of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was indicted on September 16, 2008 by the grand jury for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on one count of conspiracy to transport and ship child pornography; sixteen counts of transportation and shipment of child pornography; one count of conspiracy to advertise child pornography; 12 counts of advertising child pornography; one count of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise; and one count of money laundering under the relevant 18 U.S.C. Sections: 2251, 2252A, 1956, and 2.

PhotoDNA

PhotoDNA is an image-identification technology used for detecting child pornography and other illegal content reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as required by law. It was developed by Microsoft Research and Hany Farid, professor at Dartmouth College, beginning in 2009. From a database of known illegal images and video files, it creates unique hashes to represent each image, which can then be used to identify other instances of those images.

Cybersex trafficking Online sexual exploitation

Cybersex trafficking, live streaming sexual abuse, webcam sex tourism/abuse or ICTs -facilitated sexual exploitation is a cybercrime involving sex trafficking and the live streaming of coerced sexual acts and/or rape on webcam.

References

  1. 1 2 Houston Chronicle , "Government developing huge child porn database". 4 April 2003
  2. CBS News, "Combatting Kiddie Porn", 6 April 2003
  3. Symposium on Online Child Exploitation
  4. Statement of Chris Swecker Before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, 6 April 2006
  5. LTU Technologies, press release, 24 March 2003
  6. The Register , "US.gov builds huge child porn database", 14 April 2003
  7. Wilber, Del Quentin (2009-12-01). "Child porn cases take toll on investigators". The Washington Post. pp. B1, B7. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  8. Alberto Gonzales, "Prepared Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)", 20 April 2006