The abuse and exploitation of children is an abhorrent act that physically and emotionally scars innocent lives. Children, even younger than two years of age, have been horrifically abused for the sick gratification of others. Unfortunately, if there is a demand for this type of material, some people will lower themselves to create the supply.
According to the US Department of Justice, the distribution of child pornography was almost “completely eradicated” in the mid 1980s. Obviously the creation and success of the internet has reversed this position. Today, child pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry and, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, is one of the fastest growing internet industries. In fact, the NCMEC claims that “20% of all pornography on the internet involves children.”
The relative ease of transferring images with digital cameras, the ability to anonymously communicate and exchange money, as well as distribute to mass numbers has caused child pornography to balloon to virtually unstoppable proportions.
Welcome to the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) website. Created in 1987, the mission of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) is to protect the welfare of America’s children and communities by enforcing federal criminal statutes relating to the exploitation of children. As the nation’s experts in child exploitation issues, CEOS leads the Department of Justice in its endeavor to continuously improve the enforcement of federal child exploitation laws and prevent the exploitation of children. CEOS attorneys prosecute defendants who have violated federal child exploitation laws and also assist the 94 United States Attorney Offices in investigations, trials, and appeals related to these offenses. In addition, CEOS attorneys perform other vital functions within the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, including providing advice and training to federal prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, and Department of Justice officials, developing prosecution policies, legislation, government practices and agency regulations, and participating in national and international meetings on training and policy development. In all aspects of their work, CEOS attorneys seek to blend prosecutorial experience with policy expertise in order to create innovative solutions to the threat posed by those who violate child exploitation laws. More...  |
On August 2, 2010, Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that the Department of Justice released its first-ever National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. The strategy also provides the first-ever comprehensive threat assessment of the dangers facing children from child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation and sexual exploitation in Indian Country, and outlines a blueprint to strengthen the fight against these crimes.
To learn more, click here.
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section Assistant Deputy Chief Alexandra Gelber responds to Mark Hansen’s article “A Reluctant Rebellion,” which appeared in the June 2009 issue of the ABA Journal. Ms. Gelber notes that while Mr. Hansen’s article raises questions about the child pornography sentencing guidelines, his piece speaks to a much more fundamental question about the legitimacy of the crime at issue. Ms. Gelber's article exposes the fundamental misunderstandings about the nature of the crime, the offenders, and the law, that permeate the ABA Journal article. Ms. Gelber shows how, when properly understood, the substance and structure of the criminal provisions and sentences for these pernicious crimes show an appropriate response to an exploding crime problem.
