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Overview[]

In 1995 the FBI established a nationwide initiative to combat the proliferation of online child sexual exploitation. The Innocent Images National Initiative (IINI), a component of the FBI Cyber Division, is a proactive, investigative initiative whose mission is to combat the proliferation of child pornography facilitated by computer. This initiative is composed of agents working at regional offices nationwide and may involve agents from any of the FBI’s 56 field offices.

Innocent Images provides centralized coordination and analysis of case information that is national and international in scope and requires coordination with state, local, and international governments as well as among FBI field offices and legal attaches. Its mission is to:

  • identify, investigate, and prosecute sexual predators who use the Internet and online services to sexually exploit children;
  • establish a law enforcement presence on the Internet as a deterrent to subjects that use the Internet to exploit children; and
  • identify and rescue witting and unwitting child victims.

Today the Innocent Images National Initiative focuses on:

  • Online organizations, enterprises, and communities that exploit children for profit or personal gain.
  • Major distributors of child pornography, such as those who appear to have transmitted a large volume of child pornography via an online computer on several occasions to several other people.
  • Producers of child pornography.
  • Individuals who travel, or indicate a willingness to travel, for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a minor.
  • Possessors of child pornography.
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