The National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction

enforcement agencies in the United States. ICE routinely coordinates and integratesinvestigative efforts with foreign law enforcement, in order to identify, arrest and prosecute theprincipals who are involved in international pedophilic groups or who travel internationally forthe purpose of having sex with children. As of February 28, 2010, 12,854 sexual predators havebeen arrested as a result of this initiatives conducted under the auspice of Operation Predator. Ofthose, 6,342 have been removed from the United States.The following programs are primary initiatives of the CES and fall under the Operation Predatorumbrella:• National and International OperationsThe CES initiates national and international investigations involving large-scaleproduction and/or distribution of child pornography by individuals and/or groups.These operations seek to dismantle and prosecute the individuals and/or groupswhile disseminating the downstream leads to ICE offices, both domestic andinternational, for further investigation. The CES coordinates these operationswith the U.S. Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section(CEOS). The CES also provides support and guidance to ICE field offices, bothdomestic and international, that are engaged in large scale child exploitationinvestigations.• Virtual Global Task ForceThe Virtual Global Task Force (VGT) is a collaboration of international lawenforcement agencies with the common goal of protecting children from sexualexploitation. The mission of the VGT is to make the Internet a safer place, toidentify, locate and help children at risk, and to hold predators accountable fortheir actions. The VGT was established in 2003 and includes the U.S. (ICE),United Kingdom (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre), Canada(Royal Canadian Mounted Police), Australia (Australian Federal Police), Italy(Postal and Communication Police), the Ministry of Interior for the United ArabEmirates, and The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) as itscurrent members. The VGT is intended to augment, not supplant, existing lawenforcement initiatives and international relationships related to child exploitationissues. ICE is the exclusive U.S. representative to the VGT; the Section ChiefCES serves as the senior practitioner to the VGT.• Child Sex TourismThe Child Sex Tourism (CST) program originated in 1997 and became a majorinitiative after the passage of the 2003 Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools toend the Exploitation of Children Today Act, or PROTECT Act. Child sextourism is a pervasive international problem. These predators often have a longhistory of abusing children, both in the United States and abroad. The CESinvestigates U.S. citizens and/or lawful permanent residents who are arrested in,or traveled to, a foreign country for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts withchildren. The CES is responsible for and the coordinating point for ICE’sNational Child Sex Tourism Strategy. The CES also provides support to ICE83