National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

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The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) (in German: "National Center for Missing and Exploited Children") is a private, not-for-profit organization founded in 1984 by the Congress of the United States . In September 2013, under the Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2013, the US House of Representatives , the US Senate and the President of the United States re - approved a $ 40 million grant for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

The NCMEC handles cases of missing or exploited children from infancy to adults aged 20 and over. The current chair of the organization is Michelle C. DeLaune.

history

Foundation and early years

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children was founded in 1984, spurred on by notable child abductions such as the kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Adam Walsh from a mall in Hollywood , Florida in 1981 and the kidnapping of six-year-old Etan Patz 1979 from New York City . Since police were able to record and track information about stolen cars, stolen weapons and even stolen horses using the FBI's national crime computer , it was believed that the same should be done to help protect child victims and the kidnappers who exploited them, to find.

In 1984, the United States Congress passed the Missing Children's Assistance Act, which established a national resource center for missing and exploited children. On June 13, 1984, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, founded by the parents of Adam Walsh, Revé and John Walsh, along with other child advocates, was turned into one by President Ronald Reagan Ceremony officially opened at the White House . The national toll-free 24-hour hotline for missing children, 1-800-THE-LOST, was also set up.

Funded primarily by the Department of Justice, the NCMEC acts as an information clearinghouse and resource for parents, children, law enforcement agencies, schools, and communities to assist in finding missing children and the public on ways to prevent child abduction, child sexual abuse, and child pornography to enlighten. John Walsh, Noreen Gosch, and others endorsed the establishment of the center because of a frustrated experience stemming from a lack of resources and national coordination between law enforcement and other government agencies at the time.

The center provides information to help locate missing children (through parental abduction, child abduction or running away from home) and to help physically and sexually abused children. In this capacity as a resource, the NCMEC distributes photos of missing children and receives tips and information from the public. It also coordinates these activities with numerous state and federal law enforcement agencies.

In the mid to late 1980s, the toy teddy Ruxpin became the center's official trademark at the height of its popularity. Because of this partnership, some children's stories contained additional information for children to protect them from kidnapping, sex offenders, etc. Among other things, this led to the fact that his animated series contained a clip entitled "Protect Yourself", in which safety information for children was given by child actors who were popular at the time. The relationship with the Teddy Ruxpin bear ended when it became known that the toy was made through child labor .

The center specializes not only in searching for missing children, but also in identifying the deceased. There are a number of unidentified deaths in the United States, including some children, teenagers, and young adults. As with missing children, posters are made for the cases and it is possible to show forensic facial reconstructions showing an assessment of their appearance during their lifetime. The reconstructions made by the NCMEC are considered state of the art and were often mistaken for photos.

On April 6, 2018, Forbes magazine announced that the US Department of Justice had seized and closed Backpage.com on the grounds that it had frequently facilitated human trafficking .

NCMEC issued a statement: "The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has just learned that Backpage.com has been seized by the FBI, the IRS, and the US Postal Inspection Service with analytical assistance from the Joint Regional Intelligence Center. This is another step in the years Fight against the exploitation of child victims bought and sold for sex on Backpage.com (...) ".

In 2019, NCMEC assisted law enforcement and families with more than 29,000 missing child cases.

The cases were structured as follows:

  • 91 percent of outliers at risk.
  • 4 percent family abductions.
  • 4 percent critically missing young adults between the ages of 18 and 20.
  • Less than 1 percent kidnappings outside of the family.
  • 1 percent lost, injured or otherwise missing children.

Of the nearly 26,300 outliers reported to the NCMEC in 2019, likely one in six were a victim of child sex trafficking, according to the NCMEC.

CyberTipline

The NCMEC operates CyberTipline, which was established by Congress to handle reports of child sexual exploitation (including child pornography, online seduction, and contact crime). The NCMEC will review these reports and forward them to the appropriate law enforcement agency or the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. In addition to the information provided by the reporting party, the NCMEC will typically add geolocation information (if applicable) and cross-references to identify information such as email address, username or IP address to existing CyberTipline reports.

Anyone can submit a report to CyberTipline, but certain electronic service providers who become aware of the presence of child pornography on their systems are required to report, and ESPs are not required to actively search for child pornography or attempt to track down child pornography . In 2018, CyberTipline processed 18.4 million reports.

US Child Return Requests

Alicia Kozakiewicz at the headquarters of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, VA

Effective September 5, 1995, requests for the return of or access to children in the United States under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction were submitted through the NCMEC for the United States Department of State, Office of Children's Issues, edited on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Justice. On April 1, 2008, the government resumed the role of the US Central Agency for handling incoming cases under the Hague Child Abduction Convention .

International

In 1998 the NCMEC Board approved the creation of a separate international organization, the International Center for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC); the two now function as sister organizations. The ICMEC combats sexual exploitation of children, child pornography and child abduction. The ICMEC held its first board meeting in 1998. It was officially launched in April 1999.

According to data compiled by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, between 2011 and 2015, 45 percent of children reported missing in America were found after being missing between six and 11 months; 27 percent were found if they were missing between one and two years; 19 percent if they were missing between two and five years; 5 percent between six and 10 years; 3 percent if they were missing between 11 and 20 years of age; and only 1 percent of missing children have been found if they have been missing for over 20 years.

The ICMEC and the NCMEC operate a global network for missing children in 22 countries.

The ICMEC has trained law enforcement staff from 121 countries, has worked with law enforcement agencies in over 100 countries, and worked with lawmakers in 100 countries to pass new laws to combat child pornography. ICMEC also promotes the creation of national centers of action based on a public-private partnership model and leads global financial and industrial coalitions to eradicate child sexual exploitation and child pornography. The Koons Family Institute on International Law and Policy is the research arm of the international center. In August 2008 the ICMEC received "Special Consultative Status" from the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) to support the UN with its expertise on the sexual exploitation of children and child abduction.

The ICMEC also works with the intergovernmental organization Interpol , the Intercontinental Organization of American States (OAS) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law .

NCMEC is also a partner of PACT Parents and Abducted Children Together in the UK .

Board and staff members

  • John F. Clark, President and CEO
  • Karen Tandy, CEO
  • Revé Walsh, co-founder
  • John Walsh, co-founder
  • Dennis DeConcini , former United States Senator

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. In: missingkids.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2012 ; accessed on July 18, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b missingkids.com
  3. ↑ a b Profiles in Evil ISBN 978-0-70885449-5 p. 62
  4. ↑ a b Key Facts. Accessed April 30, 2020 .
  5. ↑ amberalert.gov
  6. ↑ ncjrs.gov
  7. ↑ James F. Clarity, Warren Weaver Jr: BRIEFING; All Hail Bear. In: The New York Times. September 26, 1985, accessed July 18, 2020 .
  8. ^ Adam Rodewald: Unidentified murder victim a 'total nightmare' case for detectives. August 5, 2013, archived from the original on July 14, 2015 ; accessed on July 9, 2015 .
  9. ^ Missing children group talks about creating sketch for Deer Island girl. In: My Fox Boston. July 6, 2015, archived from the original on July 10, 2015 ; accessed on July 9, 2015 .
  10. ↑ DOJ Seizes Backpage.com Weeks After Congress Passes Sex Trafficking Law. April 6, 2018, accessed November 20, 2018 .
  11. ↑ NCMEC statement on #Backpage developments. April 7, 2018, accessed November 20, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Understanding NCMEC CyberTipline Reports. In: tracedf-new. Retrieved August 30, 2019 .
  13. ↑ NCMEC Data. In: www.missingkids.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019 .
  14. ↑ 18 US Code § 2258A - Reporting requirements of providers. Legal Information Institute, accessed August 30, 2019 .
  15. ^ Bringing Hague Return Proceedings in the United States. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012 ; accessed on August 12, 2010 (English).
  16. ^ Missing Children website. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015 ; accessed on July 18, 2020 (English).
  17. ^ National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; Law & Legal Definition. uslegal.com, accessed July 18, 2020 .
  18. ^ Missing Children Organizations; ICMEC (International Center for Missing and Exploited Children). Find Madeleine, accessed July 18, 2020 .
  19. ↑ a b The Creation of ICMEC. ICMEC, archived from the original on December 5, 2014 ; accessed on July 18, 2020 (English).
  20. ^ Weekends in the Hamptons, weekdays in Manhattan. In: New York Social Diary. June 22, 2010, accessed July 18, 2020 .
  21. ↑ Christopher Meyer: DC Confidential . Orion Publishing Group, 2011, ISBN 1-78022-077-4 ( online ).
  22. ^ National Expert Gives Opinion on Mendocino County Cold Case IDs. In: Ukiah Daily Journal. Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
  23. ↑ International Center for Missing & Exploited Children Granted Special Status with United Nations. August 12, 2008, archived from the original on September 30, 2008 ; accessed on July 18, 2020 (English).
  24. ↑ Rhona Schuz: The Hague Child Abduction Convention: A Critical Analysis . A&C Black, 2014, ISBN 1-78225-308-4 , pp. 82-83 ( online ).