Each year, more than two million children around the world fall victim to commercial sexual exploitation. The numbers of children sexually abused for non-commercial purposes are even higher. Put simply, the growing, increasingly-organized epidemic of child exploitation demands a coordinated response. The aim of this book is to bring some fresh thinking to this complicated area of the law, and to help erase some of its counterproductive mythology. The book provides the first comprehensive, practical introduction to the history and present-day reality of child sexual exploitation, as well as to the interconnected web of domestic and transnational federal laws and law enforcement efforts launched in response thereto. It is written from the distinctive perspective of those who have spent their careers in the trenches investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating these intricate and commonly emotional cases. Relying on real-world examples, the authors offer proscriptive and descriptive practical advice and reform proposals aimed at those involved at all levels in this difficult area. Serving as a "first-line" resource for clear, practical thinking on the range of complex, and often misunderstood, investigative, prosecutorial, and rehabilitative issues surrounding child exploitation cases, this work is a must-have for anyone with interest in the protection of children from sexual exploitation and trafficking.
About the Author: Virginia M. Kendall is a judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Before being elevated to the federal bench, Judge Kendall served as a deputy chief in the United States Attorney's Office in Chicago, where for more than ten years she served as the child exploitation coordinator. She travels extensively both domestically and internationally teaching judges and lawyers about crimes against women and children, and is an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern University School of Law and Loyola University School of Law. T. Markus Funk served as a federal prosecutor in Chicago for more than ten years, and spent two years in Kosovo as the USDOJ Resident Legal Advisor. He has taught law at, among other places, Oxford University, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the USDOJ National Advocacy Center; was awarded USDOJ and the State Department's highest service awards; and is the author of three books and dozens of criminal law-related articles and book chapters. His legal work is featured in outlets such as CNBC, CNN, the Economist, the Los Angeles Times, the National Law Journal, National Geographic Channel, MSNBC, and the Wall Street Journal.