PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD COALITION ANNOUNCED FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

Nashville, TN - February 15, 2007 - Craig Morford, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, has announced the formation of a Project Safe Childhood Coalition here in the Middle District of Tennessee. Project Safe Childhood, a national Department of Justice initiative announced by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales last year, seeks to combine the resources of a broad array of federal, state, local, and private agencies in a concerted effort to combat the sexual exploitation of children by Internet predators. The coalition held its initial meeting in Nashville last week and included representatives from more than 30 agencies, including the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, 5 District Attorney’s offices, 12 local police departments, 6 county sheriff’s departments, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, and United States Probation Office.

In describing the purpose and goals of the coalition, U.S. Attorney Morford explained that “based on the cases our respective agencies have been working, the coalition partners recognize that we are in the midst of an epidemic of sexual exploitation and abuse of innocent young children by Internet predators. The ease and anonymity of the Internet has both revealed and increased the prevalence of those who make, sell, trade, and collect images of child sexual abuse. A society is judged by the things it does to protect its most innocent and vulnerable members from harm and abuse. The coalition members are committed to partnering together in order to leverage our individual resources to have the maximum possible impact in protecting the children of Middle Tennessee.”

The nature of the growing problem of child exploitation in Middle Tennessee is demonstrated by the recent prosecution of Rodney Mullins. In that case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney Trombly, and investigated by Special Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mullins pled guilty to possessing and distributing over 300 pictures and 42 videos depicting children, who appeared to be as young as three years old, engaging in a vast array of sexual conduct, including oral, anal, and vaginal sexual intercourse with adults. Mullins was sentenced last week to serve 10 years in prison with no possibility of parole, followed by six years of supervised release.

The goal of the Project Safe Childhood Coalition is to attack the growing incidence of these types of crimes in Middle Tennessee by increasing the quantity and quality of child exploitation prosecutions as follows:

1. Promoting maximum coordination between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies (a) in the investigation and prosecution of child exploitation cases and

(b) the identification and rescue of child victims. Coordination efforts will include screening cases for federal versus state prosecution to best ensure that the worst offenders receive the maximum possible penalties.

2. Enhancing the ability of law enforcement to pursue local leads generated by national investigations, initiatives, and resource centers. Examples would include local leads generated by organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as well as out-of-state investigations conducted by the FBI, ICE, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and others.

3. Increasing and enhancing the training that is provided to the federal, state, and local investigators and prosecutors assigned to cases involving computer-facilitated crimes against children.

4. Partnering with existing national public awareness and educational programs through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force program, and other similar programs, in order to raise the awareness of parents, children, schools, and local Internet access providers regarding the threats posed to our children by online sexual predators and child pornographers.

The coalition is seeking to expand its current base of agencies to include other interested law enforcement agencies, representatives from local medical providers, various crime victim advocacy groups, education groups, and parental groups. As part of that effort, coalition members plan to offer a comprehensive state-wide two-day training for investigating and prosecuting online crimes against children in April 2007.

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