Attorney General Holder Hosts Summit Focused on Prevention, Deterrence and Interdiction of Child Sexual Exploitation

WASHINGTON –Attorney General Eric Holder today convened a panel of experts from Facebook, Microsoft and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to discuss concrete ways to prevent and deter child sexual exploitation at a national summit entitled, “A Call to Action: Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation.” Attorney General Holder, who has made one of the department’s key priorities the protection of those most vulnerable including children and other victims of human trafficking and exploitation, hosted three expert panels to explore solutions to this grave crime.

“We have convened some of the world’s top experts in the field to find bold, effective and collaborative solutions to keep our children safe from all forms of exploitation and abuse,” Attorney General Eric Holder said. “By focusing on prevention and deterrence, as well as proven enforcement and prosecution strategies, we can advance our efforts to protect children in need and at risk, and to bring offenders to justice.”‪

The summit brought together hundreds of attendees from law enforcement, industry and child advocacy organizations. That collaboration delivers on a key goal laid out in the department’s National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction which launched last year. In the strategy, the department pledged to seek innovative solutions to this problem from inside and outside the government. This summit shows the department’s commitment to these kinds of innovative collaborations.

An important deliverable from the summit will include recommendations by the expert panelists that the attorney general will consider in the department’s fight to stop child exploitation and abuse.

The Department of Justice is committed to the safety and well-being of our children and has placed a high priority on protecting children and combating the sexual exploitation of minors. Through initiatives like Project Safe Childhood, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces and the Innocence Lost National Initiative, the number of investigations and prosecutions of those who sexually exploit children have dramatically increased. The department will continue to deliver on its goals laid out in the National Strategy, and will continue to work with all our partners, federal, state, local, industry and child advocacy organizations to protect the nation’s children.