$1 Million from Google to Fight Child Sexual Exploitation Received by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

News provided by

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Jun 18, 2013, 12:06 ET

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® today announced it has received a $1 million grant from Google, Inc. (GOOG) that will help fund its fight to stop the sexual exploitation of children.

In recent years law enforcement has seen a rise in these crimes and in the past 12 months, the National Center has received more than 500,000 reports of child sexual exploitation through its CyberTipline®. In that same time, analysts in its Child Victim Identification Program® have reviewed and analyzed more than 20 million images and videos of suspected child pornography.

"We know that the threat to children from predators is very real because we see it every day in the work that we do," said NCMEC CEO John Ryan. "Thankfully, we also have the opportunity to see people who are committed to protecting children and stopping those who would harm them. Google has made looking for solutions to this problem part of how they do business and we are grateful for that generosity. I know their contribution will have a direct impact on the lives of children around the world who are being victimized."

The National Center is the leading nonprofit in the U.S. working on issues of child protection. The grant will enhance their efforts with the goal of creating more comprehensive support for law enforcement working on cases of child sexual exploitation and greater protection for children.

Google has worked with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to fight online child sexual exploitation for close to a decade. In addition to working with National Center staff on a daily basis to remove illegal child sexual abuse images from its servers, Google continues to develop new cutting edge technology while working with industry leaders on this issue.

"We have a zero tolerance attitude to child sexual abuse imagery online," said Jacqueline Fuller, Director of Google Giving. "The fight to remove these images from the Internet is a global one, and we hope these measures will help in that important battle."

This new grant is part of a $5 million effort from Google to eradicate child abuse imagery online. Additional funding is going to other organizations around the world, including the Internet Watch Foundation in the United Kingdom. Google is also setting up a $2 million Child Protection Technology Fund to encourage the development of new tools and to help existing organizations connect to one another.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1984. Designated by Congress to serve as the nation's clearinghouse on issues related to missing and exploited children, the organization operates the toll-free 24-hour national missing children's hotline which has handled more than 3,762,000 calls. It has assisted law enforcement in the recovery of more than 185,000 children. The organization's CyberTipline has handled more than 1,949,000 reports of child sexual exploitation and its Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 90,420,000 child pornography images and videos. The organization works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. To learn more about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com. Follow NCMEC on Twitter (@missingkids) and like NCMEC on Facebook (Facebook/missingkids).

SOURCE The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children