United States Attorney Peter McNeilly Encourages Schools, Youth Organizations to Partner with DOJ on Online Child Exploitation Prevention

DENVER- United States Attorney Peter McNeilly is encouraging Colorado schools, youth-serving organizations, athletic programs, and other community groups to take advantage of free training and prevention resources available through the Department of Justice to help protect children from online sexual exploitation and abuse.

The call comes as the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) launches an expanded effort to engage schools and other organizations in preventing online exploitation of children. In a recent open letter, Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva encouraged organizations that work with children to partner with the Department on prevention and education efforts and highlighted resources available to help communities address emerging threats, including online grooming, sextortion, sadistic online exploitation, and the misuse of artificial intelligence to create sexually explicit deepfake images of children.

“Protecting children in online environments and teaching them to navigate threats on their own are critical parts of fostering healthy development in today’s society,” said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly.  “To be effective, adults who teach, coach, mentor, and care for our kids need to understand online exploitation, what warnings signs to look for, and what to do when a child is at risk.  We want to be a resource for our communities to help young people remain safe online.”

Training can be arranged virtually or in person, depending on the needs of the organization. The Department of Justice’s CEOS provides free prevention programming to schools and other organizations through in-person presentations and webinars and can help connect organizations with prevention experts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado can also help connect Colorado organizations with Assistant U.S. Attorneys and federal agents with experience investigating and prosecuting online child exploitation and related offenses who can provide education and outreach in their areas of expertise.

Organizations interested in arranging prevention programming or learning more about available resources can contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado at USACO.PublicAffairs@usdoj.gov.  Prevention resources are also available through the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section Prevention webpage.