Child Pornography cases obtaining confessions with an effective interview strategy

Written by: Randy Bowling, M.S., and Dave Resch, M.A.

An effective interview strategy is paramount in gaining a confession during a child pornography investigation. But, interrogative techniques can prove difficult because they require the exhibition of compassion for individuals that investigators may consider contemptible. Developing a comprehensive interviewing strategy will make investigators feel more comfortable at the critical initial stages of the interview and increase the likelihood of eliciting a confession.

Most subjects in child victimization image cases are preferential sex offenders— many of these individuals have molested children; however, their backgrounds often do not identify a molestation conviction. While most of the subjects possess and distribute child pornography, only a few produce it. Further, child pornographers are increasingly using the Internet to facilitate their criminal activities. The following interview strategy has proven successful when dealing with preferential sex offenders in child pornography cases.

Investigative Interview Preparation

In addition to basic investigative practices, investigators can prepare for a successful interview strategy by obtaining information from the FBI’s Innocent Images National Initiative program, search warrants, and informants or witnesses. Investigators should obtain personal information regarding the subject’s marital status, criminal and employment history, and, especially, community service because many subjects actively seek occupations and volunteer opportunities where contact with children is certain to occur. Further, investigators can conduct ruse telephone calls, as well as trash and mail covers, to determine whether the subject listed on a particular Internet account under investigation actually resides at a specific residence. These types of thorough preparation increase the probability of gaining a confession. Once confronted by investigators, the subject will know that his illegal activities have been discovered and thoroughly investigated.

Initial Approach

After investigators show appropriate identification and detail the purpose of the interview to the subject, they should state their accusation. A direct accusation statement must be convincing in its delivery. Typically, the suspect then will deny involvement and protest his innocence. If the subject states his denial (e.g., “I didn’t do it”), investigators immediately should interrupt him. For example, they can turn their heads, possibly raising their hands with palms facing the subject in a dismissive motion. Investigators should remember that denial by the guilty usually weakens over time, whereas an innocent person likely will become more enraged at each accusation of criminal activity. The subject also may protest his innocence through such statements as “I could not have done this; I am a religious man” or “I would not have done that; what would my family think?” Investigators should not interrupt these types of protests because they usually are based, in part, on the truth. Following the subject’s protests, investigators should incorporate these partial truths into the interrogation process by using statements, such as “I’m glad to hear you say that; I know you’re a good man” or “You are a religious man who is devoted to his family.” After clearly accusing the suspect, interviewers should detail evidence against the individual. Further, investigators should follow the accusation, denials, and protests with a series of theme-development strategies.

Theme Development

Many child pornography suspects fear that their activities will be revealed. Therefore, investigators should address this concern through theme development as they approach the interview. Interrogation themes consist of rationalizing the crime, projecting blame onto others, and minimizing the offense (RPMs). Investigators can use the following examples as a guide in theme development.

• Rationalization: “I understand your situation; you love kids so much that you were just reaching out to help any way you could. Things just got out of hand.”
• Projection of blame: “The problem is that parents do not spend enough time with their children. Once neglected, kids will do anything for attention.”
• Minimization: “We’re not talking about hurting children here. We’re only talking about a few photographs. You’ve never harmed anyone.”

Investigators should avoid judgmental terms during the presentation of RPMs to preclude an eventual molestation confession. After presenting RPMs, investigators should look for signs of receptivity by the subject, such as crying, bowing the head, averting the eyes, taking deep breaths, and slouching, suggesting that the individual wants to admit his involvement in the crime. Once investigators observe signs of receptivity, they should offer a reason to confess, which deals with the subject’s present situation and offers him hope. For example, “I know things have gotten out of hand despite your best efforts, but now is your opportunity to stand up, be a man, and do the right thing for these kids and your family.”
Once investigators have given the subject a reason to confess, they can present a bad-good option, initially presenting a choice unacceptable (or bad) to the subject followed by an acceptable (or good) one. The bad-good option leads the subject toward either a partial or full confession. For instance, investigators can make statements, such as “Either you’re a monster who preys on little children or you just possess a few photographs of kids. Which is it?” If the suspect rejects the bad-good option, investigators then should start anew with RPMs, looking again for signs of receptivity before presenting a reason to confess and another bad-good option. Investigators can use the following example to structure a child pornography interrogation:

Mr. Doe, my name is Agent Smith, FBI, and this is a warrant from a federal judge ordering me to conduct a search of your property for child pornography. I know that you possess child pornography. This is not an arrest warrant. I am not putting handcuffs on you, and you are not in custody. We are not interviewing your wife at work, and, as you can see, we are not knocking on your neighbors’ doors. Nor have your family and friends been contacted at this time. Right now, this matter is between you and me. I have no interest in contacting anyone else until we talk. Child pornography has been detected on your computer, and, shortly, I will show you a sample of the captured images. I will do this so that you can assure me that these are children simply from the Internet and not kids you are hurting in the neighborhood. My primary concern today is to determine if any children in the neighborhood are being harmed. My priority today is to identify any child who may need help.

These statements establish that investigators 1) are not the adversary; 2) have no doubt that the subject possesses child pornography; 3) already have conducted surveillance of the subject’s computer; 4) potentially have sparked the subject’s interest in viewing some of the evidence; and 5) have minimized the child pornography as being less serious than harming children. Although the subject may molest neighborhood children, the goal at this time is to achieve admissions through the usage of interrogative techniques as a foundation for the full confession. Investigators should continue to present RPMs and observe the subject to give him a reason to confess and a bad-good option.

We both know that things have gone on too long and cannot continue. It’s time to put an end to this and move on. I have worked these cases for years and have dealt with two types of people: those who hate and hurt children and are utterly evil, and others who honestly care about children and are affectionate toward them, but get caught up in a mess they need help getting out of. I don’t think you’re evil. But, I have to leave here today convinced that while I know you are looking at pictures of kids on the Internet and masturbating, you are not a monster living in the middle of an unsuspecting neighborhood. Are you hurting the neighborhood children or just downloading Internet child porn for your own sexual needs in the privacy of your own home?

Investigators have given the subject the option of confessing to the crime or confessing to being a monster, not the option of denying the crime. The admission of masturbation or other sexual activity connected to the child pornography is important—subjects may be detained based on their admissions that they actively used the child pornography in a sexual way, thereby creating a threat to their communities.
Often, at this stage, the subject will admit to the crime and latch onto the minimization offered by the investigator. Numerous cases have occurred where the subject blurts, “I don’t have sex with children; I just download pictures and masturbate.” Often, investigators must respond with compassion and understanding, suggesting that all men look at porn and that it was not the subject’s choice to have a preference for children. Once they obtain the initial confession, investigators then can continue to build on the same interview strategy to acquire details regarding the extent of the subject’s criminal activity.

Case Examples of Investigators Successfully Using Various Themes to Obtain Child Pornography Confessions

Subject #1 possessed, distributed, and produced pornography in conjunction with four other subjects who were members of a volunteer search and rescue group. He embraced the theme that the children he was assaulting were not babies or virgins and that in the end, he was trying to help them financially. Investigators allowed the subject to blame the children’s parents for lack of affection and attention, which the children subsequently sought from him. At the interview, all five subjects provided confessions; four pled guilty and one was convicted at trial. Subject #1 thanked investigators for being decent and professional during their initial approach. The empathy shown to him successfully elicited his confession and cooperation.
Subject #2 was an unmarried male elementary school teacher who quickly admitted to the possession of child pornography. Under the progressive method of obtaining the complete confession, the teacher admitted to a sexual desire for the boys in his class. He then admitted that every time he touched, hugged, comforted, or consoled a child in his class, he felt sexually stimulated. He progressively confessed that the only reason he became a teacher was to have access to young boys.
Subject #3 was a divorced, 45-year-old male employed as a manager of a halfway house. He quickly confessed to possessing and then distributing child pornography. Then, investigators presented the scenario of the possibility of computer examiners finding alarming material and gave the subject the opportunity to explain that material up front. Subject #3 admitted that bathtub pictures of his daughters might be found. Further, he admitted that he was having sex with his daughters and videotaping the acts. He led investigators to the tapes and disks. Subject #4, a 20-year-old female, initially confessed to possessing child pornography. Progressively, she admitted to involvement in the production of child pornography. Ultimately, she confessed to seducing a 35-yearold woman to gain access to the woman’s 12- year-old daughter and using that girl and other minor females for sex and the production of child pornography.
Subject #5 possessed 30,000 images of child sexual victimization and was involved in distribution. He was a 45-year-old white male, a geological engineer, and married with two teenage boys. He admitted that he spent hours each evening downloading child pornography and masturbating. He confessed while rationalizing that he was not harming children, just feeding his sexual desire for children via the Internet. Subject #5 was a prior Boy Scout troop leader. He admitted at the end of the interview that the lack of condemnation and the validation of his long-held rationalizations aided in his willingness to confess. He pled guilty.

Confessions

Investigators should build from initial to complete confession. From possession to distribution to production, investigators should guide the subject to progressively admit the more serious violations. Scenarios, such as “Is there anything my computer examiners will find alarming on your computer that we can clear up now? Pictures of kids in your class? Pictures of kids in the bathtub?” may lead to an admission. If so, investigators should press forward, inquiring about the possibility of finding pictures of the offender with the children in situations not designed to harm the children. Investigators should have the subject initial the images, verifying those that came from the Internet versus children in his neighborhood. The subject then reinforces his confession in his attempt to deny activity with children. Then, investigators should address the topic of actual contact with children and identify victims with the intent of distinguishing the subject’s “young friends.” The subject likely will identify children he has not molested, but those children can be interviewed later to identify their friends who may be victims.
With these admissions, investigators should remember the increased significance of child pornography as peripheral material in other violent crimes. This method has resulted in the progressive admissions of individuals, starting with the possession of pornography and ending with the confession that the only reason the subject became an elementary school teacher was to have access to young boys. Additionally, this approach has gained initial admissions of possession, progressing to the subject eventually leading investigators to the videos and disks documenting a subject’s sexual assault of his own daughter. Investigators should avoid displaying judgment and anger. Rather, they should show sympathy, understanding, patience, and acceptance, allowing the subject to offer any excuses and explanations along with admissions.

Elements of Interrogation

Convincingly Accuse the Suspect

• Tell the suspect you are aware he is involved in the crime.

• Show case facts and refer to real or implied evidence to convince the suspect of the futility of denial.

• Observe the suspect’s reaction. If he denies involvement, restate the accusation. If the suspect makes no denial, this is a strongindicator of guilt.

Interrupt Denials by the Suspect

• Interrupt and prevent any additional denial attempts.

• Realize that the guilty’s attempts at denial will weaken; the innocent’s will get stronger and angrier.

• Tell the suspect it is his turn to listen. Provide Reasons to Confess

• Tell the suspect why he committed the crime: rationalize, project, minimize (RPMs).

• Conduct a monologue with the subject if possible.

• Give acceptable reasons for the suspect to admit the truth.

• Remember that patience, persistence, and patter are the keys to success. Redirect Protests

• Understand that protests are reasons for innocence that the suspect provides.

• Realize that usually only the guilty will present protests because denials have failed.

• Remember that protests usually have some factual basis and, therefore, can be defended comfortably by the suspect; do not try to refute them.

• Accept the protest and incorporate it into providing reasons to confess.

Prevent Mental Withdrawal

• Recognize that withdrawal often is a response to failure of the denials and protests.

• Move closer and use the suspect’s name; force the suspect to listen.

• Present a sincere demeanor.

Watch for Signs of Receptivity

• Observe telltale signs, mostly nonverbal in nature (e.g., subject establishing barriers, drooping his head, leaning his body forward, crying).

• Reduce reasons to confess to a succinct concept.

Present a Bad-Good Option

• Describe one option despicable in nature.

• Present another acceptable option that follows with the reasons provided to confess.

• Suggest that the suspect’s actions were based on the good option, rather than the bad.

• Ask the suspect to confirm this suggestion (a mere nod of the head will suffice).

• Begin to elicit the confession if confirmed. Spend more time developing the RPMs and reasons to confess if denied.

Investigators must refine and personalize this template for each subject. It has proven most successful with preferential sex offenders who have not been through the criminal justice system. Investigators may contact the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit at 703-632-4400 for assistance with interview and investigative strategies, trial assistance, and expert warrants and testimony.

Source: Edgar M. Miner, “The Importance of Listening in the Interview and Interrogation Process,” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, June 1984, 12-16.

Conclusion

Children are at increased risk for crime victimization.5 Child sexual victimization cases often prove mentally overwhelming even to the most seasoned investigator; compassion for subjects in these cases is difficult, but developing a plan for the investigative interview can lead to quicker resolutions to cases.
Investigators often can obtain confessions in child pornography investigations using constructive interrogative techniques. By carefully conducting investigative interview preparation; using an effective initial approach; developing a theme (rationalizing, projecting blame, and minimizing); pursuing a progressive confession; and identifying victims, agencies increase the likelihood that they will elicit admissions from guilty subjects. Confessions eliminate lengthy trial preparations, help the case rapidly move to sentencing,6 and allow the investigators to move on to another assignment, focusing critical resources in other directions. Further, confessions keep communities and residents safe by ensuring that subjects no longer can victimize innocent children.

Endnotes

1 For a more in-depth discussion of the characteristics and traits of subjects in child pornography investigations, refer to Kenneth V. Lanning, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Sexual Victimization of Children (FBI Academy, 2000).
2 Philip Jenkins, Beyond Tolerance: Child Pornography on the Internet (New York, NY: New York University Press, 2001); Carlos A. Arnaldo, Child Abuse and the Internet: Ending the Silence (New York, NY: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Foundation and Berghahn Books, 2001); and Heather Jacobson and Rebecca Green, “Computer Crimes,” American Criminal Law Review 39 (Spring 2002): 225.

3 The authors based this article on their experiences investigating child pornography cases. They recommend that investigators tailor this strategy as needed to particular cases and use it in conjunction with other interrogation methods.
4 For illustrative purposes and to maintain clarity, the authors employ masculine pronouns for subjects.
5 D. Finkelhor and R. Ormrod, Child Abuse Reported to the Police, May 2001, retrieved on July 13, 2004, from http:// ojjdp.ncjrs.org/publications.
6 R.A. Leo, “Inside the Interrogation Room,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 86, no. 2 (1996): 266-304.

Sexual Exploitation of Children.

An estimated two million children are enslaved in the global commercial sex trade. Most are girls, but a significant number are boys. An untold number of others are sexually abused noncommercially. Most cases are not reported.

Kinds of child sexual exploitation?

a. Commercial

• Prostitution
• Sex tourism
• Child pornography
• Trafficking and sale of children for sexual purposes

b. Noncommercial

• Sexual abuse of girls or boys by family and community members
• Forced marriage

What are the manifestations of child sexual exploitation?

• Children as young as 11 are known to work in brothels, and some children between 10 and 12 years old living in out-of-home care have been used to make pornographic films.
• Girls as young as 13 (mainly from Asia and eastern Europe) are trafficked as "mail-order" brides. Trafficking affects an estimated 1.2 million children per year.
• Worldwide, 40-47 percent of sexual assaults are perpetrated against girls age 15 or younger.
• The child sex trafficking industry generates 12 billion dollars annually.

Where does it occur?

In all countries, both rich and poor. According to studies:

• Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Brazil have some of the highest rates of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
• In Mexico, more than 16,000 children are involved in prostitution.
• Sexual exploitation of children occurs in various locations, including on the street, in brothels, in private homes, and in tourist facilities, such as hotels.

Who are the most vulnerable?

• Girls and boys under age 18
• Children living in poverty
• Street children
• Runaways
• Children in vulnerable or marginalized situations
• Children of all social and economic status

What are the causes?

• Poverty and unemployment
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Government /law enforcement
• Corruption Expansion of organized crime and trafficking of children
• Low status of girls in many countries
• Illiteracy and lack of education
• Inadequate or non-enforced laws
• Lack of political will to end the practice
• Pornography and the promotion of sex tours on the internet

How does sexual exploitation impact the lives of children?

• Long-lasting physical, social, spiritual, and psychological damage
• Disease (including HIV)
• Violence and abuse
• Drug addiction
• Unwanted pregnancy and forced abortions
• Malnutrition
• Social ostracism

What is RCPI - Perú doing?

a. Prevention

• Publicity and information campaigns
• Training for volunteers
• Training for State agents

b. Fight against child pornography on Internet

• Promotion of spaces to report the crime via Internet
• Computer nets against Child Pornography
• Service to receive anonymous complaints about pages containing child pornography
• Tracing of pages containing child pornography or promoting these.
• Technological assistance for the State agents in charge of finding, investigating and prosecuting the criminals
• Forwarding of specialised information and complaints to the National Police

c. Protection of the victim

• Free personalised psychological attention for victims and direct relatives
• Free advice and legal defence for victims.
• Legal advice for victims of child sexual commercial exploitation, child trafficking and child pornography.
• Protecting child victims from criminalization

What other actions and services does RCPI - Perú provide?

• Elaboration of studies, reports and research about child pornography, child commercial sexual exploitation and child trafficking in Peru and the region.
• Development of issues such as: compared legislation, sexual aggressor profile, as well as the modalities, extent, consequences, effects and aftermath of this crime on the victims and the society.
• Service of filters and computer blockers specialised in public internet cafes, schools, companies and State dependencies computers.
• Centre of on-line public information specialised in child commercial sexual exploitation, child trafficking and child pornography.

Get involved

• Join us in the fight to protect children from sexually exploitation.
• Speak out. Ask Government to increase resources to prosecute citizens who sexually exploit children.
• Raise awareness among the members of your communitie. Inform them of the problem and get them connected with agencies that help exploited children.
• Make a contribution to Peruvian Net against Child Pornography.
• Report Child Sexual Exploitation. Contact the RCPI - Perú if you have information regarding a person who has sexually exploited a child, or suspect someone of child sex tourism.

State Department's trafficking in persons Report 2007

Burnma: Child Soldiers Ko Aung said: “I was recruited by force, against my will. One evening while we were watching a video show in my village, three army sergeants came. They checked whether we had identification cards and asked if we wanted to join the army. We explained that we were underage and hadn’t got identification cards. I said no and came back home that evening but an army recruitment unit arrived next morning at my village and demanded two new recruits. Those who could not pay 3000 kyats ($9) had to join the army, they said. My parents could not pay, and altogether 19 of us were recruited and sent to Mingladon [an army training centre].”

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Purpose

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The Department of State is required by law to submit a Report each year to the U.S. Congress on foreign governments’ efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons. This Report is the seventh annual TIP Report. It is intended to raise global awareness, to highlight efforts of the international community, and to encourage foreign governments to take effective actions to counter all forms of trafficking in persons.
The U.S. law that guides anti-human trafficking efforts, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended (TVPA), states that the purpose of combating human trafficking is to punish traffickers, to protect victims, and to prevent trafficking from occurring. Freeing those trapped in slave-like conditions is the ultimate goal of this Report—and of the U.S. government’s anti-human trafficking policy.
Human trafficking is a multi-dimensional threat. It deprives people of their human rights and freedoms, it increases global health risks, and it fuels the growth of organized crime.
Human trafficking has a devastating impact on individual victims, who often suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, document theft, and even death. But the impact of human trafficking goes beyond individual victims; it undermines the health, safety and security of all nations.
There is an ever-growing community of nations making significant efforts to eliminate this atrocious crime. A country that fails to make significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons, as outlined in the TVPA, receives a “Tier 3” assessment in this Report. Such an assessment could trigger the withholding by the United States of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance. In assessing foreign governments’ efforts, the TIP Report highlights the “three P’s”—prosecution, protection, and prevention. But a victim-centered approach to trafficking requires us also to address the “three R’s”—rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration—and to encourage learning and sharing of best practices in these areas.
This year is the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The movement led by British parliamentarian William Wilberforce took decades to succeed. It required a nation to deepen and expand its definition of human dignity. It required a nation to declare that moral values outweigh commercial interests. Nothing less is required today of every nation taking up the contemporary challenge to eliminate human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery.

Cambodia: Child Sex Trafficking Sisters Naren and Sitthy, ages 10 and 12 years, lived in Phnom Penh. Their parents agreed to deliver the young girls to a German national’s rented apartment for sex in exchange for money. While at the apartment, the German man sexually abused the girls and documented the abuse on video. Tipped off by a neighbor, the girls were rescued by a non-governmental organization. They testified against the man and their parents.

India: Forced Labor When Aakesh was five years old, he was playing with friends in his village when some men drove into his village and asked the boys if they wanted to see a “video.” The boys piled into the back of the vehicle and were driven 200 miles away. They were locked in a room for days without food and were beaten. The traffickers had abducted these vulnerable children so they could be forced to weave carpets. The boys were held captive for nine years. Two of Aakesh’s friends didn’t survive—one was shot while trying to escape and the other died from an untreated illness. The boys were 14 years old when they were rescued, barely able to speak. They were malnourished and wounded, but finally free.

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The Scope and Nature of Modern-Day Slavery

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The common denominator of trafficking scenarios is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to exploit a person for profit. A victim can be subjected to labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, or both. Labor exploitation includes slavery, forced labor, and debt bondage. Sexual exploitation typically includes abuse within the commercial sex industry. In other cases, victims are exploited in private homes by individuals who often demand sex as well as work. The use of force or coercion can be direct and violent or psychological.
A wide range of estimates exists on the scope and magnitude of modern-day slavery. The International Labor Organization (ILO )—the United Nations agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment, and social protection issues—estimates there are 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude at any given time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million.
Annually, according to U.S. Government-sponsored research completed in 2006, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders, which does not include millions trafficked within their own countries. Approximately 80 percent of transnational victims are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors. The majority of transnational victims are females trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. These numbers do not include millions of female and male victims around the world who are trafficked within their own national borders—the majority for forced or bonded labor.
Human traffickers prey on the vulnerable. Their targets are often children and young women, and their ploys are creative and ruthless, designed to trick, coerce, and win the confidence of potential victims. Very often these ruses involve promises of a better life through marriage, employment, or educational opportunities.
The nationalities of trafficked people are as diverse as the world’s cultures. Some leave developing countries, seeking to improve their lives through low-skilled jobs in more prosperous countries. Others fall victim to forced or bonded labor in their own countries. Women eager for a better future are susceptible to promises of jobs abroad as babysitters, housekeepers, waitresses, or models—jobs that traffickers turn into the nightmare of prostitution without exit. Some families give children to adults, often relatives, who promise education and opportunity—but sell the children into exploitative situations instead.

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Focus of the 2007 TIP Report

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The TIP Report is the most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons. This Report covers the period April 2006 through March 2007. It includes those countries that have been determined to be countries of origin, transit, or destination for a significant number of victims of severe forms of trafficking. The 2007 TIP Report represents an updated, global look at the nature and scope of modern-day slavery and the broad range of actions being taken by governments around the world to confront and eliminate it.
Because trafficking likely extends to every country in the world, the omission of a country from the Report may only indicate a lack of adequate information. The country narratives describe the scope and nature of the trafficking problem, the reasons for including the country, and the government’s efforts to combat trafficking. Each narrative also contains an assessment of the government’s compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking as laid out in the TVPA, and includes suggestions for additional actions to combat trafficking. The remainder of the country narrative describes each government’s efforts to enforce laws against trafficking, protect victims, and prevent trafficking. Each narrative explains the basis for rating a country as Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, or Tier 3. If a country has been placed on Tier 2 Watch List, the narrative will contain a statement of explanation, using the criteria found in the TVPA.
The TVPA lists three factors to be considered in determining whether a country should be in Tier 2 (or Tier 2 Watch List) or in Tier 3: 1) The extent to which the country is a country of origin, transit or destination for severe forms of trafficking; 2) The extent to which the government of the country does not comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards including, in particular, the extent of the government’s trafficking-related corruption; and 3) The resources and capabilities of the government to address and eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons.
Some countries have held conferences and established task forces or national action plans to create goals for anti-trafficking efforts. However, conferences, plans, and task forces alone are not weighed heavily in assessing country efforts. Rather, the Report focuses on concrete actions governments have taken to fight trafficking, especially prosecutions, convictions, and prison sentences for traffickers, victim protection measures, and prevention efforts. The Report does not give great weight to laws in draft form or laws that have not yet been enacted. Finally, the Report does not focus on government efforts that contribute indirectly to reducing trafficking, such as education programs, support for economic development, or programs aimed at enhancing gender equality, although these are worthwhile endeavors.
Rwanda/United Kingdom: Sex Trafficking When she was 14, Adnita’s boss, a trader for whom she worked in the Kigali market, told her to go with two men. He said they would take her to live abroad where she would be safe and go to school. When she reached Great Britain, a man picked her up from the airport and took her to a house. Another man came to the house and raped her. For two years, the teenager was forced to live in a locked kitchen with access only to a toilet and basin. The men kept her as a sex slave until she escaped and flagged down a driver, who took her to the police.

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Methodology

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The Department of State prepared this Report using information from U.S. embassies, foreign government officials, NGOs and international organizations, published reports, research trips to every region, and information submitted to tipreport@state.gov. This email address was established for NGOs and individuals to share information on government progress in addressing trafficking. U.S. diplomatic posts reported on the trafficking situation and governmental action based on thorough research, including meetings with a wide variety of government officials, local and international NGO representatives, officials of international organizations, journalists, academics, and survivors.
To compile this year’s Report, the Department took a fresh look at information sources on every country to make its assessments. Assessing each government’s anti-trafficking efforts involves a two-step process:

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Step One: Finding Significant Numbers of Victims

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First, the Department determines whether a country is “a country of origin, transit, or destination for a significant number of victims of severe forms of trafficking,” generally on the order of 100 or more victims, the same threshold applied in previous reports. Some countries, for which such information was not available, are not given tier ratings, but are included in the Special Case section because they exhibited indications of trafficking.

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Step Two: Tier Placement

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The Department places each country included on the 2007 TIP Report into one of the three lists, described here as tiers, mandated by the TVPA. This placement is based more on the extent of government action to combat trafficking, rather than the size of the problem, important though that is. The Department first evaluates whether the government fully complies with the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking (detailed on pp. 228-229). Governments that do fully comply are placed in Tier 1. For other governments, the Department considers whether they are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance. Governments that are making significant efforts to meet the minimum standards are placed in Tier 2. Governments that do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so are placed in Tier 3. Finally, the Special Watch List criteria are considered and, when applicable, Tier 2 countries are placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.

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The Special Watch List—Tier 2 Watch List

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The TVPA created a “Special Watch List” of countries on the TIP Report that should receive special scrutiny. The list is composed of: 1) Countries listed as Tier 1 in the current Report that were listed as Tier 2 in the 2006 Report; 2) Countries listed as Tier 2 in the current Report that were listed as Tier 3 in the 2006 Report; and, 3) Countries listed as Tier 2 in the current Report, where:

a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing;
b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year, including increased investigations, prosecutions, and convictions of trafficking crimes, increased assistance to victims, and decreasing evidence of complicity in severe forms of trafficking by government officials; or
c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.

This third category (including a, b, and c) has been termed by the Department of State “Tier 2 Watch List.” There were 32 countries placed on Tier 2 Watch List in the June 2006 Report. Along with two countries that were reassessed as Tier 2 Watch List countries in September 2006 and five countries that met the first two categories above (moving up a tier from the 2005 to the 2006 TIP Report), these 39 countries were included in an “Interim Assessment” released by the Department of State on February 1, 2007.
Of the 34 countries on Tier 2 Watch List at the time of the Interim Assessment, 10 moved up to Tier 2 on this Report, while 7 fell to Tier 3 and 17 remain on Tier 2 Watch List. Countries placed on the Special Watch List in this Report will be reexamined in an interim assessment to be submitted to the U.S. Congress by February 1, 2008.

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Potential Penalties for Tier 3 Countries

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Governments of countries in Tier 3 may be subject to certain sanctions. The U.S. Government may withhold non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance. Countries that receive no such assistance would be subject to withholding of funding for participation by officials and employees of such governments in educational and cultural exchange programs. Consistent with the TVPA, governments subject to sanctions would also face U.S. opposition to assistance (except for humanitarian, trade-related, and certain development-related assistance) from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Sanctions, if imposed, will take effect October 1, 2007.
All or part of the TVPA’s sanctions can be waived upon a determination by the President that the provision of such assistance to the government would promote the purposes of the statute or is otherwise in the national interest of the United States. The TVPA also provides that sanctions can be waived if necessary to avoid significant adverse effects on vulnerable populations, including women and children. Sanctions would not apply if the President finds that, after this Report is issued but before sanctions determinations are made, a government has come into compliance with the minimum standards or is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance.
Regardless of tier placement, every country can do more, including the United States. No country placement is permanent. All countries must maintain and increase efforts to combat trafficking.

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How the Report Is Used?

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This Report is a diplomatic tool for the U.S. government to use as an instrument for continued dialogue and encouragement and as a guide to help focus resources on prosecution, protection, and prevention programs and policies. The State Department will continue to engage governments about the content of the Report in order to strengthen cooperative efforts to eradicate trafficking. In the coming year, and particularly in the months before a determination is made regarding sanctions for Tier 3 countries, the Department will use the information gathered here to more effectively target assistance programs and to work with countries that need help in combating trafficking. The Department hopes the Report will be a catalyst for government and non-government efforts to combat trafficking in persons around the world.
North Korea/China: Forced Marriage Hanuel said: “I was sold to be the wife of a 47-year-old Chinese man who has no work skills and was very ill. My husband would hit me and say: ‘You, do you have any idea how much I paid for you?’ I am not the only North Korean woman in this area. As I was talking to some of the others, we came to realize that we have been sold into this kind of marriage.”
Nigeria/United States: 14-year-old Jenny left her native Nigeria for the United States to work in the home of a couple, also originally from an African country. She thought she would be paid to look after their children, but the reality was very different. For five years Jenny was repeatedly raped by her employer and his wife physically assaulted her, sometimes with a cane, and on one occasion with a high-heeled shoe. Tipped off by a local NGO, law enforcement officials rescued Jenny and prosecuted the perpetrators.

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“Trafficking in Persons” Defined

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The Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:

(a) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person is induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or
(b) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.

A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another in order for the crime to fall within these definitions.

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Definition of Terms

• Sex trafficking means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.
• Commercial sex act means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.
• Coercion means (a) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; (b) any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or, (c) the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.
• Involuntary servitude includes a condition of servitude induced by means of (a) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that, if that person did not enter into or continue in such condition, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint; or (b) the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.

Child-protection experts from around the world gathering at Interpol

The 25th gathering of Interpol’s network of child-protection experts from around the world opened with a call for greater co-operation to identify child abusers and rescue victims. ‘While our approach, combining technology and sound investigative support, has been successful so far, we all know that the challenges remain great and that a lot needs to be done,” said Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble at the opening of the meeting of the Interpol Specialist Group on Crimes against Children, taking place from 5-7 June at the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon, France.
“It is simply not enough. We need to do more; we need to be more aggressive in how we work to try to solve these cases.”
During the three-day meeting, more than 100 specialists from law enforcement and academia in 41 member countries are discussing today’s most pressing child-protection issues, including Internet-facilitated sexual abuse images, commercial exploitation and trafficking, adult sex offenders and violent crimes. Participants also are being briefed on specific cases from experts from Interpol and member countries including Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway and Ukraine.
As part of an ongoing Interpol initiative which to date has led to the identification and rescue of numerous victims of sexual abuse, a victim identification workshop, the sixth so far, was conducted prior to the meeting to enable investigators to exchange information on current investigations.
One of Interpol’s major successes in fighting crimes against children globally has been the creation of the Interpol Child Abuse Image Database, which holds more than 550,000 images and has contributed directly to the identification and rescue of more than 500 victims since its creation in 2001.
The G8 Justice and Interior Ministers have earmarked more than 1.4 million euros to support the development of an interactive version of the database, called the G8 International Child Sexual Exploitation image database, which investigators in member countries will be able to access directly through Interpol’s I-24/7 global police communications system. Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom will begin using the database this year.

The Peruvian Net Against Child Pornography (RCPI - Peru)

What is the Peruvian Net Against Child Pornography?

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The RCPI – Peru is a non-profit civil association registered under electronic entry Nº 11945162 at the Public Register of the National Superintendent Office of Lima and classified as a donation receptive entity by Ministerial Resolution Nº 286-2007-EF/15. It is aimed to eradicate the nets of child pornography producers, distributors and consumers, especially the ones performed on internet. Likewise it fights against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and trafficking of children and teenagers.
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What does the Net do?
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The RCPI – Peru actions develop within three important axes:
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1. Prevention: As we know, the best way to fight child pornography and child commercial sexual exploitation is to prevent more children to become victims.
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With that in mind we carry out:

• Talks and workshops
• Publicity and information campaigns
• Training for volunteers
• Training for State agents

2. Fight against child pornography on Internet: We must face these criminal groups with determination, considering the regular increase of paedophiles and pederasts nets on Internet.

With that in mind we carry out:

• Promotion of spaces to report the crime via Internet
• Computer nets
• Service to receive anonymous complaints about pages containing child pornography
• Tracing of pages containing child pornography or promoting these.
• Technological assistance for the State agents in charge of finding, investigating and prosecuting the criminals
• Forwarding of specialised information and complaints to the National Police

3. Protection of the victim: Leaving a child who has been victim of aggression or sexual exploitation behind is victimising him/her again. Only by protecting them we will prevent the aggression in the future.
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With that in mind we carry out:

• Free personalised psychological attention for victims and direct relatives
• Free advice and legal defence for victims.

What other actions and services does it provide?

The RCPI – Peru also offers the following services:

• Elaboration of studies, reports and research about child pornography, child commercial sexual exploitation and child trafficking in Peru and the region.
• Development of issues such as: compared legislation, sexual aggressor profile, as well as the modalities, extent, consequences, effects and aftermath of this crime on the victims and the society.
• Service of filters and computer blockers specialised in public internet cafes, schools, companies and State dependencies computers.
• Centre of on-line public information specialised in child commercial sexual exploitation, child trafficking and child pornography.
• Legal advice for victims of child sexual commercial exploitation, child trafficking and child pornography.

How can you help the Peruvian Net Against Child Pornography?

There are many ways to help the actions of the RCPI – Peru. All of them are as important and valid as the others. These are as follows:

a. If you are a Webmaster or administer a Blog or personal space: You can upload the banner or button of the campaign “Internet free of Child Pornography” on your site, which will generate a link between your site and the RCPI – Peru´s one.

b. If you are a Net, movement or association member: You can inform all the members of your organisation about the actions that the RCPI – Peru carries out and spread information provided on the institutional site, mainly about the best management of Internet and the care when using chats.

c. If you represent an institution with similar purposes: You can coordinate joined actions and subscribe institutional agreements that will support the achievement of our goals.

d. If you represent an institution with different purposes: You can support us by spreading the campaigns of the RCPI – Peru, both inside and outside your institution.

e. If you represent a private company: You can sponsor our actions, either generally or through your assistance in any concrete activity.

f. If you are an activist and wish to join the RCPI - Peru: You can join the Voluntaries Net Against Child Pornography, by writing to voluntarios.red@gmail.com

g. If you are a citizen socially committed: You can spread the campaigns promoted by us in your environment. Likewise, you can promote dialogues and talks about child pornography as a social problem. You can also report any illegal action you may know about a child being sexually exploited.

h. Another great way to help us is by keeping in touch and providing us with your feedback. Please let us have your comments at

How is the RCPI – Peru financed?

The RCPI – Peru and its projects are financed through donations and sponsorships from private companies and organisations.

How can I obtain more information about the RCPI – Peru?

You can always visit the organisation blog:

http://NoChildPornography.BlogSpot.Com