Combating Child Pornography: Federal Agencies Coordinate Law Enforcement Efforts, but an Opportunity Exists for Further Enhancement
Highlights
The trafficking of child pornography through increasingly sophisticated electronic media, including Internet chat rooms, newsgroups, and peer-to-peer networks, has made such images more readily accessible. These technological advances have created more challenges for law enforcement, including requiring effective coordination to combat this crime. The federal law enforcement agencies that play a role in investigating child pornography are the FBI, Customs, Postal Inspection Service, and Secret Service. This report provides information on the coordination of federal efforts to combat child pornography. Specifically, it (1) identifies mechanisms federal agencies have in place to combat child pornography and (2) provides information on an opportunity to further enhance coordination among federal law enforcement agencies.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Justice | To further enhance the coordination of the various law enforcement agencies' efforts to combat child pornography, the Attorney General should designate the Postal Inspection Service and Secret Service as agencies that should receive reports of child pornography under the Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998 in addition to FBI and Customs. |
Closed – Implemented
DOJ issued regulation (28 C.F.R. 81.1 et seq) in response to a recommendation GAO made to further enhance the coordination of the various law enforcement agencies' efforts to combat child pornography (Combating Child Pornography: Federal Agencies Coordinate Law Enforcement Efforts, but An Opportunity Exists for Further Enhancement--GAO-03-272, November 29, 2002). The regulation designating the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Secret Service (among others) as agencies that should receive reports of child pornography under the Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998, was cleared and published as final rule on November 4, 2003, at 68 Fed. Reg. 62370. (See 28 C.F.R. 81.1 et seq.)
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