WASHINGTON — As part of an initiative to crack down on child exploitation, the U.S. Marshals Service is launching a program targeting the top 500 most dangerous convicted sex offenders who aren’t in compliance with the sex registration laws, the Justice Department announced Monday.
The program is part of a nationwide initiative — the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction — that was unveiled Monday by Atty. General Eric Holder Jr.
The strategy includes plans to create a national database that will enable federal, state, tribal, local and international law enforcement partners to coordinate investigations better.
Additionally, Holder said the Justice Department has created 38 additional Assistant U.S. Attorney positions to devote to child exploitation cases. It will also fill vacancies in that area.
“Although we’ve made meaningful progress in protecting children across the country, and although we’ve brought a record number of offenders to justice in recent years, it is time to renew our commitment to this work,” Holder said in a statement.
“It is time to intensify our efforts,” he added. “This new strategy provides the roadmap necessary to do just that – to streamline our education, prevention and prosecution activities; to improve information sharing and collaboration; and to make the most effective use of limited resources.”
