AST August 2019 Magazine AST August 2019 Magazine

www.AmericanSecurityToday.com August 2019 - Edition 36 (Take an in-depth look at the FBI's Innocence Lost National Initiative and the victims who have been affected by child sex trafficking. Courtesy of CBS Evening News and YouTube.) They set up fake dates, met at pre-arranged locations, and then brought individuals (and their pimps in some cases) in for inter- views to determine if they were underage or trafficked or if they could help identify other victims or traffickers. In each case, FBI victim special- ists ensure the individuals un- derstand their situation and are made aware of the resources available to help them. The FBI and NCMEC, along with the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscen- ity Section, launched the Inno- cence Lost National Initiative in 2003 to combat sex trafficking of children in the U.S. Today, the initiative includes 86 Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Forces that work year-round on efforts like those conducted during Operation Inde- pendence Day. 51

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