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PRESS RELEASE
NATIONAL CYBERTIPLINE TOPS 500,000 REPORTS
Tips Alert Authorities to Alleged Sex Crimes Involving
Children
Alexandria, VA – July 10, 2007 – The
nationwide CyberTipline, staffed 24/7 at the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (NCMEC), this week received its 500,000th report of suspected
child pornography and other child exploitation crimes.
The half-million mark comes nine years after the CyberTipline was mandated
by the U.S. Congress to serve as the nation’s “9-1-1” for
reporting incidents of child sexual exploitation. NCMEC’s Exploited
Child Division (ECD) personnel analyze and develop the leads, which are
then referred to law enforcement for investigation and prosecution. Since
its creation, the number of reports to the CyberTipline, has shown significant
increases in many of the reporting categories.
“Here’s what we know, an estimated 1 in 5 girls and 1 in
10 boys will be sexually victimized in someway before they reach the
age of 18,” said NCMEC President & CEO Ernie Allen. “The
constant growth in reports to the CyberTipline is staggering. Even more
disturbing is that these figures don’t reflect the true number
of children being victimized because sex crimes involving minors are
grossly underreported.”
Reports to the CyberTipline come from the general public and U.S.based
Electronic Service Providers. The vast majority of the reports are received
electronically via NCMEC’s website, www.cybertipline.com.
Trends and Statistics
CyberTipline reports are collected in the following seven categories:
Child Pornography; Child Prostitution; Child Sex Tourism; Child Sexual
Molestation; Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts; Unsolicited
Obscene Material Sent to a Child, and Misleading Domain Name.
According to NCMEC, the possession, manufacture and/or distribution of
child pornography has remained the highest reporting category with 443,096
total tips to date, or 89 percent of the total leads received.
“Nearly 60 percent of the identified children shown in the child
abuse images or videos are prepubescent, while an estimated six percent
are infants,” Allen said. “What we’re seeing today,
however, is a horrifying trend where the child victims are getting younger
and the molestation is becoming increasingly more violent.”
The second highest CyberTipline reporting category is Online Enticement
of Children for Sexual Acts. That category received 26,500 total tips
to date and experienced a 250 percent increase in the last full year
of reports between 2005 and 2006. Tips related to Unsolicited Obscene
Material Sent to a Child climbed 194 percent during that same time period. According
to recent research, an estimated 1 in 7 youth will receive an unwanted
sexual solicitation over the Internet.
The remaining five reporting categories received the following total
number of leads to date: Child Sexual Molestation - 12,428; Child Prostitution
- 5,345; Unsolicited Obscene Material Sent to a Child
- 5,316; Child Sex Tourism - 2,356, and Misleading Domain Name - 5,091.
CyberTipline Success Stories
Many reports to the CyberTipline have resulted in the arrest and successful
prosecution of thousands of offenders worldwide.
In one 2006 case, a major Internet Service Provider made a report to
the CyberTipline which led to the identification and arrest of a 55-year-old
California man charged with sexually molesting his six-year-old daughter
live via webcam. Using the information provided and a still image of
the sexual abuse, an ECD analyst searched online photo albums for matching
physical characteristics, including a convicted sex offender registry.
The analyst was able to identify and verify the suspect’s screen
name, real name, age and possible location. Within hours of receiving
the CyberTipline report, the San Bernardino Sherriff’s Department
executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home, where he surrendered
to police and confessed to molesting his daughter. Police said the suspect
also had additional images of child sexual abuse in his possession. The
defendant, who was the primary caregiver of his two minor daughters,
pled guilty to child molestation and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
In a similar case, this past January a CyberTipline report led to the
arrest of a Delaware man accused of emailing sexually abusive images
of children to his online contacts. Investigators uncovered 3,000 online
chats with several individuals graphically discussing the sexual molestation
of children. In all, police arrested 10 Delaware men, including a corrections
officer and fireman. One of the defendants was charged with molesting
his eight-year-old daughter during a webcam transmission. Others were
accused of discussing detailed plans to rape and molest their own children
or relatives that ranged in age from three months to four-years-old.
Allen said, “These suspects and thousands more like them were
stopped because of a CyberTipline report and excellent police work. We
encourage anyone who believes a child is being sexually assaulted or
exploited to contact the CyberTipline at www.cybertipline.com immediately.
Failing to help a child should never be an option.”
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About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
NCMEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation
with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted
law enforcement with more than 130,300 missing child cases, resulting
in the recovery of more than 112,900 children. For more information about
NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit
its web site at www.missingkids.com.
Contact:
NCMEC Communications Department
(703) 837-6111
media@ncmec.org
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