A review conducted by the Department of Justice’s watchdog has identified major shortcomings in how the Federal Bureau of Investigation handles serious allegations of suspected child abuse. The investigation revealed that out of the child sex abuse cases the FBI was obligated to report, just 17 percent were “fully documented.”
In an examination of 327 child sex abuse cases by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General, 42 cases, or 13 percent, were deemed to require “immediate attention” by the authorities as a critical part of the review. The findings highlighted the FBI’s difficulties in adhering to legal standards for addressing these cases, including the requirement to report them promptly.
The analysis showed that in half of the instances, the FBI neglected to inform child welfare agencies of abuse cases, and among those that were reported, only 43 percent were done within the mandated 24-hour period. Of the cases scrutinized by the Inspector General, only 17 met the criteria to be considered “fully documented” for reporting purposes.
Furthermore, the review uncovered “instances where FBI employees did not comply with relevant law or policy for (a) mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse, (b) victim services, (c) transferring incidents between field offices, and (d) responding to allegations of active and ongoing child sexual abuse within 24 hours.” Such lapses led to dire outcomes.
For instance, “In one example, the FBI received an allegation involving hands-on abuse by a registered sex offender and opened a predicated investigation. However, the FBI did not take appropriate investigative action for over 1 year or refer the suspected child abuse to the state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement agency with jurisdiction,” according to the report. “During this period, the subject allegedly victimized at least one additional minor for a period of approximately 15 months.”
To address these issues, the report offered 11 suggestions aimed at improving how the agency meets its obligations. Recommendations include establishing “a method to monitor FBI employees’ compliance with mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse,” setting “policies for field offices on documenting and responding to incoming allegations of sexual abuse or the sexual exploitation of a child,” and implementing “sufficient controls to prevent users from self-approving documents that require approval/authority within investigative case files.”
