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FAQ:
Child Sexual Exploitation
What
is child sexual exploitation?
Under federal law, the activities listed below constitute child sexual
exploitation.
- Possession, Manufacture, and Distribution of Child Pornography
- Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts
- Child Prostitution
- Child-Sex Tourism
- Child Sexual Molestation (not in the family)
- Unsolicited Obscene Material Sent to a Child
- Misleading Domain Name
Learn
more about these reporting categories and/or report
a suspected case of child sexual exploitation.
What
is online child sexual exploitation?
Online exploitation is exposing a child to unwanted sexual content or
unwanted material via the Internet and uninvited requests for sexual conversations.
Online sexual exploitation includes employing, using, persuading, inducing,
enticing, or coercing a minor to engage in any sexually explicit conduct
for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct.
What
is child pornography?
Under federal law, child pornography is a visual depiction of a minor
engaged in sexually explicit conduct (18 U.S.C.A. 2252).
In addition to federal law, each of the 50 states and the District of
Columbia have laws modeled after the federal statutes.
Sexually explicit conduct includes various forms of sexual activities
such as intercourse, bestiality, masturbation, sadistic or masochistic
abuse, or the lascivious exhibition of the genitals (18 U.S.C.A. 2256).
It is illegal to possess, distribute, or manufacture these images.
If you are unclear about whether the sites you have come across meet
the standards of the law, please do not hesitate to report them to www.cybertipline.com.
NCMEC will review the site, determine whether it is a pornographic image
of a child, and then forward it to the appropriate law-enforcement agency.
[As stated by Janis Wolak, Kimberly Mitchell,
and David Finkelhor in Internet Sex Crimes Against Minors: The Response
of Law Enforcement (Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing
& Exploited Children, November 2003, page vii), “The term ‘child
pornography,’ because it implies simply conventional pornography
with child subjects, is an inappropriate term to describe the true nature
and extent of sexually exploitive images of child victims. Use of this
term should not be taken to imply that children ‘consented’
to the sexual acts depicted in these photographs; however, it is the term
most readily recognized by the public, at this point in time, to describe
this form of child sexual exploitation. It is used in this [document]
to refer to illegal pictorial material involving children under the standards
developed by statute, case law, and law-enforcement-agency protocols.
It is hoped that a more accurate term will be recognized, understood,
and accepted for use in the near future.”]
How
big of a problem is child sexual exploitation?
The sexual victimization of children is overwhelming in magnitude yet
largely unrecognized and underreported. Research indicates that 1
in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before
adulthood.
[D. Finkelhor. “Current Information
on the Scope and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse.” The Future of Children:
Sexual Abuse of Children, 1994, volume 4, page 37.]
To learn more about child sexual exploitation and prevention, read Preventing
the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Parental
Guidelines in Case Your Child Might Someday be the Victim of Sexual Exploitation.
How
many children are sexually approached and/or solicited online?
According to the latest online victimization research,
- Approximately one in seven youth online (10 to 17
years-old) received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet.
- Four percent (4%) received an aggressive sexual
solicitation — a solicitor who asked to meet them somewhere; called
them on the telephone; or sent them offline mail, money, or gifts.
- Thirty-four percent (34%) had an unwanted exposure
to sexual material — pictures of naked people or people having
sex.
- Twenty-seven percent (27%) of the youth who encountered
unwanted sexual material told a parent or guardian. If the encounter
was defined as distressing — episodes that made them feel very
or extremely upset or afraid — forty-two percent (42%) told a
parent or guardian.
[David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell, and
Janis Wolak. Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later.
Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children,
2006, pages 7-8, 33.]
For more information, download the report, Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later.
For prevention resources for kids, parents and teens, visit the
NetSmartz Workshop.
What
are some examples of online sexual solicitations reported to NCMEC?
The quotes below were taken from children in the 2006 report Online
Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later.
- Boy, 11, who was playing an online game with a 20-year-old-man: “He
asked me something personal, something about a man’s privates.”
- Girl,12: “I went into the chatroom, and they asked me if I
wanted to have cybersex. I was asking them what kind of music they liked
and stuff.”
- Girl, 14: “I was chatting on the Internet and this guy just
popped up in an instant message and started talking really dirty to
me and saying things that I had never heard of before. He told me he
was 20 years old and then he said, ‘LOL’ (laugh out loud).
For more information, download the report, Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later.
What
should I do if my child is the victim of sexual exploitation?
If your child indicates that he or she may have been the victim of sexual
exploitation or abuse:
- Seek appropriate medical attention to be sure your child has not
been physically injured.
- Report the exploitation to your local law-enforcement agency.
- Inform child-protection, youth-services, child-abuse, or other appropriate
social- service organizations about the exploitation.
- Seek counseling or therapy for your child.
- Contact the NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678) or visit
www.cybertipline.com
to find out what resources are available to you.
What
is the CyberTipline®?
The Congressionally-mandated CyberTipline is a reporting mechanism for
cases of child sexual exploitation including child pornography, online
enticement of children for sex acts, molestation of children outside the
family, sex tourism of children, child victims of prostitution, and unsolicited
obscene material sent to a child. Reports may be made 24-hours a day,
7 days a week online at www.cybertipline.com
or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
What
happens to my CyberTipline report after I submit it to NCMEC?
Every report is analyzed by staff members in NCMEC's Exploited Child
Division and is provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the U.S. Customs Service),
U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce
members, and state and/or local law enforcement when such jurisdiction
can be determined. Each of the agencies can review the reports and determine
if further action is needed.
Does
NCMEC investigate my CyberTipline report?
NCMEC is not a law-enforcement agency and does not have the authority
to investigate and arrest perpetrators. However, each report will be
analyzed by staff members in NCMEC's Exploited Child Division and
provided to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (formerly the U.S. Customs Service), the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service, Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce members,
and state and/or local law enforcement for their review and to determine
if further action is needed.
Will
I be contacted about the outcome of my report?
Reporting persons are not contacted regarding the final outcome of reports.
If a reporting person desires to be updated about the status of a report,
it is advised that law enforcement be contacted directly as NCMEC's
Exploited Child Division does not handle the reports beyond initial intake
and analysis.
Persons reporting unsolicited e-mail or child pornography will only be
contacted if additional information is needed.
Reporting persons are often contacted about other incident types to verify
information provided, such as in a case of reported molestation of children
outside the family, and explain what the reporting person's next steps
should be, especially in a situation where there is potential or immediate
risk to a child.
Thus it is always a good idea to include your contact information in
the CyberTipline report. Please leave your name, your home and work telephone
number, the time you would like to be contacted, and an e-mail address.
What
is Child Victim Identification Program (CVIP)?
The Child Victim Identification Program (CVIP) is part of NCMEC’S
Exploited Child Division. CVIP works to provide technical and
investigative assistance to law enforcement on cases involving child
sexual exploitation.
In child pornography cases, CVIP analysts review images submitted by
law enforcement to aid in prosecutions by indicating which images contain
previously identified victims and attempt to identify and help new victims.
Learn
More
How
do I help keep my children safer online?
Check out the safety tips for families, kids, and teens available at
NCMEC’s NetSmartz Workshop.
Also check out our Ad Council campaigns, HDOP:
Help Delete Online Predators, Don’t
Believe the Type and Think Before
You Post, as well as our publication Child
Safety on the Information Highway.
I
viewed child pornography, what should I do?
Report it to CyberTipline
(www.cybertipline.com).
What
should I do if I accidentally receive or download child pornography?
Images of child pornography are illegal and may be needed for evidence;
it is imperative that you take the following steps:
- Do not mail these images to law enforcement.
- Call or visit the proper law-enforcement authority and ask how they
would like to handle this evidence.
- After speaking with the proper law-enforcement authority, follow
their instructions.
- After you have complied with their instructions, delete
the images from your computer including from both the "Trash"
and "Cache" areas.
I
viewed a text advertisement for child pornography but I did not see images.
Should I report it?
A text advertisement describing child pornography is illegal. Follow
the same steps you would if you found child pornography on the Internet.
Report it to CyberTipline and
provide us with the URL, the offender's e-mail address if possible, and
the time and date that you found the images. The more information you
can provide, the more helpful the information is to law-enforcement authorities.
My
13-year-old son received an e-mail with an image of adult pornography,
is this illegal?
An incident such as this may be illegal, but there are some stipulations
to this. Please make a CyberTipline
report and save the e-mail in which the image was attached. Please include
the full expanded "Header" information in your CyberTipline
report.
Where
do I report seeing adult pornography sites?
Report adult obscenity that does not include children to Morality
in the Media at www.obscenitycrimes.org.
If, however, you suspect that there are illegal images of children on
the site, report it to CyberTipline.
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