Sex Crimes Law

Welcome to the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) website. Created in 1987, the mission of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) is to protect the welfare of America’s children and communities by enforcing federal criminal statutes relating to the exploitation of children and obscenity.

It’s heartbreaking—our nation’s children being lured away from their families by sexual predators using the Internet to disguise their intentions. We’re firmly committed to stopping these crimes through our Innocent Images National Initiative. Based in Maryland, it teams FBI agents and local police in proactive task forces around the country, where they work online undercover to investigate those who prey on children. Learn more here about our efforts and how you can help.

Sodomy laws in the United States, laws primarily intended to outlaw certain sexual acts concerning sodomy, were historically pervasive, but have been invalidated by the 2003 Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas. While they were often originally intended to outlaw sex acts between homosexuals, many definitions were broad enough to make certain heterosexual acts illegal as well.

Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure by a person of a portion or portions of his or her own body under circumstances where such an exposure is likely to be deemed an offense against prevalent standards of decency [1] and may in fact be a violation of law.

Polygamy, another non-forcible sex offense, is the crime of marrying more than one spouse while the marriage to a first spouse is still valid and existing. Bigamy is when a person has exactly two spouses at the same time. Bigamy per se consists simply of a person's attempt to marry another person while already married. Bigamy per se does not require a showing of living together as Husband and Wife or of sexual intercourse. Most statutes state that the person must know of the continued validity of the first marriage to be guilty of bigamy. Thus, if a woman reasonably believed that her husband was dead, which would have ended their marriage, she could marry another man without violating bigamy/polygamy statutes.

Another sex-related offense is Incest (sexual intercourse with a close relative). Generally, laws against incest forbid sexual intercourse with those close relatives that the law forbids one from marrying.

Since the 1970s this area of the law has undergone significant changes and reforms. Although the commission of sex offenses is not new, public awareness and concern regarding sex offenses have grown, resulting in the implementation of new rules of evidence and procedure, new police methods and techniques, and new approaches to the investigation and prosecution of sex offenses.

The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers is an international, multi-disciplinary organization dedicated to preventing sexual abuse. Through research, education, and shared learning ATSA promotes evidence based practice, public policy and community strategies that lead to the effective assessment, treatment and management of individuals who have sexually abused or are at risk to abuse.

This Association exists to promote and increase constructive relationships between investigators throughout the state and nation in order to aid in the rapid dissemination of information, as well as to form contacts and liaisons to further assist in the apprehension of offenders. This is done through effective investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases in order to ensure that victims receive the highest level of service and sensitivity and that offenders procure the maximum measure of the law.

CSOM is a national project that supports state and local jurisdictions in the effective management of sex offenders under community supervision. NIC and SJI, in collaboration with the American Probation and Parole Association, joined OJP in managing the project, and are devoting additional resources to support corrections professionals and the judiciary as they address this critical issue within their specific disciplines. The project is administered through a cooperative agreement between OJP and the Center for Effective Public Policy. A National Resource Group has been established to guide the activities of the project. The members of the National Resource Group include some of the country's leading experts and practitioners in the fields of sex offender management, treatment, and supervision.

The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website, coordinated by the U.S. Department of Justice, is a cooperative effort between the Jurisdictions hosting public sex offender registries and the federal government. This Website is a search tool allowing a user to submit a single national query to obtain information about sex offenders through a number of search options

Formed in 1987 by rape crisis advocates as a mutual support group, the mission and purpose of the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault rapidly evolved from basic networking. The Coalition grew to include technical assistance, resource development and policy advocacy for the more than 100 Rape Crisis programs, sister agencies and collaborators statewide that work with survivors of sexual violence and their families.

Parents For Megan's Law, Inc. (PFML) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 community and victim's rights organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of sexual abuse through the provision of education, advocacy, counseling, victim services, policy and legislative support services. We staff the Local and National Megan's Law Help lines. We are a New York State Certified Rape Crisis Center and provide a 24 Hour Local Hotline. PFML has recently expanded its mission to include the new Crime Victims Center, a program designed to link all victims of violent crime with crime victim compensation and multi-agency referrals for support and assistance.

Safer Society Foundation is dedicated to eliminating sexual abuse so that all of us may enjoy safer communities, healthier families and happier lives. Our work focuses on providing resources to help create safer communities through prevention and effective public policy, provide victims with healing and restitution, and provide offenders with the tools to be accountable for their actions and to work towards rehabilitation. We address sexual offending as a public health issue and support efforts to find and implement evidence-based best practices for prevention, treatment, supervision and public policy.

Violence Against Women Online Resources (VAWOR) is a collaborative project between the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), a center within the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota and the U.S.Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women. It is designed to operate as an information dissemination tool to provide resources to the general public, researchers, criminal justice practitioners, advocates, and social service professionals with the latest in research and promising practices regarding issues on violence against women.

This page serves as an adjunct information warehouse for assessment tools, supervision protocols, sexual assault prevention resources, and reference materials that have been generated by both CSOM and other professionals in the field of sex offender management

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention presents population-based epidemiological information about the characteristics of juvenile offenders who commit sex offenses against minors. The authors analyzed data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and provided topical statistics highlighting the fact that juveniles account for more than one-third (35.6 percent) of this type of offender. Findings may support the development of research-based interventions and policies to reduce sexual assault and child molestation as perpetrated by juvenile offenders.

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1.800.656.HOPE and the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline at rainn.org, and publicizes the hotline's free, confidential services; educates the public about sexual assault; and leads national efforts to prevent sexual assault, improve services to victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Criminal Law including: arson, assault, battery, bribery, burglary, child abuse, child pornography, computer crime, controlled substances, credit card fraud, criminal defense, criminal law, drugs and narcotics, DUI, DWI, embezzlement, fraud, expungements, felonies, homicide, identity theft, manslaughter, money laundering, murder, perjury, prostitution, rape, RICO, robbery, sex crimes, shoplifting, theft, weapons, white collar crime and wire fraud.