Child RESCUE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7919 To direct the Attorney General to convene a national working group to study proactive strategies and needed resources for the rescue of children from sexual exploitation and abuse, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 31, 2020 Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mr. CLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To direct the Attorney General to convene a national working group to study proactive strategies and needed resources for the rescue of children from sexual exploitation and abuse, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Response to 4 Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of Children in Unad- 5 dressed Emergencies Act’’ or the ‘‘Child RESCUE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7919 IH (1) The growing international trade in child 1 abuse imagery creates demand and incentive for the 2 sexual assault of children throughout the United 3 States. 4 (2) United States law enforcement efforts to 5 combat child sexual exploitation have the potential 6 to help multiple distinct groups of victims, including 7 children depicted in the imagery itself who are still 8 being assaulted; children and adults whose past vic- 9 timization is being viewed and shared online; and 10 children who are being sexually assaulted by adults 11 who could be interdicted while accessing or sharing 12 illegal imagery online. 13 (3) In 2006, Congressional hearings of the 14 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 15 of Representatives, the Department of Justice, Fed- 16 eral Bureau of Investigation, and State law enforce- 17 ment leaders estimated that there are hundreds of 18 thousands of adults in the United States engaging 19 in child sexual abuse material crimes. 20 (4) A growing body of research—including aca- 21 demic studies, analysis by the United States Sen- 22 tencing Commission, and findings by law enforce- 23 ment polygraphers—indicates that a majority of in- 24 dividuals possessing and sharing child sexual abuse 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7919 IH material are ‘‘dual offenders’’, who both possess ille- 1 gal imagery and also commit contact offenses. 2 (5) According to the National Association to 3 Protect Children, identifying dual offenders through 4 proactive police investigations is one of the most ef- 5 fective strategies for child sexual abuse prevention 6 available. By using technology-assisted policing 7 strategies, law enforcement can follow the trail of il- 8 legal imagery to the locations of offenders who have 9 a sexual interest in children, enabling the rescue of 10 current victims and interrupting future assaults. 11 (6) Despite this historic opportunity to locate 12 child sexual predators and rescue children, United 13 States law enforcement is increasingly unable to con- 14 duct proactive investigations aimed at finding the 15 most dangerous predators. According to the Na- 16 tional Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 17 leads from electronic service providers and the public 18 grew exponentially over the past decade, from 19 500,000 in 2008 to 18.4 million in 2018. This influx 20 of reports has overwhelmed law enforcement agen- 21 cies and task forces, forcing them to limit proactive 22 investigations. 23 (7) While continued, rapid response to leads 24 from electronic service providers and the public is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7919 IH essential, increasing child rescues also requires 1 United States law enforcement to increase and im- 2 prove its capacity to conduct victim-centric, proac- 3 tive investigations of suspects it believes have the 4 highest likelihood of being contact offenders. 5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF WORKING GROUP. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 7 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 8 establish a national working group, to be known as the 9 U.S. Commission on Children in Imminent Danger, to 10 study proactive policing strategies and resource needs to 11 rescue children in the United States who are— 12 (1) victims of child sexual abuse material; or 13 (2) victims of sexual abuse by individuals who 14 are also engaged in child sexual abuse material 15 crimes. 16 (b) PRIORITY.—In carrying out the study described 17 in subsection (a), the U.S. Commission on Children in Im- 18 minent Danger shall give priority to investigative leads 19 that indicate the possibility of identifying or rescuing child 20 victims. 21 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE WORKING GROUP. 22 In carrying out the study described in section 3, the 23 working group shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7919 IH (1) develop estimates of the total number of 1 adults in the United States who are committing 2 crimes involving the production, distribution, receipt, 3 or possession of child sexual abuse material, includ- 4 ing the number of such individuals who— 5 (A) could be interdicted by Federal, State, 6 and local law enforcement if sufficient funding 7 resources were available; and 8 (B) are committing crimes involving sexual 9 contact with children; 10 (2) develop estimates of the total number of 11 minor victims of child sexual abuse in the United 12 States, disaggregated by age range, who— 13 (A) could be located and protected from 14 further abuse through the interdiction of indi- 15 viduals committing offenses described in para- 16 graph (1); or 17 (B) are likely to become victims of contact 18 sexual offenses by adults committing offenses 19 described in paragraph (1), in the 10-year pe- 20 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this 21 Act; 22 (3) develop estimates and descriptions of the 23 funding, resources, and proactive strategies nec- 24 essary for Federal, State, and local law enforcement 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7919 IH to successfully locate and protect minor victims de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2); and 2 (4) provide additional analysis and nonduplica- 3 tive estimates of— 4 (A) the number of adults who were ar- 5 rested by Federal, State, and local agencies 6 during the 5-year period before the date of en- 7 actment of this Act, by year, for any of the of- 8 fenses described in paragraph (1); 9 (B) the number of adults who were pros- 10 ecuted federally and in the States during the 5- 11 year period before the date of enactment of this 12 Act, by year, for any of the offenses described 13 in paragraph (1); 14 (C) the estimated number of unidentified 15 victims depicted in child abuse imagery that is 16 known to the National Center for Missing and 17 Exploited Children; and 18 (D) the number and percentage of of- 19 fenses, as described in paragraph (1) of this 20 section, that are committed by adults in a posi- 21 tion of trust or authority, including analysis of 22 potential proactive strategies that could be used 23 by social service agencies and other child abuse 24 investigators to detect both child exploitation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7919 IH and contact sexual offenses by offenders de- 1 scribed in paragraph (1). 2 SEC. 5. MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The working group shall be com- 4 posed of such representatives of Federal departments and 5 agencies, non-Federal law enforcement agencies, and non- 6 governmental organizations as the Attorney General con- 7 siders appropriate. The Attorney General shall invite the 8 following individuals to be members of the working group: 9 (1) Three representatives from State or local 10 grantees of the Internet Crimes Against Children 11 task force program with extensive, direct experience 12 conducting proactive, online undercover investiga- 13 tions, including use of specialized tools for peer-to- 14 peer investigations. 15 (2) A representative of the Department of Jus- 16 tice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. 17 (3) The Department of Justice’s National Coor- 18 dinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Inter- 19 diction. 20 (4) A representative of the Behavioral Analysis 21 Unit of the United States Marshals Service or a des- 22 ignee. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7919 IH (5) A Special Agent of the United States 1 Homeland Security Investigations with expertise in 2 proactive online investigations. 3 (6) A representative of the Cyber Crimes Cen- 4 ter Victim Identification Lab of United States 5 Homeland Security Investigations. 6 (7) A Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of 7 Investigation with expertise in proactive online inves- 8 tigations and the use of polygraphs in child sexual 9 abuse material investigations. 10 (8) A representative of the Innocent Images 11 program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with 12 expertise in child victim identification. 13 (9) A Special Agent of the United States Secret 14 Service with expertise in investigations of child sex- 15 ual abuse material. 16 (10) A Special Agent of the United States Post- 17 al Inspection Service with expertise in investigations 18 of child sexual abuse material. 19 (11) At the election of the head of the relevant 20 entity— 21 (A) a representative of the Internet Crimes 22 Against Children and the Child Protection Sys- 23 tem at the National Criminal Justice Training 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7919 IH Center with subject matter expertise on child 1 sexual exploitation and abuse investigations; 2 (B) a representative of the Child Protec- 3 tion System (formerly Operation Fairplay) at 4 the Child Rescue Coalition with subject matter 5 expertise on child sexual exploitation and abuse 6 investigations; 7 (C) a representative of the National Asso- 8 ciation to Protect Children, with subject matter 9 expertise on child sexual exploitation and abuse; 10 (D) a representative of the National Cen- 11 ter for Missing and Exploited Children, with 12 subject matter expertise on child sexual exploi- 13 tation and abuse; and 14 (E) a representative of the Rape, Abuse & 15 Incest National Network, with subject matter 16 expertise on child sexual exploitation and abuse. 17 (b) CONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—If a member 18 of a working group was appointed based on membership 19 in an agency or organization and the member ceases to 20 be a member of such agency or organization, such member 21 shall cease to be a member of the working group on the 22 date on which the member ceases to be a member of such 23 agency or organization. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7919 IH (c) TERMS.—Each member should be appointed for 1 the life of the working group. 2 (d) VACANCY.—Any member appointed to fill a va- 3 cancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which 4 the member’s predecessor was appointed shall be ap- 5 pointed only for the remainder of that term. A member 6 may serve after the expiration of that member’s term until 7 a successor has taken office. A vacancy in the working 8 group shall be filled in the manner in which the original 9 appointment was made. 10 (e) COMPENSATION.—Members of the working group 11 shall serve without pay. 12 (f) QUORUM.—A simple majority of the members 13 constitutes a quorum, but a lesser number may hold hear- 14 ings. 15 (g) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the working 16 group shall be the director of the Child Exploitation and 17 Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice. 18 (h) MEETINGS.—The working group shall hold vir- 19 tual meetings monthly, and any subgroup of the working 20 group shall hold additional meetings as necessary. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7919 IH SEC. 6. STAFF OF WORKING GROUP; EXPERTS AND CON- 1 SULTANTS. 2 (a) STAFF.—The Chairperson of the working group 3 may appoint and fix the pay of additional personnel as 4 the Chairperson considers appropriate. 5 (b) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Chairperson 6 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 7 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 8 (c) DETAILEES.—Upon request of the Chairperson, 9 the head of any Federal department or agency may detail, 10 on a reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of that de- 11 partment or agency to the working group to assist it in 12 carrying out its duties under this Act. 13 SEC. 7. POWERS OF WORKING GROUP. 14 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The working group 15 may, for the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hear- 16 ings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and 17 receive evidence as the working group considers appro- 18 priate. The working group may administer oaths or affir- 19 mations to witnesses appearing before it. 20 (b) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any mem- 21 ber or agent of the working group may, if authorized by 22 the Chairperson, take any action which the working group 23 is authorized to take by this section, including requesting 24 information and data. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:35 Aug 21, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7919.IH H7919 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7919 IH (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The working group 1 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 2 United States information necessary to enable it to carry 3 out this Act. Upon request of the Chairperson of the work- 4 ing group, the head of that department or agency shall 5 furnish that information to the working group. 6 (d) MAILS.—The working group may use the United 7 States mails in the same mann [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]