Innocent Images National Initiative investigations.(on child pornography)

IINI undercover operations are being conducted in several FBI field offices by task forces that combine the resources of the FBI with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. Each of the FBI's 56 field offices has worked investigations developed by the IINI. International investigations are coordinated through the FBI's Legal Attache program, which coordinates investigations with the appropriate foreign law enforcement. IINI investigations are also coordinated with Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces, which are funded by the Department of Justice. Furthermore, IINI training is provided to all law enforcement involved in these investigations, including federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies.

During the early stages of Innocent Images, a substantial amount of time was spent conducting investigations on commercial online service providers that provide numerous easily accessible 'chat rooms' in which teenagers and pre-teens can meet and converse with each other. By using chat rooms, children can chat for hours with unknown individuals, often without the knowledge or approval of their parents. Investigation revealed that computer-sex offenders utilized the chat rooms to contact children as a child does not know whether he or she is chatting with a 14-year-old or a 40-year-old. Chat rooms offer the advantage of immediate communication around the world and provide the pedophile with an anonymous means of identifying and recruiting children into sexually illicit relationships.

* Innocent Images has expanded to include investigations involving all areas of the Internet and online services including:

* Internet websites that post child pornography

* Internet News Groups

* Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Channels

* File Servers (?FServes?)