From: crissiegetsfuckedintheass@bubbas.place   
      
   In May 1995 the FBI launched the "Innocent Images National   
   Initiative," an undercover operation to catch those who would prey on   
   our children using the Internet. We started with a handful of agents.   
      
   In the 10 years since we officially launched the program and   
   established the Innocent Images Unit, we and our law enforcement   
   partners—many of whom we've trained—have opened more than 15,500   
   cases; charged more than 4,700 criminals; and arrested more than 6,100   
   subjects.   
      
   Our work has led to more than 4,800 convictions and pre-trial   
   diversions. Many more are currently being pursued.   
      
   Now hundreds of agents are working undercover at more than 30   
   operations nationwide. They plumb the depths of the Internet to root   
   out child pornography and to pose as minors to snare adults who want   
   to sexually exploit children.   
      
   The unit works with our partners at the National Center for Missing   
   and Exploited Children, which helps us identify victims through our   
   Child Victim Identification Program.   
      
   Innocent Images is a component of our Cyber Division, and is funded by   
   an annual $10 million dedicated earmark from Congress.   
      
   "Our top investigative priority is the disruption and dismantling of   
   online groups, organizations, and for-profit enterprises which seek to   
   exploit children," Louis M. Reigel III, assistant director of the   
   Cyber Division, said in remarks delivered at an event February 24   
   marking the 10th anniversary of the program.   
      
   "It is impossible for you to appreciate the impact Innocent Images has   
   had, without knowing the horribly dark and depraved world that exists   
   out there." said Andrew G. Oosterbaan, chief of the Child Exploitation   
   and Obscenity Section at the Department of Justice.   
      
   Reigel also announced that since September of 2004 we have been   
   running the Innocent Images International Task Force—comprised of   
   international investigators who work side-by-side with FBI agents to   
   combat global child exploitation.   
      
   The international task force started as a six-month project targeting   
   websites that distribute child pornography, but now pursues other   
   child exploitation investigations as well. Law enforcement officials   
   from foreign countries travel to our Innocent Images Unit in   
   Calverton, Maryland, where they can share tactics and information with   
   each other and with us, and to cooperate in international   
   investigations.   
      
   The task force has helped the Innocent Images Unit tackle the   
   increasingly complex child exploitation cases, Reigel said. The task   
   force has generated more than 3,000 leads in the United States and   
   2,000 in other nations.   
      
   "Online child predators and child exploitation are not just an   
   American problem. They are worldwide problems," FBI Director Robert S.   
   Mueller III said. "We have committed ourselves to working with our   
   partners around the world to combat these problems."   
      
   So far, we have hosted investigators from 12 countries, with more to   
   come. Task force partners from Australia, Belarus, Canada, the   
   Philippines, Thailand and the United Kingdom appeared at the press   
   conference with Mueller and Reigel.   
      
   "The ability to share information and technical expertise and engage   
   in international covert investigations is crucial to making the   
   Internet a safer place for everyone worldwide," said Lewis Hunt, a   
   team leader of the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team at the   
   National Crime Squad based in London. "That fight does not belong to   
   one law enforcement agency or one country."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)