Project Safe Childhood Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2661 To reauthorize and update the Project Safe Childhood program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 17, 2023 Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself and Mr. HUNT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reauthorize and update the Project Safe Childhood program, 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 ‘‘Project Safe Childhood 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD MODERNIZATION. 6 Section 143 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 7 Safety Act of 2006 (34 U.S.C. 20942) is amended to read 8 as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘SEC. 143. PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD. 1 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 ‘‘(1) CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL.—The 3 term ‘child sexual abuse material’ has the meaning 4 given the term ‘child pornography’ in section 2256 5 of title 18, United States Code. 6 ‘‘(2) CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF- 7 FENSE.—The term ‘child sexual exploitation offense’ 8 means— 9 ‘‘(A)(i) an offense involving a minor under 10 section 1591 or chapter 117 of title 18, United 11 States Code; 12 ‘‘(ii) an offense under subsection (a), (b), 13 or (c) of section 2251 of title 18, United States 14 Code; 15 ‘‘(iii) an offense under section 2251A or 16 2252A(g) of title 18, United States Code; or 17 ‘‘(iv) any attempt or conspiracy to commit 18 an offense described in clause (i) or (ii); or 19 ‘‘(B) an offense involving a minor under a 20 State or Tribal statute that is similar to a pro- 21 vision described in subparagraph (A). 22 ‘‘(3) CIRCLE OF TRUST OFFENDER.—The term 23 ‘circle of trust offender’ means an offender who is 24 related to, or in a position of trust, authority, or su- 25 pervisory control with respect to, a child. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(4) COMPUTER.—The term ‘computer’ has the 1 meaning given the term in section 1030 of title 18, 2 United States Code. 3 ‘‘(5) CONTACT SEXUAL OFFENSE.—The term 4 ‘contact sexual offense’ means— 5 ‘‘(A) an offense involving a minor under 6 chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, 7 or any attempt or conspiracy to commit such an 8 offense; or 9 ‘‘(B) an offense involving a minor under a 10 State or Tribal statute that is similar to a pro- 11 vision described in subparagraph (A). 12 ‘‘(6) DUAL OFFENDER.—The term ‘dual of- 13 fender’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) a person who commits— 15 ‘‘(i) a technology-facilitated child sex- 16 ual exploitation offense or an offense in- 17 volving child sexual abuse material; and 18 ‘‘(ii) a contact sexual offense; and 19 ‘‘(B) without regard to whether the of- 20 fenses described in clauses (i) and (ii) of sub- 21 paragraph (A)— 22 ‘‘(i) are committed as part of the 23 same course of conduct; or 24 ‘‘(ii) involve the same victim. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(7) FACILITATOR.—The term ‘facilitator’ 1 means an individual who facilitates the commission 2 by another individual of— 3 ‘‘(A) a technology-facilitated child sexual 4 exploitation offense or an offense involving child 5 sexual abuse material; or 6 ‘‘(B) a contact sexual offense. 7 ‘‘(8) ICAC AFFILIATE PARTNER.—The term 8 ‘ICAC affiliate partner’ means a law enforcement 9 agency that has entered into a formal operating 10 agreement with the ICAC Task Force Program. 11 ‘‘(9) ICAC TASK FORCE.—The term ‘ICAC task 12 force’ means a task force that is part of the ICAC 13 Task Force Program. 14 ‘‘(10) ICAC TASK FORCE PROGRAM.—The term 15 ‘ICAC Task Force Program’ means the National 16 Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Pro- 17 gram established under section 102 of the PRO- 18 TECT Our Children Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 19 21112). 20 ‘‘(11) OFFENSE INVOLVING CHILD SEXUAL 21 ABUSE MATERIAL.—The term ‘offense involving 22 child sexual abuse material’ means— 23 ‘‘(A) an offense under section 2251(d), 24 section 2252, or paragraphs (1) through (6) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2661 IH section 2252A(a) of title 18, United States 1 Code, or any attempt or conspiracy to commit 2 such an offense; or 3 ‘‘(B) an offense under a State or Tribal 4 statute that is similar to a provision described 5 in subparagraph (A). 6 ‘‘(12) SERIOUS OFFENDER.—The term ‘serious 7 offender’ means— 8 ‘‘(A) an offender who has committed a 9 contact sexual offense or child sexual exploi- 10 tation offense; 11 ‘‘(B) a dual offender, circle of trust of- 12 fender, or facilitator; or 13 ‘‘(C) an offender with a prior conviction 14 for a contact sexual offense, a child sexual ex- 15 ploitation offense, or an offense involving child 16 sexual abuse material. 17 ‘‘(13) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State 18 of the United States, the District of Columbia, and 19 any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 20 United States. 21 ‘‘(14) TECHNOLOGY-FACILITATED.—The term 22 ‘technology-facilitated’, with respect to an offense, 23 means an offense that is committed through the use 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2661 IH of a computer, even if the use of a computer is not 1 an element of the offense. 2 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Attorney 3 General shall create and maintain a nationwide initiative 4 to align Federal, State, and local entities to combat the 5 growing epidemic of online child sexual exploitation and 6 abuse, to be known as the ‘Project Safe Childhood pro- 7 gram’, in accordance with this section. 8 ‘‘(c) BEST PRACTICES.—The Attorney General, in 9 coordination with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity 10 Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of 11 Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 12 Prevention of the Department of Justice, and in consulta- 13 tion with training and technical assistance providers under 14 the ICAC Task Force Program who are funded by the At- 15 torney General and with appropriate nongovernmental or- 16 ganizations, shall— 17 ‘‘(1) develop best practices to adopt a balanced 18 approach to the investigation of suspect leads involv- 19 ing contact sexual offenses, child sexual exploitation 20 offenses, and offenses involving child sexual abuse 21 material, and the prosecution of those offenses, 22 prioritizing when feasible the identification of a child 23 victim or a serious offender, which approach shall 24 incorporate the use of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(A) proactively generated leads, including 1 leads generated by current and emerging tech- 2 nology; 3 ‘‘(B) in-district investigative referrals; and 4 ‘‘(C) CyberTipline reports from the Na- 5 tional Center for Missing and Exploited Chil- 6 dren; 7 ‘‘(2) develop best practices to be used by each 8 United States Attorney and ICAC task force to as- 9 sess the likelihood that an individual could be a seri- 10 ous offender or that a child victim may be identified; 11 ‘‘(3) develop and implement a tracking and 12 communication system for Federal, State, and local 13 law enforcement agencies and prosecutor’s offices to 14 report successful cases of victim identification and 15 child rescue to the Department of Justice and the 16 public; and 17 ‘‘(4) encourage the submission of all lawfully 18 seized visual depictions to the Child Victim Identi- 19 fication Program of the National Center for Missing 20 and Exploited Children. 21 ‘‘(d) IMPLEMENTATION.—Except as authorized 22 under subsection (e), funds authorized under this section 23 may only be used for the following 4 purposes: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(1) Integrated Federal, State, and local efforts 1 to investigate and prosecute contact sexual offenses, 2 child sexual exploitation offenses, and offenses in- 3 volving child sexual abuse material, including— 4 ‘‘(A) the partnership by each United 5 States Attorney with each Internet Crimes 6 Against Children Task Force within the district 7 of such attorney; 8 ‘‘(B) training of Federal, State, and local 9 law enforcement officers and prosecutors 10 through— 11 ‘‘(i) programs facilitated by the ICAC 12 Task Force Program; 13 ‘‘(ii) ICAC training programs sup- 14 ported by the Office of Juvenile Justice 15 and Delinquency Prevention of the Depart- 16 ment of Justice; 17 ‘‘(iii) programs facilitated by appro- 18 priate nongovernmental organizations with 19 subject matter expertise, technical skill, or 20 technological tools to assist in the identi- 21 fication of and response to serious offend- 22 ers, contact sexual offenses, child sexual 23 exploitation offenses, or offenses involving 24 child sexual abuse material; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(iv) any other program that provides 1 training— 2 ‘‘(I) on the investigation and 3 identification of serious offenders or 4 victims of contact sexual offenses, 5 child sexual exploitation offenses, or 6 offenses involving child sexual abuse 7 material; or 8 ‘‘(II) that specifically addresses 9 the use of existing and emerging tech- 10 nologies to commit or facilitate con- 11 tact sexual offenses, child sexual ex- 12 ploitation offenses, or offenses involv- 13 ing child sexual abuse material; 14 ‘‘(C) the development by each United 15 States Attorney of a district-specific strategic 16 plan to coordinate with State and local law en- 17 forcement agencies and prosecutor’s offices, in- 18 cluding ICAC task forces and their ICAC affil- 19 iate partners, on the investigation of suspect 20 leads involving serious offenders, contact sexual 21 offenses, child sexual exploitation offenses, and 22 offenses involving child sexual abuse material, 23 and the prosecution of those offenders and of- 24 fenses, which plan— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(i) shall include— 1 ‘‘(I) the use of the best practices 2 developed under paragraphs (1) and 3 (2) of subsection (c); 4 ‘‘(II) the development of plans 5 and protocols to target and rapidly in- 6 vestigate cases involving potential se- 7 rious offenders or the identification 8 and rescue of a victim of a contact 9 sexual offense, a child sexual exploi- 10 tation offense, or an offense involving 11 child sexual abuse material; 12 ‘‘(III) the use of training and 13 technical assistance programs to in- 14 corporate victim-centered, trauma-in- 15 formed practices in cases involving 16 victims of contact sexual offenses, 17 child sexual exploitation offenses, and 18 offenses involving child sexual abuse 19 material, which may include the use of 20 child protective services, children’s ad- 21 vocacy centers, victim support special- 22 ists, or other supportive services; 23 ‘‘(IV) the development of plans to 24 track, report, and clearly commu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2661 IH nicate successful cases of victim iden- 1 tification and child rescue to the De- 2 partment of Justice and the public; 3 ‘‘(V) an analysis of the investiga- 4 tive and forensic capacity of law en- 5 forcement agencies and prosecutor’s 6 offices within the district, and goals 7 for improving capacity and effective- 8 ness; 9 ‘‘(VI) a written policy describing 10 the criteria for referrals for prosecu- 11 tion from Federal, State, or local law 12 enforcement agencies, particularly 13 when the investigation may involve a 14 potential serious offender or the iden- 15 tification or rescue of a child victim; 16 ‘‘(VII) plans and budgets for 17 training of relevant personnel on con- 18 tact sexual offenses, child sexual ex- 19 ploitation offenses, and offenses in- 20 volving child sexual abuse material; 21 ‘‘(VIII) plans for coordination 22 and cooperation with State, local, and 23 Tribal law enforcement agencies and 24 prosecutorial offices; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(IX) evidence-based programs 1 that educate the public about and in- 2 crease awareness of such offenses; and 3 ‘‘(ii) shall be developed in consulta- 4 tion, as appropriate, with— 5 ‘‘(I) the local ICAC task force; 6 ‘‘(II) the United States Marshals 7 Service Sex Offender Targeting Cen- 8 ter; 9 ‘‘(III) training and technical as- 10 sistance providers under the ICAC 11 Task Force Program who are funded 12 by the Attorney General; 13 ‘‘(IV) nongovernmental organiza- 14 tions with subject matter expertise, 15 technical skill, or technological tools 16 to assist in the identification of and 17 response to contact sexual offenses, 18 child sexual exploitation offenses, or 19 offenses involving child sexual abuse 20 material; 21 ‘‘(V) any relevant component of 22 Homeland Security Investigations; 23 ‘‘(VI) any relevant component of 24 the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Apr 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2661.IH H2661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2661 IH ‘‘(VII) the Office of Juvenile Jus- 1 tice and Delinquency Prevention of 2 the Department of Justice; 3 ‘‘(VIII) the Child Exploitation 4 and Obscenity Section of the Criminal 5 Division of the Department of Justice; 6 ‘‘(IX) the United States Postal 7 Inspection Service; 8 ‘‘(X) the United States Secret 9 Service; and 10 ‘‘(XI) each military criminal in- 11 vestigation organization of the De- 12 partment of Defense; and 13 ‘‘(D) a quadrennial assessment by each 14 United States Attorney of the investigations 15 within the district of [Text truncated for display. 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