Thursday, the Department of Justice released the following statement:
Former Defense Contractor Pleads Guilty to Engaging in Commercial Sex with a Minor in the Philippines
A U.S. citizen pleaded guilty today to paying a 14-year-old girl for sex on multiple occasions in 2007.
Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Lechleitner of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., Special Agent in Charge Tracy Corimer of HSI St. Paul, Minnesota and Attaché Ransom J. Avilla of HSI Manila, Philippines made the announcement.
According to court documents, from in or about September 2007 until in or about December 2007, James Marvin Reed, then 52 years old, engaged in commercial sexual intercourse on multiple occasions with the then 14-year-old victim, and impregnated her, while he was working in the Philippines as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2016, he was arrested by Philippine authorities and returned to the United States for prosecution.
Reed pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. His sentencing is scheduled in June before U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank in the District of Minnesota.
Trial Attorneys Ralph Paradiso and James E. Burke IV of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) are prosecuting the case. CEOS Trial Attorney Kathryn Furtado also served as a vital member of the prosecution team at earlier stages of the litigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota also provided substantial assistance in this prosecution.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Full Release Here
Court Documents
Project Safe Child
Original Bill Sponsored by Rick Santorum (R-PA)
“Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.”
Citizens Guide to US Federal Law on Child Pornography HERE , Updated December 2017.
Purpose of the 2006 Bill, S.3432 :
Project Safe Childhood Act – Directs the Attorney General to create a program for: (1) integrated federal, state, and local investigation and prosecution of child exploitation; (2) major case coordination by the Department of Justice or other federal agencies; (3) increased federal involvement in child pornography and enticement cases; (4) training of federal, state, and local law enforcement; and (5) community awareness and educational programs. Allows use of funds authorized under these provisions for the program and for: (1) at least 8 more Assistant U.S. Attorneys dedicated to program prosecutions; (2) at least 10 new Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces and enhancement of existing ICAC task forces’ forensic capacities; (3) development and enhancement of the Innocent Images task forces; and (4) other additional and related purposes as the Attorney General determines appropriate.
Amends the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 to increase fines for willful failure of electronic communications service providers to report child pornography. Imposes on those providers and remote computing services providers new fines for negligent failure to report.
Requires commercial websites to have Federal Trade Commission-prescribed warnings on pages with sexually explicit material.
Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit the use of deceptive wording or images to deceive persons into viewing obscenity on the Internet or deceive a minor into viewing Internet material harmful to minors. Increases criminal penalties for specified matters related to sex, nudity, pornography, or excretion.
Authorizes public awareness campaigns to: (1) better protect children when on the Internet; and (2) encourage better use of federal and state sex offender registries.
Directs the Attorney General to make grants to state and local governments and nonprofit organizations for programs to keep children safe when on the internet.
OBAMA YEARS
Attorney General Eric Holders First ever “Stragedy” of 2010.
Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that the Department of Justice released its first-ever National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction. The strategy also provides the first-ever comprehensive threat assessment of the dangers facing children from child pornography, online enticement, child sex tourism, commercial sexual exploitation and sexual exploitation in Indian Country, and outlines a blueprint to strengthen the fight against these crimes. The strategy builds upon the department’s accomplishments in combating child exploitation by establishing specific, aggressive goals and priorities and increasing cooperation and collaboration at all levels of government and the private sector.
Despite vigorously fighting all aspects of child exploitation, the department recognized that more work remains to be done. To that end, the department’s strategy lays out goals to increase coordination among the nation’s investigators, better train investigators and prosecutors, advance law enforcement’s technological capabilities and enhance research to inform decisions on deterrence, incarceration and monitoring. The strategy also includes a renewed commitment to public awareness and community outreach.
HERE
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