Let me give
you just one example from our own case files. In the spring of
2001 a young girl playing outside her apartment was abducted by
an unidentified man in a van. Our local field office quickly set
up a 24 hour command center at the local police department. Neighborhood
searches were conducted via the ground and air. The National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children and the America's Most Wanted
television show gave the case media publicity. A few days later
an employee at a bus station recognized the girl and called the
police. The girl was recovered alive -- thanks to well orchestrated,
cooperative action between law enforcement, the media, and the
public.
It takes
all of us working together to protect children in cases like this.
State and municipal police are the first responders to reports
of missing and exploited children and they request our assistance
as needed. Community outreach, prevention, and education are also
essential. And media coverage is key -- we are truly grateful
for the role the media plays in community education and in getting
the faces of missing children out to the public.
I know there
is some concern that media attention on these cases can lead alarmed
parents to think that child abductions by strangers has reached
epidemic proportions. Fortunately, that is not the case. The number
of individuals reported missing to the National Crime Information
Center has actually decreased 14 percent between 1997 and 2001.
There are no signs of an increase in the number of child abductions
by strangers. My message to parents is this: be cautious, take
time to educate yourselves and your kids.
Of course,
one missing child is too many. At the FBI, saving lives, protecting
the innocent, and hunting down those who prey upon them is at
the heart of what we do. Many programs are changing in the FBI
following last year's terrorist attacks, but protecting our children
is one priority where our commitment is stronger than ever.
Two blocks
down Pennsylvania Avenue at FBI Headquarters, we direct a national
Crimes Against Children Program. We have at least two Special
Agents in each of our 56 field offices specifically dedicated
to this program. We have a Special Agent assigned full time to
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children -- and
we have recently assigned three analysts there to focus on incoming
reports and tips.
We routinely put people like Richard Steve Goldberg on our list
of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, right along with Usama bin Laden.
Goldberg is being sought for allegedly preying on several young
girls in California. Just last year, we captured two "top
tenners" wanted for sexually exploiting children: Michael
Scott Bliss and Eric Franklin Rosser.
Beyond this,
we are actively investigating the sexual exploitation and abuse
of children, child sex tourism, child trafficking, child pornography,
domestic and international parental kidnappings, and the on-line
sexual exploitation of children. And we bring some unique resources
to the table, like our Evidence Response Teams, Rapid Start, criminal
profilers and researchers from our National Center for Analysis
of Violent Crime, our state-of-the-art laboratory, Victim/Witness
Coordinators, and new Child Interview Specialists.
We have made
Internet-facilitated crime a top priority and created a new Cyber
Division to help us stay ahead of the curve in this growing area.
We are also expanding "Innocent Images," a multi-agency,
proactive initiative that targets pedophiles and child pornographers
who prey on our kids over the Internet. Our current 24 undercover
operations will be expanded to 30 by year's end.
Our recent
"Operation Candyman," exposed an international on-line
child pornography group and shut down their illicit web sites.
As of September 6, we have arrested 111 individuals in the U.S.,
twelve of whom admitted to the molestation of at least 45 children.
Today's conference
is a great opportunity for us to build on this positive momentum.
I speak for all the men and women of the FBI, when I say that
we look forward to working with all of you in the future to protect
our kids from predators and to bring our lost children home.
Now, I would
like to introduce our panel. First up, we have Claude Allen, Deputy
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Allen
works closely with HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on all major policy
and management issues, and he serves as the department's Chief
Operating Officer. HHS helps address the issue of runaway and
missing children across the nation.
Next up is
Lee Heath, Chief Postal Inspector, U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Chief Heath is a 31-year veteran of the Postal Inspection Service
where he has worked to protect the USPS, its employees and customers
from criminal attack and misuse. For years the Postal Inspection
Service has played a critical role in fighting child pornography.
The third
panelist is the Honorable Nina Hickson, Chief Presiding Judge,
Fulton County Juvenile Court in Atlanta, Georgia. Appointed to
the Juvenile Court in May 1999, Judge Hickson was a major proponent
of legislation making pimping of minors a felony offense. She
helped to establish "Angela's House," a safe house for
sexually exploited girls, and she has won awards for her outstanding
child advocacy.
Next, we will hear from Sergeant Gary O'Connor, now retired from
the Lower Gwynedd Township Police Department in Pennsylvania.
Sergeant O'Connor is a 33-year veteran of law enforcement and
has spent two decades as a trainer for the Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
And rounding
out the panel is Bradley Russ, Chief of Police, Portsmouth Police
Department in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Chief Russ was appointed
Chief of Police in 1999, after twenty years with the department.
He has provided training to thousands of child protection professionals,
and was a pioneer in the multi-disciplinary team approach to child
protection. Chief Russ was also instrumental in the creation of
New Hampshire's first Child Advocacy Center.
My thanks
to all of you for being here. Let us begin with Claude Allen.