118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1170 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize and update the Project Safe Childhood 

program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Project Safe Childhood 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD MODERNIZATION. 

5 Section 143 of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and 

6 Safety Act of 2006 (34 U.S.C. 20942) is amended to read 

7 as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 143. PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL.—The 

11 term ‘child sexual abuse material’ has the meaning 

12 given the term ‘child pornography’ in section 2256 

13 of title 18, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(2) CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF15 FENSE.—The term ‘child sexual exploitation offense’ 

16 means— 

17 ‘‘(A)(i) an offense involving a minor under 

18 section 1591 or chapter 117 of title 18, United 

19 States Code; 

20 ‘‘(ii) an offense under subsection (a), (b), 

21 or (c) of section 2251 of title 18, United States 

22 Code; 

23 ‘‘(iii) an offense under section 2251A or 

24 2252A(g) of title 18, United States Code; or 

25 ‘‘(iv) any attempt or conspiracy to commit 

26 an offense described in clause (i) or (ii); or 
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1 ‘‘(B) an offense involving a minor under a 

2 State or Tribal statute that is similar to a pro3 vision described in subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(3) CIRCLE OF TRUST OFFENDER.—The term 

5 ‘circle of trust offender’ means an offender who is 

6 related to, or in a position of trust, authority, or su7 pervisory control with respect to, a child. 

8 ‘‘(4) COMPUTER.—The term ‘computer’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 1030 of title 18, 

10 United States Code. 

11 ‘‘(5) CONTACT SEXUAL OFFENSE.—The term 

12 ‘contact sexual offense’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) an offense involving a minor under 

14 chapter 109A of title 18, United States Code, 

15 or any attempt or conspiracy to commit such an 

16 offense; or 

17 ‘‘(B) an offense involving a minor under a 

18 State or Tribal statute that is similar to a pro19 vision described in subparagraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(6) DUAL OFFENDER.—The term ‘dual of21 fender’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) a person who commits— 

23 ‘‘(i) a technology-facilitated child sex24 ual exploitation offense or an offense in25 volving child sexual abuse material; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) a contact sexual offense; and 

2 ‘‘(B) without regard to whether the of3 fenses described in clauses (i) and (ii) of sub4 paragraph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) are committed as part of the 

6 same course of conduct; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) involve the same victim. 

8 ‘‘(7) FACILITATOR.—The term ‘facilitator’ 

9 means an individual who facilitates the commission 

10 by another individual of— 

11 ‘‘(A) a technology-facilitated child sexual 

12 exploitation offense or an offense involving child 

13 sexual abuse material; or 

14 ‘‘(B) a contact sexual offense. 

15 ‘‘(8) ICAC AFFILIATE PARTNER.—The term 

16 ‘ICAC affiliate partner’ means a law enforcement 

17 agency that has entered into a formal operating 

18 agreement with the ICAC Task Force Program. 

19 ‘‘(9) ICAC TASK FORCE.—The term ‘ICAC task 

20 force’ means a task force that is part of the ICAC 

21 Task Force Program. 

22 ‘‘(10) ICAC TASK FORCE PROGRAM.—The term 

23 ‘ICAC Task Force Program’ means the National 

24 Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Pro25 gram established under section 102 of the PRO-
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1 TECT Our Children Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 

2 21112). 

3 ‘‘(11) OFFENSE INVOLVING CHILD SEXUAL

4 ABUSE MATERIAL.—The term ‘offense involving 

5 child sexual abuse material’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) an offense under section 2251(d), 

7 section 2252, or paragraphs (1) through (6) of 

8 section 2252A(a) of title 18, United States 

9 Code, or any attempt or conspiracy to commit 

10 such an offense; or 

11 ‘‘(B) an offense under a State or Tribal 

12 statute that is similar to a provision described 

13 in subparagraph (A). 

14 ‘‘(12) SERIOUS OFFENDER.—The term ‘serious 

15 offender’ means— 

16 ‘‘(A) an offender who has committed a 

17 contact sexual offense or child sexual exploi18 tation offense; 

19 ‘‘(B) a dual offender, circle of trust of20 fender, or facilitator; or 

21 ‘‘(C) an offender with a prior conviction 

22 for a contact sexual offense, a child sexual ex23 ploitation offense, or an offense involving child 

24 sexual abuse material. 
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1 ‘‘(13) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State 

2 of the United States, the District of Columbia, and 

3 any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

4 United States. 

5 ‘‘(14) TECHNOLOGY-FACILITATED.—The term 

6 ‘technology-facilitated’, with respect to an offense, 

7 means an offense that is committed through the use 

8 of a computer, even if the use of a computer is not 

9 an element of the offense. 

10 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Attorney 

11 General shall create and maintain a nationwide initiative 

12 to align Federal, State, and local entities to combat the 

13 growing epidemic of online child sexual exploitation and 

14 abuse, to be known as the ‘Project Safe Childhood pro15 gram’, in accordance with this section. 

16 ‘‘(c) BEST PRACTICES.—The Attorney General, in 

17 coordination with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity 

18 Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of 

19 Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

20 Prevention of the Department of Justice, and in consulta21 tion with training and technical assistance providers under 

22 the ICAC Task Force Program who are funded by the At23 torney General and with appropriate nongovernmental or24 ganizations, shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) develop best practices to adopt a balanced 

2 approach to the investigation of suspect leads involv3 ing contact sexual offenses, child sexual exploitation 

4 offenses, and offenses involving child sexual abuse 

5 material, and the prosecution of those offenses, 

6 prioritizing when feasible the identification of a child 

7 victim or a serious offender, which approach shall 

8 incorporate the use of— 

9 ‘‘(A) proactively generated leads, including 

10 leads generated by current and emerging tech11 nology; 

12 ‘‘(B) in-district investigative referrals; and 

13 ‘‘(C) CyberTipline reports from the Na14 tional Center for Missing and Exploited Chil15 dren; 

16 ‘‘(2) develop best practices to be used by each 

17 United States Attorney and ICAC task force to as18 sess the likelihood that an individual could be a seri19 ous offender or that a child victim may be identified; 

20 ‘‘(3) develop and implement a tracking and 

21 communication system for Federal, State, and local 

22 law enforcement agencies and prosecutor’s offices to 

23 report successful cases of victim identification and 

24 child rescue to the Department of Justice and the 

25 public; and 
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1 ‘‘(4) encourage the submission of all lawfully 

2 seized visual depictions to the Child Victim Identi3 fication Program of the National Center for Missing 

4 and Exploited Children. 

5 ‘‘(d) IMPLEMENTATION.—Except as authorized 

6 under subsection (e), funds authorized under this section 

7 may only be used for the following 4 purposes: 

8 ‘‘(1) Integrated Federal, State, and local efforts 

9 to investigate and prosecute contact sexual offenses, 

10 child sexual exploitation offenses, and offenses in11 volving child sexual abuse material, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) the partnership by each United 

13 States Attorney with each Internet Crimes 

14 Against Children Task Force within the district 

15 of such attorney; 

16 ‘‘(B) training of Federal, State, and local 

17 law enforcement officers and prosecutors 

18 through— 

19 ‘‘(i) programs facilitated by the ICAC 

20 Task Force Program; 

21 ‘‘(ii) ICAC training programs sup22 ported by the Office of Juvenile Justice 

23 and Delinquency Prevention of the Depart24 ment of Justice; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) programs facilitated by appro2 priate nongovernmental organizations with 

3 subject matter expertise, technical skill, or 

4 technological tools to assist in the identi5 fication of and response to serious offend6 ers, contact sexual offenses, child sexual 

7 exploitation offenses, or offenses involving 

8 child sexual abuse material; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) any other program that provides 

10 training— 

11 ‘‘(I) on the investigation and 

12 identification of serious offenders or 

13 victims of contact sexual offenses, 

14 child sexual exploitation offenses, or 

15 offenses involving child sexual abuse 

16 material; or 

17 ‘‘(II) that specifically addresses 

18 the use of existing and emerging tech19 nologies to commit or facilitate con20 tact sexual offenses, child sexual ex21 ploitation offenses, or offenses involv22 ing child sexual abuse material; 

23 ‘‘(C) the development by each United 

24 States Attorney of a district-specific strategic 

25 plan to coordinate with State and local law en-
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1 forcement agencies and prosecutor’s offices, in2 cluding ICAC task forces and their ICAC affil3 iate partners, on the investigation of suspect 

4 leads involving serious offenders, contact sexual 

5 offenses, child sexual exploitation offenses, and 

6 offenses involving child sexual abuse material, 

7 and the prosecution of those offenders and of8 fenses, which plan— 

9 ‘‘(i) shall include— 

10 ‘‘(I) the use of the best practices 

11 developed under paragraphs (1) and 

12 (2) of subsection (c); 

13 ‘‘(II) the development of plans 

14 and protocols to target and rapidly in15 vestigate cases involving potential se16 rious offenders or the identification 

17 and rescue of a victim of a contact 

18 sexual offense, a child sexual exploi19 tation offense, or an offense involving 

20 child sexual abuse material; 

21 ‘‘(III) the use of training and 

22 technical assistance programs to in23 corporate victim-centered, trauma-in24 formed practices in cases involving 

25 victims of contact sexual offenses, 
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1 child sexual exploitation offenses, and 

2 offenses involving child sexual abuse 

3 material, which may include the use of 

4 child protective services, children’s ad5 vocacy centers, victim support special6 ists, or other supportive services; 

7 ‘‘(IV) the development of plans to 

8 track, report, and clearly commu9 nicate successful cases of victim iden10 tification and child rescue to the De11 partment of Justice and the public; 

12 ‘‘(V) an analysis of the investiga13 tive and forensic capacity of law en14 forcement agencies and prosecutor’s 

15 offices within the district, and goals 

16 for improving capacity and effective17 ness; 

18 ‘‘(VI) a written policy describing 

19 the criteria for referrals for prosecu20 tion from Federal, State, or local law 

21 enforcement agencies, particularly 

22 when the investigation may involve a 

23 potential serious offender or the iden24 tification or rescue of a child victim; 
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1 ‘‘(VII) plans and budgets for 

2 training of relevant personnel on con3 tact sexual offenses, child sexual ex4 ploitation offenses, and offenses in5 volving child sexual abuse material; 

6 ‘‘(VIII) plans for coordination 

7 and cooperation with State, local, and 

8 Tribal law enforcement agencies and 

9 prosecutorial offices; and 

10 ‘‘(IX) evidence-based programs 

11 that educate the public about and in12 crease awareness of such offenses; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) shall be developed in consulta14 tion, as appropriate, with— 

15 ‘‘(I) the local ICAC task force; 

16 ‘‘(II) the United States Marshals 

17 Service Sex Offender Targeting Cen18 ter; 

19 ‘‘(III) training and technical as20 sistance providers under the ICAC 

21 Task Force Program who are funded 

22 by the Attorney General; 

23 ‘‘(IV) nongovernmental organiza24 tions with subject matter expertise, 

25 technical skill, or technological tools 
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1 to assist in the identification of and 

2 response to contact sexual offenses, 

3 child sexual exploitation offenses, or 

4 offenses involving child sexual abuse 

5 material; 

6 ‘‘(V) any relevant component of 

7 Homeland Security Investigations; 

8 ‘‘(VI) any relevant component of 

9 the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 

10 ‘‘(VII) the Office of Juvenile Jus11 tice and Delinquency Prevention of 

12 the Department of Justice; 

13 ‘‘(VIII) the Child Exploitation 

14 and Obscenity Section of the Criminal 

15 Division of the Department of Justice; 

16 ‘‘(IX) the United States Postal 

17 Inspection Service; 

18 ‘‘(X) the United States Secret 

19 Service; and 

20 ‘‘(XI) each military criminal in21 vestigation organization of the De22 partment of Defense; and 

23 ‘‘(D) a quadrennial assessment by each 

24 United States Attorney of the investigations 

25 within the district of such attorney of contact 
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1 sexual offenses, child sexual exploitation of2 fenses, and offenses involving child sexual abuse 

3 material— 

4 ‘‘(i) with consideration of— 

5 ‘‘(I) the variety of sources for 

6 leads; 

7 ‘‘(II) the proportion of work in8 volving proactive or undercover law 

9 enforcement investigations; 

10 ‘‘(III) the number of serious of11 fenders identified and prosecuted; and 

12 ‘‘(IV) the number of children 

13 identified or rescued; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) information from which may be 

15 used by the United States Attorney, as ap16 propriate, to revise the plan described in 

17 subparagraph (C). 

18 ‘‘(2) Major case coordination by the Depart19 ment of Justice (or other Federal agencies as appro20 priate), including specific cooperation, as appro21 priate, with— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Child Exploitation and Obscenity 

23 Section of the Criminal Division of the Depart24 ment of Justice; 
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1 ‘‘(B) any relevant component of Homeland 

2 Security Investigations; 

3 ‘‘(C) any relevant component of the Fed4 eral Bureau of Investigation; 

5 ‘‘(D) the ICAC task forces and ICAC affil6 iate partners; 

7 ‘‘(E) the United States Marshals Service, 

8 including the Sex Offender Targeting Center; 

9 ‘‘(F) the United States Postal Inspection 

10 Service; 

11 ‘‘(G) the United States Secret Service; 

12 ‘‘(H) each Military Criminal Investigation 

13 Organization of the Department of Defense; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(I) any task forces established in connec16 tion with the Project Safe Childhood program 

17 set forth under subsection (b). 

18 ‘‘(3) Increased Federal involvement in, and 

19 commitment to, the prevention and prosecution of 

20 technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation of21 fenses or offenses involving child sexual abuse mate22 rial by— 

23 ‘‘(A) using technology to identify victims 

24 and serious offenders; 
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1 ‘‘(B) developing processes and tools to 

2 identify victims and offenders; and 

3 ‘‘(C) taking measures to improve informa4 tion sharing among Federal law enforcement 

5 agencies, including for the purposes of imple6 menting the plans and protocols described in 

7 paragraph (1)(C)(i)(II) to identify and rescue— 

8 ‘‘(i) victims of contact sexual offenses, 

9 child sexual exploitation offenses, and of10 fenses involving child sexual abuse mate11 rial; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) victims of serious offenders. 

13 ‘‘(4) The establishment, development, and im14 plementation of a nationally coordinated ‘Safer 

15 Internet Day’ every year developed in collaboration 

16 with the Department of Education, national and 

17 local internet safety organizations, parent organiza18 tions, social media companies, and schools to pro19 vide— 

20 ‘‘(A) national public awareness and evi21 dence-based educational programs about the 

22 threats posed by circle of trust offenders and 

23 the threat of contact sexual offenses, child sex24 ual exploitation offenses, or offenses involving 
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1 child sexual abuse material, and the use of 

2 technology to facilitate those offenses; 

3 ‘‘(B) information to parents and children 

4 about how to avoid or prevent technology-facili5 tated child sexual exploitation offenses; and 

6 ‘‘(C) information about how to report pos7 sible technology-facilitated child sexual exploi8 tation offenses or offenses involving child sexual 

9 abuse material through— 

10 ‘‘(i) the National Center for Missing 

11 and Exploited Children; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the ICAC Task Force Program; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) any other program that— 

15 ‘‘(I) raises national awareness 

16 about the threat of technology-facili17 tated child sexual exploitation offenses 

18 or offenses involving child sexual 

19 abuse material; and 

20 ‘‘(II) provides information to par21 ents and children seeking to report 

22 possible violations of technology-facili23 tated child sexual exploitation offenses 

24 or offenses involving child sexual 

25 abuse material. 
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1 ‘‘(e) EXPANSION OF PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD.— 

2 Notwithstanding subsection (d), funds authorized under 

3 this section may be also be used for the following pur4 poses: 

5 ‘‘(1) The addition of not less than 20 Assistant 

6 United States Attorneys at the Department of Jus7 tice, relative to the number of such positions as of 

8 the day before the date of enactment of the Project 

9 Safe Childhood Act, who shall be— 

10 ‘‘(A) dedicated to the prosecution of cases 

11 in connection with the Project Safe Childhood 

12 program set forth under subsection (b); and 

13 ‘‘(B) responsible for assisting and coordi14 nating the plans and protocols of each district 

15 under subsection (d)(1)(C)(i)(II). 

16 ‘‘(2) Such other additional and related purposes 

17 as the Attorney General determines appropriate. 

18 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of car20 rying out this section, there are authorized to be ap21 propriated— 

22 ‘‘(A) for the activities described under 

23 paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (d), 

24 $28,550,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 

25 through 2028; 
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1 ‘‘(B) for the activities described under sub2 section (d)(4), $4,000,000 for each of fiscal 

3 years 2023 through 2028; and 

4 ‘‘(C) for the activities described under sub5 section (e), $29,100,000 for each of fiscal years 

6 2023 through 2028. 

7 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 

8 made available to State and local agencies, pro9 grams, and services under this section shall supple10 ment, and not supplant, other Federal, State, or 

11 local funds made available for those agencies, pro12 grams, and services.’’. 

Passed the Senate October 24, 2023. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1170 

AN ACT 

Childhood program, and for other purposes. 

To reauthorize and update the Project Safe