Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency
Headline: Fact Sheet: How DHS is Combating Child Exploitation and Abuse
very day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leads the fight against online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA)
As part of the Department’s critical mission to combat crimes of exploitation and protect victims, we investigate these abhorrent crimes, spread awareness, collaborate with interagency and international partners, and expand our reach to ensure children are safe and protected
“At the Department of Homeland Security, our mission is to protect the American people, and that includes protecting our children
The internet has completely changed how we connect, but it has also opened new doors for predators who want to harm our kids,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem
“It’s a topic that should unite all of us, and I appreciate the opportunity to highlight the work of Homeland Security Investigations and all that they do to combat online child exploitation
”
DHS battles online CSEA using all available tools and resources department-wide, emphasizing its commitment to the Department’s homeland security mission to “Combat Crimes of Exploitation and Protect Victims
” In recognition of President Trump’s proclamation designating April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, DHS is committed to raising awareness of these heinous crimes, preventing child exploitation and abuse, and bringing perpetrators to justice
As part of the Department’s ongoing work in this area, today DHS is celebrating the one-year anniversary of Know2Protect, the U
S
government’s first prevention and awareness campaign to combat online CSEA
Between April 2024 and February 2025:
DHS launched Know2Protect®, a first of its kind national public awareness campaign to combat online CSEA
The campaign enhances the Department’s capabilities to combat online CSEA by partnering with the private sector to deliver its awareness messaging and coordinating federal efforts to confront and prevent this growing epidemic
The Department has successfully entered into over 20 Know2Protect® Memoranda of Understanding with leading technology companies, national and international sports leagues, youth-serving organizations and nonprofits, and other private sector partners to raise awareness of this crime and help children stay safer online
DHS increased the footprint of law enforcement partners at the DHS Cyber Crimes Center (C3) to enhance coordination across all DHS agencies and offices to combat cyber-related crimes and further the Department’s mission to combat online CSEA
Several partners are collocated and work together every day at the DHS C3, including the United States Secret Service (USSS), U
S
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the United States Marshals Service (USMS), U
S
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS)
The Blue Campaign, part of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, hosted 170 national trainings on the indicators of forced labor and sex trafficking and how to report these crimes with more than 24,000 participants from the federal government, non-governmental organizations, law enforcement, and other external stakeholders
DHS identified and rescued 1,567 child victims of online CSEA through the work of HSI and made 4,460 arrests for crimes involving online CSEA
Learn more in the U
S
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report
HSI and ERO have instituted a collaborative operational initiative to locate unaccompanied alien children (UAC) released from the care and custody of the U
S
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS-ORR)
The UAC initiative identifies and locates UACs to ensure immigration obligations are met, and investigate any potential indicators of forced labor, sex trafficking, or other exploitation
To accomplish this work, DHS coordinates with law enforcement at home and abroad to enforce and uphold our laws, protects victims with a victim-centered approach that prioritizes dignity and respect, and works to stop this heinous crime through public education and outreach
Enforcing Our Laws
DHS works with domestic and international partners to enforce and uphold the laws that protect children from abuse
The Department works collaboratively with Department of Justice prosecutors, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U
S Marshals, INTERPOL, Europol, and other international law enforcement partners to arrest and prosecute perpetrators
DHS increased U
S
government and law enforcement efforts to combat financial sextortion, a crime targeting children and teens by coercing them into sending explicit images online and extorting them for money
From FY22 to FY24, HSI received more than 4,900 CyberTipline reports related to sextortion predators from Côte dʼIvoire
From these reports, 652 children have been identified and supported by HSI
In an effort to combat this crime, HSI sent special agents to Côte d’Ivoire to provide online CSEA training to local law enforcement and supported local law enforcement efforts in locating and apprehending offenders residing there
The CCHT works alongside the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to identify and pursue the recovery of underage victims of sex trafficking
The CCHT emphasizes victim identification operations which allows HSI field offices to rescue these children while implementing a victim centered approach
The CCHT supports HSI field operations throughout the investigation and prosecution of these traffickers and their networks
DHS partnered with 61 regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces to investigate people involved in the online victimization of children, including those who produce, receive, distribute and/or possess child sexual abuse material, or who engage in online sexual enticement of children
DHS researched and developed modern tools and technologies that equip domestic and international law enforcement partners with advanced forensic capabilities to accomplish their mission to identify victims and apprehend child sexual abusers
The Science and Technology Directorate developed StreamView, a digital forensics and data analytics tool designed to assist law enforcement in effectively addressing child exploitation cases
By aggregating, organizing, and analyzing investigative leads, StreamView enables investigators to determine crime locations, identify victims, and bring perpetrators to justice more efficiently
Since May 2023, StreamView has identified and rescued over 133 child and adult victims, dismantled more than 29 criminal networks, generated over 600 leads and referrals, and arrested of over 120 criminal actors
The platform has also contributed to 10 convictions and 8 life sentences, significantly improving Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) investigations
The U
S
Secret Service provides forensic, technical, and investigative assistance to NCMEC and state/local/tribal law enforcement in cases involving missing and exploited children
Support includes polygraph examinations, age progression/regression, composite sketches, audio/image/video enhancement, speaker identification/recognition, questioned document analysis, fingerprint development and examination, geospatial information mapping system, digital forensics
U
S
Customs and Border Protection screens all undocumented unaccompanied children and other arriving minors for indicators of abuse or exploitation, human trafficking, extraterritorial sexual exploitation of children, sexual predators involved in crimes of exploitation, and all suspected criminal cases are referred to HSI
Transportation Security Administration (INV) Special Agent Polygraph Examiners provide their expertise to advance investigative and prosecutorial efforts in support of child sexual exploitation investigations
INV developed evidence of child sexual exploitation and/or abuse in 15 criminal specific and pre-employment examinations
INV Special Agent Polygraph Examiners, assigned to its Special Operations Division, conduct examinations on behalf of INV, HSI, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, federal and local law enforcement agencies
In a case involving a child victim, an INV Special Agent Polygraph Examiner administered a specific issue polygraph examination, which resulted in the arrest of an individual attempting to solicit a child and identified six other victims ranging in age from 5-16 years of age
Protecting and Supporting Victims
The Angel Watch Center (AWC) within DHS C3 proactively identifies U
S
persons traveling abroad who have been convicted of sexual crimes against children
By using travel related information and publicly available state sex offender registries, the AWC notifies destination countries of these individuals’ pending arrivals to help prevent potential child sex tourism and other forms of exploitation
The HSI AWC sent over 4,800 travel notifications to foreign governments on convicted, registered U
S
child sex offenders, leading to over 900 denials of entry
These efforts build international cooperation to ensure all countries are safe from sexual predators
In July 2023, HSI launched the first U
S
-based international victim identification surge, “Operation Renewed Hope (ORH)
” To date, there have been three yearly operations: ORHI, ORHII, and ORHIII, to identify and rescue child victims of online exploitation
In these operations, HSI and its domestic and international partners work on child sexual abuse material contained in HSI holdings, teams expertly comb through and analyze unidentified series of child sexual abuse material to identify children and offenders and create lead packages for appropriate investigative partners in furtherance of associated law enforcement actions
In the Spring of 2025, HSI conducted ORHIII, which resulted in 386 probable identifications and 56 victims who have been identified and rescued
Once victims of child exploitation are identified and/or rescued, the HSI Victim Assistance Program (VAP) supports them and their non-offending caretaker(s) by using highly trained forensic interview specialists to conduct victim-centered and trauma-informed forensic interviews
In addition, VAP’s victim assistance specialists provide resources to victims such as crisis intervention, referrals for short and long term medical and/or mental health care and contact information for local social service programs and agencies to assist in the healing process
HSI provides short-term immigration protections to human trafficking victims, including victims of child sex trafficking
U
S
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) grants immigration benefits to eligible child victims of human trafficking, abuse, and other crimes, including T nonimmigrant status, U nonimmigrant status, and immigrant classification under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
Educating and Increasing Public Awareness
The Know2Protect® campaign has garnered over 518 million impressions across various media platforms, in large part due to donated advertising from signed partners and other partner activations
The top visited pages on Know2Protect
gov are Take Action, How2Report, and Know the Threats
Project iGuardian is the official in-person educational program of the Know2Protect campaign
Led by HSI, Project iGuardian offers in-person presentations designed to inform children, teens, parents, and trusted adults on the threat of online CSEA, how to implement preventive strategies, and report suspected abuse to law enforcement
Since the start of FY24, more than 400 special agents have been trained to give Project iGuardian presentations
In FY24, HSI gave more than 1,100 presentations to more than 122,000 children, teens, parents, and teachers domestically and internationally
These presentations yielded more than 75 victim disclosures and 77 investigative leads for online CSEA
So far in FY 25, HSI has given more than 760 iGuardian presentations to over 69,000 children and adults, which have yielded more than 41 victim disclosures and 13 investigative leads
In April 2024, the Blue Campaign announced a partnership with rideshare company Lyft to train their drivers, who interact with millions of riders per year, on how to recognize indicators of human trafficking among their passengers, and how to report it
From July to September 2024, Blue Campaign collaborated with NCMEC to promote human trafficking awareness across various social media platforms, targeting both minors and those who work with minors
The campaign garnered more than 2 million impressions on Twitch, 14 million on Facebook, 3million on Snapchat, and 4 million through display ads
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) covers child sexual exploitation and abuse awareness in its Human Trafficking lesson plan
In FY2024, FLETC trained nearly 4,400 individuals in human trafficking awareness
USSS Childhood Smart Program Ambassadors educated more than 112,000 children, parents, and teachers across 31 states and the District of Columbia about how to prevent online child sexual exploitation and child abduction
The Childhood Smart Program provides age-appropriate presentations to children as young as five as well as to adults
Presentations focus on internet and personal safety as well as other topics such as social media etiquette and cyber bullying
The HSI Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center trained more than 800 individuals across the interagency on female genital mutilation or cutting, a severe form of child abuse and a crime under federal law when done to individuals under the age of 18
The Blue Campaign Blue Lightning Initiative, part of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, trained more than 260,000 aviation personnel to identify potential traffickers and victims of forced labor and sex trafficking, to include child sex trafficking, and report their suspicions to law enforcement in FY 2023
The Initiative added 31 new partners this past year, raising its total partners to 136 aviation industry organizations, including its first two official international partners
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency administers SchoolSafety
gov, an interagency website that includes information, guidance and resources on a range of school safety topics
SchoolSafety
gov includes a child exploitation section that houses more than 60 resources to help school communities identify, prevent and respond to child exploitation
Since its launch in January 2023, child exploitation section has been viewed more than 35,600 times
What You Can Do and Resources Available
Visit www
Know2Protect
gov to access free resources to understand the threats of online CSEA and learn preventative strategies to stop future victimization
Request an educational presentation tailored for school children and trusted adults:
Visit SchoolSafety
gov for resources to help educators, school leaders, parents, and school personnel identify, prevent, and respond to child exploitation
Learn more from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Visit https://www
dhs
gov/blue-campaign for resources about how to prevent, identify and report human trafficking
How to report suspected online child sexual exploitation and abuse in the United States:
Contact your local, state, campus, or tribal law enforcement officials directly
Call 911 in an emergency
If you suspect a child has been abducted or faces imminent danger, contact your local police and the NCMEC tip line at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)
If you suspect a child might be a victim of online child sexual exploitation, call the HSI Tip Line at 1-866-347-2423 and report it to NCMEC’s CyberTipline
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