Statement of
Chris Swecker
Assistant Director, Criminal
Investigative Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Before the
Commission on Security and
Cooperation in Europe
United States Helsinki
Commission
June 7, 2005
Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and members
of the Commission. I appreciate the opportunity
to speak before you today about the FBI’s
efforts to address the exploitation of children
and others in the United States.
According to a study by the University
of Pennsylvania, a child is defined as any male
or female under the age of 18, and with that,
they have detailed there are approximately
300,000 youth currently at risk of becoming
victims of commercial and sexual exploitation.
Other organizations have estimated this number
is as high as 800,000.
We do not currently have a definitive
number for the serious problem of child
prostitution itself, although judges, police,
and outreach workers report both the increase in
the numbers and a decrease in the ages of the
children involved. Unfortunately, we know of no
studies to date that specifically and primarily
address juvenile prostitution. Accurately
quantifying the existing problem of victimized
children (as opposed to “at risk”) is difficult
for a variety of reasons. For example, in the
case of children exploited through prostitution,
many of the prostituted youth are charged with
some other offenses such as substance abuse;
thus data that relies on crime reports masks the
true prevalence of the problem.
According to the 2002 National Incidence
Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and
Throwaway Children (NISMART II), 1.6 million
children are estimated to run away from home
each year, and it is estimated that
approximately 40,000 of those children will have
some type of involvement in or brush with sexual
trafficking. Many of these victims are abandoned
or neglected children who are usually not
reported as missing to law enforcement or are
runaways from their homes or the foster care
system. Also, when arrested, many juvenile
prostitutes have fraudulent identification and
social security cards and are reluctant to help
authorities determine their true age and
identity. In addition, sexual trafficking,
particularly of children, continues to move even
further underground. With the increasing use of
pagers, cell phones, and the Internet, victims
are even less visible today than they were in
the past.
The average age of a child first used in
prostitution is 11 to 14, with some as young as
9 years of age. Children used in prostitution
consist of both male and female victims and come
from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. A
large percentage of these children left home
because of physical, sexual, and psychological
abuse. These children often have low self-esteem
and are extremely vulnerable. These runaways
become a prime target for sex offenders,
pornographers, and pimps. Prostitution is a
continuation of the victim's sexual
exploitation, not the beginning. According to
U.S. law and international agreements, children
can never consent to prostitution; it is always
exploitation.
A review of current and historical
intelligence regarding such criminal enterprises
reveals juveniles are victims of trafficking for
the purpose of prostitution in both major
metropolitan areas as well as smaller
communities. Typically, they are transported to
lucrative venues including cities hosting major
sporting or public events. These criminal
enterprises are highly mobile and travel
established routes throughout the United States.
They frequently communicate with each other in
order to set pricing for services; they identify
new locations deemed profitable as well as
discuss locations where law enforcement is
active or lax. These criminal enterprises
typically engage in multiple criminal activities
and have extensive supporting networks. For
example, approximately 55 percent of street
gangs are involved to some degree in
prostitution.
In response to this growing problem, the
FBI's Criminal Investigative Division/Violent
Crimes Section, in conjunction with both the
Department of Justice/Child Exploitation and
Obscenity Section and the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC),
implemented a National Initiative named
Innocence Lost in June of 2003 to address child
prostitution in the United States. Together, we
developed a multi-faceted strategy to train
personnel; establish task forces; share
intelligence concerning pimps, juveniles used in
prostitution, and criminal enterprises; and
support long-term investigations with the
requisite personnel and financial resources. An
intensive curriculum was developed for a week
long training class entitled Protecting Victims
of Child Prostitution which was held at and
sponsored by the NCMEC. This program brings
state and federal law enforcement agencies,
prosecutors, and social service providers from
one city to the National Center where the group
is trained together. This concept is designed to
cultivate cooperation, partnership, and an
effective integration between the critical
enforcement entities in each city. To date, a
total of 263 individuals have received this
training.
The Criminal Investigative Division
reviews and analyzes all intelligence received
by the NCMEC thru their Intake and CyberTip
reports. This information is in turn
disseminated to the appropriate field offices.
All NCMEC Intake and CyberTip Reports are
maintained in the FBI's Automated Case System
database to provide electronic access to field
offices. In addition, the Criminal Investigative
Division provides extensive on-site analytical
support to pending large-scale child
prostitution investigations, including
Intelligence Assessments, link charts, cross
case analyses, and to support the field office.
Based upon an initial review of the
available intelligence on child prostitution
collected from ongoing investigations, human
source information, information provided by
numerous local and state law enforcement
agencies, and the NCMEC, 14 FBI field offices
were identified as having the highest incidence
of children used in prostitution. The 14 FBI
offices identified were: Atlanta, Chicago,
Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami,
Minneapolis, New York, San Diego, San Francisco,
St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.
Task forces or working groups were
subsequently established in Chicago, Dallas,
Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston,
Indianapolis, Miami, Newark, New York, Oklahoma
City, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, and
Washington, D.C. Efforts are ongoing to
establish task forces and/or working groups in
all field offices in which our intelligence
supports a significant investigative increase
into the exploitation of children whom are
engaged in prostitution. According to the FBI’s
Violent Crimes Section, in June of 2003 all
field offices were advised that crimes against
children, and specifically the prostitution of
children, were a high priority within the
Violent Crimes Program, and were directed to
determine whether their divisions had a
significant child prostitution problem and
address it with the appropriate resources. These
offices were further directed to focus their
efforts on the identification, investigation,
and prosecution of criminal enterprises,
including gangs, involved in child prostitution.
Sex traffickers or pimps debriefed by the FBI
indicate approximately 20-40 percent of the
victims forced/recruited into prostitution are
juveniles. As of today, 25 field offices are
investigating child prostitution matters in
support of the Innocence Lost National
Initiative.
The Enterprise Theory of Investigation
is the standard investigative model the FBI
employs in these cases. This approach requires
the investigation be intelligence driven, seeks
to discover the full scope of the criminal
organization and its member activities, and
requires strategic planning and a long-term
focus. Evidence must be gathered that identifies
the predicate crimes of the organization,
demonstrates the existence and structure of the
organization, identifies the individuals
commanding and controlling the organization, and
dismantles the organizations through successful
prosecution of its members and seizing the
economic resources of the enterprise. These
investigations are manpower intensive and make
use of sophisticated investigative techniques.
During FY 2004, the Criminal
Investigative Division initiated 67 Innocence
Lost investigations which led to 118 arrests, 26
indictments, and the conviction of 22 pimps and
madams. To date in FY 2005, 31 additional cases
were opened and there have been 163 arrests,
eight complaints, 13 indictments, and 10
convictions. Since the inception of Innocence
Lost, 80 children have been recovered as a
result of this national initiative.
Two successful investigations and
prosecutions highlight the impact of the
Innocence Lost National Initiative. The Oklahoma
City Division conducted a large-scale child
prostitution investigation focused on the
interstate prostitution of children at truck
stops and through call services nationwide in an
investigation named, STORMY NIGHTS. A total of
11 federal arrest warrants and three federal
search warrants were executed in and around the
Oklahoma City area. The case identified a total
of 48 pimps, 24 of which exploited juveniles.
Sixteen juveniles were recovered as a result of
this case. The people used in prostitution were
recruited from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and
traveled to truck stops and known prostitution
areas in Denver, Colorado; Miami, Florida; and
Houston and Dallas, Texas. Nine defendants were
charged with sex trafficking of minors and
transporting juveniles for use in prostitution.
Eight defendants pleaded guilty and a ninth was
convicted at trial in 2005. Sentenced defendants
have received prison terms of up to 210 months.
In United States v. Curtis
(District of Columbia), on December 3, 2004, a
seven-count indictment was returned charging
Carlos Curtis with sex trafficking, transporting
a minor in interstate commerce for prostitution,
and production of child pornography. Curtis and
other associates recruited a 12-year-old girl in
Times Square in New York and brought her to a
hotel room in Brooklyn, where he photographed
the girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct
with an adult used as in prostitution. A
superseding indictment was returned March 31,
2004 charging Curtis with obstruction of justice
as a result of his efforts to get the victim to
change her testimony at trial. Following a
two-week jury trial, Curtis was convicted on
July 2, 2004. He faces up to life imprisonment.
Sentencing has been continued to 2005 with no
date set.
In addition to investigating those who
exploit children, the FBI, through its Office of
Victim Assistance, attempts to assist child
victims of prostitution in FBI investigations.
With the launch of the Innocence Lost initiative
the FBI task forces have encountered significant
problems in identifying and providing services
for these victims. Juveniles who become involved
in sexual trafficking face a myriad of obstacles
and enormous needs if they want to leave that
life, including very basic needs such as safe
housing, subsistence, and schooling. In
addition, they may need drug treatment, medical
treatment, and mental health services. They may
have problems related to victimization prior to
their life on the streets. Most cannot return to
their family of origin, so they need help to
prepare for independent living. Some of the
needs identified by the FBI through involvement
in prior cases include:
- Safe housing away from traffickers and
their associates while their cases moves through
the system.
- Medical care and substance abuse
treatment.
- A range of placement options including
locked facilities. Our experience shows us that
the majority of the juveniles placed in
un-locked treatment facilities will walk away or
runaway within a very short period of time. In
many instances they runaway, leaving the state
and we never find them again. Many return to the
individuals who exploit them because they have
so few options.
- Specialized mental health treatments for
these victims, since traditional counseling
modalities have little success with these
victims.
- Assistance with transportation to access
specialized programs and with local
transportation to medical services, counseling,
interviews, and court.
- Life skills and vocational training.
- New Social Security numbers, since
traffickers often keep birth certificates,
drivers’ licenses, and Social Security cards of
the victims and use these documents to track
their whereabouts when they flee.
- Better training for law enforcement
officers, mental health providers, juvenile
justice officials, and child protective services
workers on the dynamics of sexual trafficking
and needs of victims.
The FBI’s Civil Rights Program also
addresses International Trafficking of persons;
elements of which occur within the United
States. International Trafficking primarily
involving aliens, immigrants, and other
economically disadvantaged individuals,
particularly women and children. Most of these
cases involve immigrants or aliens transported
into the United States, who are forced to work
in poor, unsafe conditions as prostitutes,
domestic servants, migrant farm workers,
laborers, or employees in restaurants and small
retail shops. The rate of immigrants who fail to
report these types of crimes is underreported,
because they fear deportation or are afraid of
violent retaliation against themselves or their
families.
In June of 2004, the FBI, in cooperation
with other local, state, and federal law
enforcement agencies, to include Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border
Protection (CBP), and victim-based national
advocacy groups began an Involuntary Servitude
and Slavery/Trafficking in Persons Initiative to
more aggressively combat this problem. As a
result of this initiative, the FBI is now
engaged in 21 Human Trafficking working groups
around the country.
In addition, the National Hispanic Sex
Trafficking Initiative was created by the FBI on
December 8, 2004, in order to combat the sex
traffickers who are bringing increasing numbers
of female victims into the U.S. primarily from
or via Mexico and Central and South America. A
primary focus of this initiative is the
collection, analysis, and dissemination of
intelligence from all pending and recently
closed cases targeting Hispanics involved in sex
trafficking to identify major players,
organizations, and locations of Human
Trafficking activities and to determine the
degree of communication, coordination, and/or
connection between these trafficking groups.
Major United States cities such as
Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego, Charlotte,
Phoenix, New York, and eleven additional cities
will serve as the focal points of the FBI’s
intelligence collection, analysis, and
assessments. The resulting intelligence will be
used to further drive and focus our
investigative efforts in this area.
As a result of this awareness, these
initiatives and increased emphasis and training
in support of these initiatives, the FBI has
expanded its efforts in investigating Human
Trafficking. In FY 2003, the FBI opened 65 Human
Trafficking investigations, of which 17 cases
have thus far resulted in convictions. In FY
2004, 20 convictions were secured thus far from
the 86 cases that were opened, and in the first
half of FY 2005, the FBI has already opened 72
investigations and secured 6 convictions. Also,
out of these investigative numbers, the FBI has
a total of 125 pending Human Trafficking
investigations.
The FBI also participates in the Human
Smuggling Trafficking Center (HSTC), signed into
existence by the Secretary of State, Secretary
of Homeland Security, and the Attorney General
in July 2004. It was established as a fusion
center to bring together analysts, officers, and
investigators from various agencies, including
DHS, FBI, CIA, and the Department of State,
ensuring information sharing on human smuggling
and trafficking, especially smuggler support of
clandestine terrorist travel. The FBI has two
analysts from its Criminal Intelligence Section
assigned to the HSTC.
In conclusion, I want to thank you again
for the opportunity to appear here today and
speak to you about the FBI’s investigative
efforts, in conjunction with other government
agencies and community partners, to address some
of our programs to identify, investigate, and
prosecute those responsible for victimizing and
exploiting children and trafficking in human
misery.
