With all the recent news about sexual child exploitation, I wanted to see how simple it would be to report suspected child sexual abuse, if I were so inclined to do so.

I simply searched how to report suspected child porn (using Bing.com). This is my report on that endeavor. I only discussed the top three results.

Warning: formatting probably sux. So the formatting police can go bite themselves.

A lot of these are my thoughts and reactions to some of the things I read. (It’s the best I can do to be social with myself and talk to, and answer, myself lol)

REPORTING TO NCMEC First I explored the NCMEC site, which touts the Cypertipline. (http://www.missingkids.org/CyberTipline))

I can report online or via telephone. I can report the following things: • instances of online enticement of children for sexual acts, • extra-familial child sexual molestation (what about intra-familial?) • child pornography, • child sex tourism, • child sex trafficking, • unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, • misleading domain names, • and misleading words or digital images on the Internet.

Once I report this information, I am curious at to what happens next.

According to your website, reports of children in imminent danger get first priority. What criteria do you use to determine whether a report meets this criteria? How is this priority handled differently than normal non-priority reports?

Secondly, after NCMEC reviews the cybertipline reports, the website states that this information is made available to law enforcement. Can you be more specific in what way the cybertipline report is provided to law enforcement?

For example, are local agencies (as related to abuse location) contacted directly? Or is the information communicated via a newsletter style release to the agencies? Or is the information available for law enforcement to reach in and take whenever they need/want to? Should the original reporting party also contact local law enforcement?

“More than 12.7 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation have been made to the CyberTipline between 1998 and June 2016.”

• ((Are reports available indicating the outcomes of the reported cases?))

• ((What number or percent of the cybertips result in action being taken by law enforcement?

• Who do I contact if I have further information about a situation I have already reported?))

• ((At what juncture of the process does project VIC and Thorn intercede?

• Are these tools used by law enforcement agencies after they have received a report from NCMEC?
• Or are these tools being used constantly on all reports (and not just specifically to solve a single, specific reported case)?
• Can you provide more specific information as to who is “searching” the CP repository for known photos/vids?
• Are these persons legally cleared to view CP?
• What is their certification/law/etc. that allows them to review CP without falling under the illegality of CP possession and viewing?))

The US DEPT of JUSTICE

According to the website (https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ceos/report-violations https://archive.is/tDPX7)), reporting CP is to be done as follows:

Child P0rnography • To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt, or production of child p0rnography, file a report on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)'s website at www.cybertipline.com[external link], or call 1-800-843-5678. Your report will be forwarded to a law enforcement agency for investigation and action. • You may also wish to report the incident to federal, state, or local law enforcement personnel.

(((WHAT? THE DOJ DIRECTS US TO NCMEC TO REPORT??)))

Child Sexual Abuse • Child sexual abuse matters are generally handled by local and state authorities, and not by the federal government.

(((DON’T CRIMES FALLING UNDER CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE GO HAND-IN-HAND WITH CP CRIMES?)))

Extraterritorial Sexual Exploitation of Children • To report an incident or suspicious situation that may involve the extraterritorial sexual exploitation of children, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) at 1-888-3737-888, or file a confidential online report at http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/national-human-trafficking-hotline/report-a-tip[external link]. Your report will be forwarded to a law enforcement agency for investigation and action. • You can also report an incident or suspicious situation to Immigration and Customs Enforcement/ Homeland Security Investigations (ICE) by calling the ICE hotline at 1-866-347-2423, or emailing ICE at [email protected]

(((NHTRC-I HAVEN’T HEARD MUCH ABOUT THIS ORGANIZATION. LET’S VISIT THEIR WEBSITE https://humantraffickinghotline.org/about-nhtrc/what-we-do )))

The National Hotline is not a government entity. We are not law enforcement, immigration or an investigative agency. We are not a direct victim service provider. We help individuals access direct services through our extensive referral network and we facilitate reporting of potential human trafficking tips to specialized law enforcement agencies. We support victims and survivors and their friends and family, law enforcement, service providers, government, practitioners and advocates in the human trafficking and related fields, community groups, and more who are looking to access the following services. For more information about the National Hotline's services, please view this resource. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a national, anti-trafficking hotline and resource center serving victims and survivors of human trafficking and the anti-trafficking community in the United States. The toll-free hotline is answered live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Callers can speak with the Hotline in English or Spanish, or in more than 200 additional languages using a 24-hour tele-interpreting service. When you call the Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, you can expect a specially trained and experienced Anti-Trafficking Hotline Advocate who will speak with you about your needs, your options, and the resources we have available to help. The National Hotline is operated by Polaris.

(((THE HOTLINE IS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY. IT IS JUST A REFERRAL NETWORK.--As I questioned the NCMEC as to what happens once a report is made, I apply those same questions to NHTRC)))

Reporting Obscenity: DOJ redirects to NCMEC Reporting Obscene material from TV or Radio: DOJ redirects to FCC. Reporting Obsene material send through the USPS: DOJ redirect to USPS Postal Inspectors. Reporting Prostitution of Children: DOJ redirects to NHTRC and NCMEC

How-To Journalistic Piece The story on this page, How to Report CP, was published in April 2016. It appears to be a journalist how-to piece. It, of course, mentions NCMEC. https://archive.is/pugiJ

If you encounter child pornography on the Internet, you can report the site address to your Internet Service Provider and your local or state FBI or Customs office listed in your telephone directory. You can also report child pornography online by forwarding the site address to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) atcybertipline.com. NCMEC will forward your report to the appropriate investigative agency for follow-up. To collect the address (or URL) of a child-pornography web site, click on the address in your browser's address bar to highlight (select) the address. Then hold down the Control key and click on the C key to copy the address. You can then paste the address to a text file or email message by holding down the Control key and hitting the V key. Porn In the Mail There is no free speech, First Amendment protection for child pornography. Pornographic pictures of children are not constitutionally protected speech. Such pictures are evidence of the sexual exploitation of children. If the pictures are sent through the U.S. Mail, it is a violation of federal law. If you have information about the use of the U.S. Postal Service to send child pornography, contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service listed in the white pages of your local telephone directory. More information may be obtained at the U.S. Postal Inspection Agency web page.

**Just an interesting tidbit from http://crime.about.com/od/sex/a/cst1.htm “” giving a distinction between different types of abusers-situational and preferential.

One form of this exploitation is the growing phenomenon of Child Sex Tourism (CST). Persons who travel from their own country to a foreign country to engage in a commercial sex act with a child commit CST. The crime is fueled by weak law enforcement, the Internet, ease of travel, and poverty. Tourists engaging in CST typically travel from their home countries to developing countries. Sex tourists from Japan, for example, travel to Thailand, and Americans tend to travel to Mexico or Central America.** “Situational abusers”** do not intentionally travel to seek sex with a child but take advantage of children sexually once they are in country. “Preferential child sex abusers” or pedophiles travel for the purpose of exploiting children.

@honeybee_ @cantsleepawink