“In June 2003, the FBI in conjunction with the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative. Their combined efforts were aimed at addressing the growing problem of domestic sex trafficking of children in the United States.

In the five years since its inception, the Initiative has resulted in the development of 24 dedicated task forces and working groups throughout the U.S. involving federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working in tandem with U.S. Attorney’s Offices.

The exploitation of children has unfortunately become a “growth industry,” according to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, but the Bureau is “working every day to find and stop those who prey on our children.”

See also the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children