This article was originally published in the November 2024 edition of the United States Secret Service Association's official magazine, The Pipeline.
By Forensic Services Division Deputy Special Agent in Charge Joan Hoback
In March 2014, I was selected for reassignment from the Protective Intelligence Division to the Forensic Services Division (FSD), National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to serve as the United States Secret Service (Secret Service) federal liaison and NCMEC program manager. This meant shifting gears in my career from addressing threats against our president and other high-profile protectees to focusing on threats against innocent children, which marked a significant transition. This shift required me to adjust my perspective and approach, moving from the realm of high-stakes security to the deeply personal and urgent mission of safeguarding the most vulnerable.
The Secret Service is most widely known for its protection of the president and its role in safeguarding the nation’s financial infrastructure, so it is indeed surprising to many that the agency has a significant role in combatting abductions and child exploitation. Our mission in this space began in 1994 after the passage of the Omnibus Crime Bill (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act). At that time, the Secret Service was mandated to provide forensic and technical support to assist all United States law enforcement agencies, and NCMEC, with the investigation of missing and exploited children cases. Subsequently, FSD began providing support to these case types to include polygraph examinations, age progression/regression, composite sketches, audio/image/video enhancement, speaker identification/recognition, questioned document analysis, fingerprint development and examination, geospatial information mapping system, and digital forensics. Click here to read an article on FSD & NCMEC from the 1996 Service Star Vol 2.
The collective support of any Secret Service program, particularly one as critical as the NCMEC program, hinges on the shared dedication and expertise of the employees who serve in FSD. Each section of this division brings a unique set of skills, perspectives, and insights, which creates a cohesive force that has driven this program forward. FSD is fortunate to have such a highly specialized and passionate group of professionals.
Along with forensic and technical support, the Secret Service also implemented an outreach initiative called the Operation Safe Kids (OSK) program. This program captures biographical information and digitized fingerprints of a child and provides that document to guardians for their retention. In the event the child goes missing, that document can be handed over to law enforcement to aid in the investigation. OSK was the first and largest federally funded outreach program of its kind, and as my team and I implemented this program in schools and communities I often wondered about the origins and history of this nationwide initiative. Who had the bold vision and the tenacity to establish this groundbreaking program that is still thriving today? It wasn’t until I was contacted by Pipeline’s co-editor Jim O’Neill regarding writing this article, that I learned about the tremendous efforts of Gerry Connolly, FSD’s former Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAIC) and his team. This team’s effort created so much goodwill amongst the public and on Capitol Hill that in 1997, then Vice President Al Gore presented the “Hammer Award” to FSD staff in recognition of the OSK program and the support the Secret Service provided to NCMEC. Click here to see photos from the presentation.
This deeper understanding of the OSK program revealed the dedication and effort invested by those who came before me and highlighted the program’s evolution and impact over time. It not only enriched my appreciation for the program’s current achievements, but also fueled my enthusiasm to contribute to its future success.
Despite Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies’ efforts, the persistent issue of child exploitation continued to grow. On April 30, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act of 2003, which expanded the authority of the Secret Service to provide forensic and investigative assistance in support of any domestic or international investigation involving missing or exploited children. Today, FSD has three full-time federal liaison criminal investigators assigned to NCMEC, located in their headquarters in Alexandria, VA. This team is comprised of an ASAIC, and two Special Agents, and is supported by a full time Management and Program Analyst who works in the Secret Service headquarters of FSD. As FSD’s Deputy Special Agent in Charge, I serve as the supervisory program manager and have been directly involved in the FSD/NCMEC program for eight years.
Our Federal Liaisons work on a federal task force that includes colleagues from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Army Criminal Investigation Division, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom. This collaborative team connects field criminal investigators from each agency with NCMEC analysts in the furtherance and development of their cases, research CyberTips, and work across federal lines to provide Secret Service criminal investigators access to a wide array of federal resources. Our Federal Liaisons also bridge the gap between NCMEC and the Internet Crimes Against Children task forces with FSD offering their forensic expertise to criminal investigators, assisting Secret Service personnel with guidance on how to submit Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) evidence and images to NCMEC’s Child Victim Identification Program, and supporting with deconfliction of cases between federal agencies.
In 2023, NCMEC reported a more than 300% increase in child exploitation and abuse cases, highlighting the harsh reality that child exploitation crimes continue to grow in scale and complexity, due to the expansion of digital technology. It is widely known that child sexual exploitation and abuse poses a steady and serious threat to the health, safety, and development of our nation’s children. The Secret Service established the Childhood Smart Program (CSP) to address these escalating risks. This program was created in partnership with NCMEC to teach children, guardians, and child-serving professionals, to recognize signs of adult predatory behavior in the physical and virtual worlds and teaches children real-world, self-protection strategies. The prevention information created by NCMEC and delivered by FSD educates the community and creates safer spaces where children live, learn, and play. The Childhood Smart Program offers presentations related to internet safety, (https://www.missingkids.org/netsmartz/home), (https://www.missingkids.org/education/kidsmartz), Child Sex Trafficking, Sextortion, and a Partnering in Prevention resource for school administrators.
The community’s positive response to CSP was so significant that the Secret Service launched an internal initiative called the FSD Ambassadors Program to enhance its impact. Our Ambassadors, comprised of Special Agents, Uniform Division Officers, and Administrative, Professional, and Technical staff, participate in CSP as a collateral duty assignment and are the reason the program is as successful as it is today.
In January 2024, the Secret Service added over 100 new Ambassadors to enhance the initiative’s capabilities and extend its reach to the community. Our Ambassadors also continue to administer the OSK program.
During fiscal year 2023, Secret Service Ambassadors provided 742 presentations and outreach events reaching 60,820 children, guardians, school, and community employees. Thus far in fiscal year 2024, there have been 1094 events reaching 80,040 participants, our highest to date. Click here to see the current Operation Safe Kids brochure and here to see the information provided to schools about outreach.
In 2022, FSD Ambassadors provided internet safety presentations in a Philadelphia school. These presentations resulted in students disclosing an incident about a 70-year-old school bus driver who was taking video footage under female students’ skirts. As a result of a subsequent investigation by local law enforcement, Bruce Garner was charged with 139 counts of invasion of privacy, unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of communication facility, sexual abuse of children, endangering the welfare of children, and possessing instruments of crime. (https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2022/brave-8th-grade-girl-helps-police-arrest-alleged-child-molester)As a result of the FSD Ambassadors in the Philadelphia field office delivering the internet safety presentation, and the courage of the students who felt they could disclose to a trusted adult, sexual abuse of children was identified and the perpetrator was arrested within days. Garner was sentenced to a term of incarceration from 21 to 48months to be followed by 8 years of probation. He must also register as a sex offender for 25 years.
The Secret Service also provides invaluable investigative support in identifying and convicting child predators. In October 2023, Europol requested assistance concerning the active exploitation of a female infant and toddler in the United States by an unidentified male suspect. Coordinated by NCMEC, various Secret Service components launched an extensive investigation to identify the suspect. Special Agents, Investigative Analysts, and Technical Experts quickly reviewed thousands of CSAM, and using emerging technology and techniques obtained a positive match to Marcus Davis, the children’s father.
Secret Service personnel, in collaboration with the Dayton, OH U.S. Attorney’s Office, submitted an affidavit to support a search warrant for Davis’s residence and a warrant for his arrest. With federal, state, and local partners, the Secret Service executed the search warrant and apprehended Davis in October 2023.During a polygraph examination, Davis admitted to multiple sexual assaults against his children, in addition to past abuse of a third child. He also confessed to producing and uploading CSAM to the dark web and was charged with a number of child sexual exploitation felonies. In February 2024, he pled guilty to four counts in the indictment and was sentenced in the federal case to 100 years in prison, the maximum allowed. The state case which calls for mandatory life in prison without parole will follow. (https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdoh/pr/springfield-man-sentenced-100-years-prison-creating-distributing-child-pornography)
This case highlights a tremendous collaborative effort across Secret Service directorates utilizing various disciplines within the Secret Service. It not only highlights the passion of our employees but also recognizes the state-of-the-art capabilities of this agency. I’m deeply grateful for incredible professionals like these and the brave Secret Service agents who face criminals directly, often at great personal and emotional risk. These employees embody an extraordinary commitment to protecting children and their work requires immense courage and resilience as they confront the harsh realities of criminal behavior.
Take a moment to listen to this Standing Post podcast discussing the support the Secret Service provides to NCMEC.