[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8183 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8183

 To direct the Attorney General to convene a national working group to 
study proactive strategies and needed resources for the identification 
  and rescue of children from sexual exploitation and abuse, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2024

Ms. Spanberger (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Mr. Owens) introduced 
    the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Attorney General to convene a national working group to 
study proactive strategies and needed resources for the identification 
  and rescue of children from sexual exploitation and abuse, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Rescue Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The growing international trade in child sexual abuse 
        material creates demand and incentive for the sexual assault of 
        children throughout the United States.
            (2) United States law enforcement efforts to combat child 
        sexual exploitation have the potential to help multiple 
        distinct groups of victims, including--
                    (A) children depicted in child sexual abuse 
                material (CSAM) who are still being abused;
                    (B) children and adults whose victimization as a 
                child continues to be viewed and shared online; and
                    (C) children who are being sexually abused or 
                exploited by adults who could be interdicted while 
                accessing or sharing CSAM online.
            (3) In 2021, law enforcement investigative systems detected 
        more than 325,000 unique Internet Protocol addresses in the 
        United States seen distributing child sexual abuse material 
        across peer-to-peer file sharing networks.
            (4) A growing body of research, including academic studies, 
        analysis by the United States Sentencing Commission, and 
        findings by law enforcement polygraphers, indicates that a 
        significant percentage of majority of individuals possessing 
        and sharing CSAM are ``dual offenders'' who possess illegal 
        imagery and also commit contact offenses. In 2021, the United 
        States Sentencing Commission found that in fiscal year 2019, 48 
        percent of ``non-production child pornography offenders engaged 
        in aggravating sexual conduct prior to, or concurrently with'', 
        their current offense. Studies including Seto et al, the Butner 
        Redux, the OJJDP study, and Bourke et al Tactical Polygraph 
        study have found that between 50 and 80 percent of offenders 
        who possess CSAM are also committing contact sexual offenses 
        against children.
            (5) According to a 2018 study by the National Center for 
        Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), ``in cases involving a 
        single victim and single offender, actively traded cases were 
        associated with having prepubescent victims. Actively traded 
        cases were also associated with more egregious content in terms 
        of sexual activity, and more likely to involve familial 
        offenders, particularly nuclear family members''.
            (6) CyberTipline reports often lead to the rescue of 
        children through the successful investigation of offenders who 
        are not only exploiting children by circulating CSAM, but who 
        are also committing contact offenses. In 2020, 21,700,000 
        CyberTipline reports were submitted to NCMEC and approximately 
        288,000 CyberTipline reports were made available to the 61 
        Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) units across the 
        country.
            (7) United States law enforcement's ability to detect and 
        interdict online traffic in CSAM provides an opportunity to 
        locate sexual predators and rescue children through victim-
        centric investigations.
            (8) With inadequate resources, United States law 
        enforcement agencies are increasingly unable to adequately 
        respond to this rapidly growing number of CyberTips and other 
        investigative leads, a problem which also reduces the number of 
        proactive undercover investigations and education activities 
        they can conduct.
            (9) Investigations of these crimes are complicated by the 
        increasing prevalence of encryption and anonymizing services 
        available to offenders.

SEC. 3. UNITED STATES WORKING GROUP ON CHILDREN IN IMMINENT DANGER OF 
              SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION.

    (a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a national 
working group, to be known as the ``United States Working Group on 
Children in Imminent Danger of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation'' 
(hereinafter referred to as the ``Working Group''), to study victim-
centric policing strategies and resource needs to identify and rescue--
            (1) children in the United States who are visually depicted  
        in child sexual abuse material;
            (2) children in the United States who are victims of sexual 
        abuse by individuals who are engaged in an offense relating to 
        child sexual abuse materials; and
            (3) children located outside the United States who are 
        visually depicted  in child sexual abuse materials where the 
        perpetrators are in the United States.
    (b) Duties of the Working Group.--
            (1) Information request.--Not later than 30 days after the 
        establishment of the Working Group under subsection (a), the 
        Working Group shall solicit from each State, Tribal, or local 
        law enforcement agency the information necessary to develop the 
        estimates under paragraph (2).
            (2) Development of estimates.--The Working Group shall:
                    (A) Develop estimates of the total number of 
                individuals suspected with respect to child sexual 
                abuse material or other crimes involving sexual contact 
                with children in the United States, including those who 
                are--
                            (i) known to a law enforcement agency;
                            (ii) identified by law enforcement through 
                        proactive policing; or
                            (iii) reported to the CyberTipline of NCMEC 
                        (or any successor to the CyberTipline operated 
                        by NCMEC).
                    (B) Develop estimates of the total number of child 
                victims of child sexual abuse in the United States who 
                could be located and protected from further abuse 
                through the apprehension of suspects described under 
                subparagraph (A).
                    (C) Develop recommendations of the funding, 
                resources, and proactive and reactive strategies 
                necessary for law enforcement agencies to successfully 
                identify, locate, and protect child victims--
                            (i) described in subparagraph (B); and
                            (ii) who appear in child sexual abuse 
                        material known to a law enforcement agency or 
                        NCMEC.
                    (D) Develop or obtain estimates of the number of 
                child sexual abuse reports made annually to law 
                enforcement agencies and to State, Tribal, and local 
                child protective services, broken out by locality and 
                relationship between victim and offender, including 
                adults in a position of trust or authority.
                    (E) Develop recommendations for strategies, best 
                practices, and resources that could be used by law 
                enforcement agencies to determine whether offenders 
                alleged to have committed a crime involving sexual 
                contact should also be investigated for potential child 
                sexual abuse material crimes.
                    (F) Develop recommendations of victim-centric and 
                proactive policing strategies, international 
                collaboration, and resource needs to apprehend 
                offenders in the United States who are engaged in 
                offenses related to children as described in subsection 
                (a)(3).
                    (G) Develop estimates of, or compile data solicited 
                under paragraph (1)--
                            (i) the number of adults who were arrested 
                        by law enforcement agencies during the 5-year 
                        period preceding the date of enactment of this 
                        Act, by year, for offenses or violations 
                        described in subparagraphs (A) through (D);
                            (ii) the number of adults who were 
                        prosecuted at the State, Tribal, or Federal 
                        level during the 5-year period preceding the 
                        date of the enactment of the Act, by year, for 
                        offenses described in subparagraphs (A) through 
                        (D); and
                            (iii) the number of children who are 
                        unidentified victims of child sexual abuse 
                        material described in subparagraph (C)(ii).
                    (H) Analyze and summarize common reasons why 
                investigations of reports of child sexual abuse or 
                exploitation do not go forward.
                    (I) Develop guidance for Internet Crimes Against 
                Children Task Forces to adopt a prioritization 
                framework with respect to the investigation and 
                prosecution of all child sexual abuse and exploitation, 
                including prioritizing investigating individuals using 
                encryption or anonymization.
                    (J) Develop guidance on the Attorney General's 
                response to technology companies that refuse to comply 
                with lawful requests for information related to 
                offenders who use virtual private networks.
                    (K) Evaluate the current duties and 
                responsibilities of ICAC Task Forces pursuant to 
                section 21114 of title 34, United States Code, 
                including on--
                            (i) workloads; and
                            (ii) their ability to pursue investigations 
                        which are most likely to result in the 
                        identification of offenders described in 
                        subparagraph (A) and children described in 
                        subparagraph (B).
            (3) Report.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 365 days after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall 
                submit to the Attorney General, the Committee on the 
                Judiciary of the Senate, the Committee on 
                Appropriations of the Senate, the Committee on the 
                Judiciary of the House of Representatives, and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives, a report that contains--
                            (i) a detailed statement of the findings 
                        and conclusions of the Working Group, together 
                        with recommendations for legislation; and
                            (ii) a summary of the support, documents, 
                        and witnesses provided by the Attorney General 
                        to the Working Group.
                    (B) Material included.--A majority vote of the 
                members of the Working Group shall determine the 
                findings, conclusions, and recommendations included in 
                the report submitted under subparagraph (A).
                    (C) Documentation of numerical edits.--If for any 
                reason the Working Group is unable to develop the 
                estimates under paragraph (2), the Working Group shall 
                in the report under this paragraph document the reasons 
                such estimates could not be developed and make 
                recommendations toward developing such estimates.
    (c) Members of the Working Group.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) Attorney general discretion.--The Working Group 
                shall be composed of representatives of Federal 
                departments and agencies, law enforcement agencies, 
                Tribal governmental agencies, nongovernmental 
                organizations, and other subject matter experts as the 
                Attorney General determines appropriate.
                    (B) Specified members.--The Attorney General shall 
                appoint representatives of the following agencies and 
                nongovernmental organizations to the Working Group:
                            (i) Three representatives from State or 
                        unit of local government who have received a 
                        grant from the Internet Crimes Against Children 
                        Task Force program with extensive, direct 
                        experience conducting both CyberTipline 
                        investigations and proactive, online undercover 
                        investigations, including the use of 
                        specialized tools for peer-to-peer 
                        investigations.
                            (ii) The Chief or Deputy Chief of the Child 
                        Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the 
                        Criminal Division of the Department of Justice.
                            (iii) The National Coordinator for Child 
                        Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction of the 
                        Department of Justice.
                            (iv) A representative of the Behavioral 
                        Analysis Unit of the United States Marshals 
                        Service with subject matter expertise in child 
                        exploitation offenders who also commit contact 
                        offenses.
                            (v) A special agent of Homeland Security 
                        Investigations with expertise in both 
                        CyberTipline investigations and proactive 
                        online investigations.
                            (vi) A subject matter expert within 
                        Homeland Security Investigations with expertise 
                        in child victim identification.
                            (vii) A special agent of the Federal Bureau 
                        of Investigation with expertise in both 
                        CyberTipline investigations and proactive 
                        online investigations and the use of polygraphs 
                        in child sexual abuse material investigations.
                            (viii) A representative from the National 
                        Children's Alliance with expertise in child 
                        exploitation and child victim forensic 
                        interviewing.
                            (ix) A special agent of the United States 
                        Secret Service with expertise in investigations 
                        of child sexual abuse material or polygraphs of 
                        child sexual exploitation suspects.
                            (x) A Postal Inspector at the United States 
                        Postal Inspection Service with expertise in 
                        child sexual abuse material investigations.
                            (xi) A representative from the National 
                        District Attorney's Association.
                            (xii) A representative from the academic 
                        community with expertise in developing 
                        technology that can proactively detect the 
                        distribution of child sexual abuse material 
                        online.
                            (xiii) A representative of the Office of 
                        Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention 
                        with expertise in available data sources and 
                        methods for developing prevalence estimates 
                        using direct and indirect methods of 
                        estimation.
                            (xiv) A representative of the Executive 
                        Office of the United States Attorney.
                            (xv) A recently retired Internet Crimes 
                        Against Children Task Force Commander.
                            (xvi) A representative from National Child 
                        Protection Task Force.
                            (xvii) Representatives from the Department 
                        of Justice Office of Tribal Justice and the 
                        Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice 
                        Services.
                            (xviii) A representative of the Rape, Abuse 
                        & Incest National Network with subject matter 
                        expertise on child sexual exploitation and 
                        abuse.
                            (xix) A representative of the International 
                        Justice Mission with subject matter expertise 
                        on cross-border, live-streamed child sexual 
                        abuse.
                    (C) Technical assistance.--The Working Group shall 
                establish a Technical Assistance Board to provide 
                guidance and technical assistance to the Working Group, 
                composed of the following:
                            (i) A representative from the ICAC Child 
                        Online Protection System (ICACCOPS) at the 
                        National Criminal Justice Training Center with 
                        subject matter expertise on child sexual 
                        exploitation and abuse investigations.
                            (ii) A representative from the Child Rescue 
                        Coalition with subject matter expertise on the 
                        Child Protection System and other child sexual 
                        exploitation and abuse investigations.
                            (iii) A representative from the National 
                        Center for Missing and Exploited Children with 
                        subject matter expertise on child sexual 
                        exploitation and abuse and child victim 
                        identification.
                The Working Group shall consult with the members of the 
                Technical Assistance Board throughout the execution of 
                its duties under subsection (b). Representatives of the 
                Technical Assistance Board under paragraph (1) from 
                each organization shall have the right to be present at 
                each Working Group meeting.
            (2) Cessation of membership.--If an individual is appointed 
        to the Working Group based on membership in an agency or 
        organization and the individual ceases to be a member of that 
        agency or organization, the individual shall cease to be a 
        member of the Working Group on the date on which the member 
        ceases to be a member of the agency or organization.
            (3) Terms.--A member of the Working Group shall be 
        appointed for the life of the Working Group.
            (4) Vacancies.--
                    (A) Vacancy before expiration of term.--A member 
                appointed to the Working Group to fill a vacancy 
                occurring before the expiration of the term for which 
                the member's predecessor was appointed shall be 
                appointed only for the remainder of that term.
                    (B) Manner of appointment.--A vacancy in the 
                Working Group shall be filled in the manner in which 
                the original appointment was made.
            (5) Compensation.--A member of the Working Group shall 
        serve without pay.
            (6) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Working Group 
        shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold 
        hearings.
            (7) Chairperson.--The Chairperson of the Working Group 
        shall be appointed by the Attorney General from the membership 
        of the Working Group.
            (8) Meetings.--The Working Group shall hold virtual 
        meetings monthly, and any subgroup of the Working Group shall 
        hold additional meetings as necessary.
    (d) Staff of Working Group; Experts and Consultants.--
            (1) Staff.--The Chairperson of the Working Group may 
        appoint and fix the pay of additional personnel as the 
        Chairperson considers appropriate.
            (2) Experts and consultants.--The Chairperson of the 
        Working Group may procure temporary and intermittent services 
        under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Detailees.--Upon request of the Chairperson of the 
        Working Group, the head of any Federal department or agency may 
        detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the personnel of that 
        department or agency to the Working Group to assist in carrying 
        out the duties of the Working Group under this Act.
    (e) Powers of the Working Group.--
            (1) Subpoena power.--
                    (A) By working group.--The Working may subpoena 
                witnesses and records related to the purposes of this 
                Act.
                    (B) Enforcement.--The district courts of the United 
                States have jurisdiction to enforce a subpoena issued 
                under this section. Trial is in the district in which 
                the proceeding is conducted. The court may punish a 
                refusal to obey a subpoena as a contempt of court.
            (2) Hearings and sessions.--
                    (A) In general.--The Working Group may, for the 
                purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit 
                and act at times and places, take testimony, and 
                receive evidence as the Working Group considers 
                appropriate.
                    (B) Witnesses.--The Working Group may administer 
                oaths or affirmations to witnesses appearing before the 
                Working Group.
            (3) Powers of members and agents.--Any member or agent of 
        the Working Group may, if authorized by the Chairperson, take 
        any action that the Working Group is authorized to take under 
        this Section, including requesting information.
            (4) Obtaining official information.--
                    (A) United states agencies and departments.--
                            (i) In general.--The Working Group may 
                        secure directly from any department or agency 
                        of the United States information necessary to 
                        enable the Working Group to carry out this Act.
                            (ii) Furnishing information.--Upon request 
                        of the Chairperson of the Working Group for 
                        information solicited pursuant to subsection 
                        (b), the head of the department or agency of 
                        the United States shall furnish that 
                        information to the Working Group.
                    (B) State and local information.--
                            (i) In general.--The Working Group may 
                        obtain and review information and data from 
                        State and local departments and agencies for 
                        purposes of carrying out this Act.
                            (ii) Costs.--The Working Group shall pay 
                        reasonable costs to state and local agencies 
                        for records obtained pursuant to subsection 
                        (b).
            (5) Clearance for members of working group.--In the case 
        that the Working Group interacts with controlled unclassified 
        information, the Working Group shall follow all laws, 
        regulations, and government-wide policies with respect to such 
        information.
    (f) Termination of Working Group.--
            (1) In general.--The Working Group shall terminate 120 days 
        after submission of the report under section 9, unless the 
        Attorney General determines that such termination is not 
        appropriate.
            (2) Reconvening group.--If the Working Group terminates 
        under subsection (a), the Attorney General may reconvene the 
        Working Group in accordance with this Act. If the Attorney 
        General reconvenes the Working Group, the Working Group shall 
        be convened in accordance with this section. The Attorney 
        General may re-appoint members to the Working Group who served 
        a previous term if the Working Group is reconvened.
    (g) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Child.--The term ``child'' means any individual under 
        the age of eighteen years.
            (2) Child sexual abuse material.--The term ``child sexual 
        abuse material'' shall have the meaning given the term ``child 
        pornography'' in section 2256 of title 18, United States Code.
            (3) Crime involving sexual contact.--The term ``crime 
        involving sexual contact'' means--
                    (A) an offense involving a child under chapter 109A 
                of title 18, United States Code, or any attempt or 
                conspiracy to commit such an offense; or
                    (B) an offense involving a child under a State or 
                Tribal statute that is similar to a provision described 
                in subparagraph (A).
            (4) Known to law enforcement.--The term ``known to law 
        enforcement'' means that a Federal, State, Tribal, or local law 
        enforcement agency has evidence of a crime that can be 
        attributed to a person or location, including an email address, 
        Internet Protocol address, screen name, universally unique 
        identifier, phone number, or other information attributable to 
        that person or location.
            (5) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement 
        agency'' means an agency of the Federal Government, a State, a 
        political subdivision of a State, or a federally recognized 
        tribe that is authorized by law to supervise the prevention, 
        detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of 
        criminal law.
            (6) NCMEC.--The term ``NCMEC'' means the National Center 
        for Missing & Exploited Children.
            (7) Proactive policing.--The term ``proactive policing'' 
        means a covert or undercover investigation conducted by a law 
        enforcement agency that involves a person or organization that 
        the law enforcement agency believes is engaging or has engaged 
        in an offense or violation relating to child sexual abuse, 
        child sexual abuse material, child exploitation, or child sex 
        trafficking crimes.
            (8) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United 
        States.
            (9) Victim-centric.--The term ``victim-centric'' refers to 
        the systematic focus on the needs and concerns of a victim to 
        ensure that services are delivered in a compassionate, 
        sensitive, non-judgmental, and culturally considerate manner 
        that seeks to minimize retraumatization associated with the 
        criminal justice process by providing the support of victim 
        advocates and service providers, empowering victims as engaged 
        participants in the process, and providing victims an 
        opportunity to play a role in seeing their abusers brought to 
        justice.
            (10) United states.--The term ``United States'' means the 
        50 States of the United States of America and the District of 
        Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin 
        Islands, American Samoa, Wake Island, Midway Islands, Kingman 
        Reef, Johnston Atoll, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 
        other trust territory or possession of the United States.
                                 <all>