United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

U. S. ATTORNEY ROLLS OUT
PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD IN NORTH TEXAS

Northern District of Texas Child Exploitation Working Group Established

At a meeting held yesterday at the Dallas FBI Headquarters and attended by more than 60 law enforcement representatives from North Texas, including heads of several local and federal agencies as well as District Attorneys and representatives from the Texas Attorney General’s Office, United States Attorney Richard B. Roper unveiled the Department of Justice’s new initiative, Project Safe Childhood in North Texas.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to coordinate federal, state, and local law enforcement resources to investigate and prosecute child exploitation cases and rescue the victims of those crimes. The initiative also involves the creation and implementation of programs to educate parents and protect children from online predators.

In addition, U.S. Attorney Roper announced the formation of the Northern District of Texas Child Exploitation Working Group, a network that will develop and foster meaningful partnerships and enhance communication and training among law enforcement officers and prosecutors in the North Texas area, as well as non-profit and private entities, to ensure that child exploitation crimes are effectively investigated and prosecuted. The Northern District of Texas Child Exploitation Working Group will also form and implement education and prevention programs to educate children and their parents of the dangers of online predators on the Internet.

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “The increase in child exploitation cases is staggering -- truly of epidemic proportions. But what’s even more frightening is the number of potential victims. I’m committed to working with all of these agencies and sharing resources to not only ensure that these predators are convicted of their atrocious crimes, but to ensure that we get the toughest penalties for the worst offenders so that they can’t harm any more innocent children.” Roper went on to say, “The Department of Justice has placed a very high priority on protecting and combating sexual exploitation of minors. Education is a key component of Project Safe Childhood and this working group will use all available resources to educate parents and children of dangers lurking as children navigate the Internet.”

During yesterday’s meeting, Officer Lee Reed of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, (http://www.ncmec.org), explained the various resources available to local and federal law enforcement including training for prosecutors and law enforcement as well as educational programs for children who are online. Officer Reed, a retired police officer currently working as a consultant for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, also discussed the Center’s involvement in the child victim identification program.

In the first six months of fiscal year 2005 alone, the International Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force program, a network of coordinated regional task forces engaged in helping state and local law enforcement agencies develop effective responses to cyber-enticement and child pornography cases, reported its investigations resulted in nearly 5000 state charges and almost 600 federal charges. There are presently 46 ICAC’s nationwide, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office is proud to partner with the Dallas Police Department’s ICAC and the Texas Attorney General’s Office ICAC.

A Department of Justice Fact Sheet on the Project Safe Childhood Initiative can be found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/February/06_opa_081.html

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