Child Exploitation and Trafficking: Examining the Global Challenges and U.S. Responses

Each year, more than two million children around the world fall victim to commercial sexual exploitation. The numbers of children sexually abused for non-commercial purposes are even higher. Put simply, the growing, increasingly-organized epidemic of child exploitation demands a coordinated response. The aim of this book is to bring some fresh thinking to this complicated area of the law, and to help erase some of its counterproductive mythology. The book provides the first comprehensive, practical introduction to the history and present-day reality of child sexual exploitation, as well as to the interconnected web of domestic and transnational federal laws and law enforcement efforts launched in response thereto. It is written from the distinctive perspective of those who have spent their careers in the trenches investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating these intricate and commonly emotional cases. Relying on real-world examples, the authors offer proscriptive and descriptive practical advice and reform proposals aimed at those involved at all levels in this difficult area. Serving as a "first-line" resource for clear, practical thinking on the range of complex, and often misunderstood, investigative, prosecutorial, and rehabilitative issues surrounding child exploitation cases, this work is a must-have for anyone with interest in the protection of children from sexual exploitation and trafficking.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOREWORD INTRODUCTION SURVEYING THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM THE BROAD DESCRIPTIVE CHALLENGE APPRECIATING THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROBLEM AND ITS ENFORCEMENT CHALLENGES SYNCHRONIZED ABUSE: THE IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME GROUPS ON CHILD TRAFFICKING AND OTHER FORMS OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION PUBLIC CORRUPTION AS THE SILENT PARTNER TO CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION FEDERAL STATUTES TARGETING CHILD EXPLOITATION FINDING THE WORLD'S VOICE: INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS TARGETING THE SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN INVESTIGATING CHILD EXPLOITATION CASES THE SYNDICATE AND THE SCHOLAR: EXAMINING THE ANATOMY OF THE PROSECUTION OF UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PEDIATRICIAN DR. H. MARC WATZMAN THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSNATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS VICTIM WITNESS PROTECTION IN CHILD EXPLOITATION CASES THE DIFFICULT DEFENSE: SURVEYING THE MOST COMMON ISSUES WHEN REPRESENTING INDIVIDUALS ACCUSED OF CHILD EXPLOITATION OVERVIEW OF SELECTED TRIAL ISSUES SENTENCING CONSIDERATIONS IN SEXUAL EXPLOITATION CASES - DOES ANYTHING WORK? CONCLUSION INDEX APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (1989) PREAMBLE APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3 U.S.-THAILAND MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE TREATY APPENDIX 4 SAMPLE LETTER ROGATORY APPENDIX 5 1992 INTER-AMERICAN CONVENTION ON MUTUAL ASSISTANCE IN CRIMINAL MATTERS