DOJ Audit Reveals FBI Failures in Handling Child Abuse Cases

An investigation by the Justice Department’s watchdog has identified major shortcomings in the way the Federal Bureau of Investigation handles serious allegations of suspected child abuse. The investigation found that of the child sexual abuse cases the FBI was required to report, only 17 percent were “fully documented.”

In a review of 327 child sexual abuse cases by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General, 42 cases, or 13 percent, were deemed by authorities to require “immediate attention” as a critical part of the review. The findings highlighted the FBI’s difficulty in adhering to legal standards for handling these cases, including the requirement to report them immediately.

The analysis found that the FBI failed to notify child protective services about abuse incidents in half of the cases, and of the cases that were reported, only 43 percent were reported within the required 24-hour period. Of the cases reviewed by the inspector general, only 17 met the criteria to be considered “fully documented” for reporting purposes.

In addition, the investigation “revealed instances in which FBI employees failed to comply with relevant laws or policies for (a) mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse, (b) victim assistance, (c) transferring incidents between field offices, and (d) responding within 24 hours to allegations of active and ongoing child sexual abuse.” Such failures led to serious consequences.

For example, “In one example, the FBI received an allegation of hands-on abuse by a registered sex offender and opened an investigation. However, the FBI failed to take appropriate investigative action for over 1 year and failed to refer the suspected child abuse to the state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) law enforcement agency having jurisdiction,” the report said. “During this time period, the subject allegedly abused at least one additional minor over a period of approximately 15 months.”

To address these issues, the report offered 11 suggestions for improving how the agency meets its obligations. Recommendations included establishing “a method to monitor FBI employees’ compliance with mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse,” establishing “field office policies on how to document and respond to incoming allegations of child sexual abuse or exploitation,” and implementing “sufficient controls to prevent users from self-approving documents requiring approval/authority within investigative files.”