The Federal Prosecution of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Offenses, 2007-2013

• In Event: Prosecutorial Practices in Cases Involving Minors, Emerging Adults, and Specialized Offenders

Abstract

This paper examined defendants prosecuted federally under commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) charges, from 2007-2013. Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) data were used to conduct the analyses. To identify CSEC defendants, we relied on titles and sections of the U.S. criminal code pertaining to CSEC crimes. Based on these statutes, we analyzed three different types of CSEC offenses: 1) sexual exploitation of children, 2) child pornography offenses, and 3) child sex trafficking. Our analytic cohort of CSEC defendants was defined based on whether any of five filing charges in a case (as recorded in the federal judiciary’s data) was a CSEC charge. We utilized the FJSP dyad link system to track individual case records of CSEC defendants across various stages of the federal criminal justice process (including prosecution, adjudication, sentencing, and corrections) to analyze outcomes such as case disposition, type of sentence, and average prison sentence imposed.

Authors

• Abigail Flynn, Urban Institute

• William Adams, Urban Institute