36.2M
NCMEC reports of suspected CSEM in 2023 — a tenfold increase over the previous decade.
United States · Proposed Federal Authority · 2026
CEPRA
Child Exploitation Prevention and Response Authority
Every year, tens of thousands of American children are trafficked, abused, and sold — often by people they trusted. The laws still allow commercial sexual activity at 16 or 18. Enforcement is fragmented. Funding is a rounding error. CEPRA is the case for closing those gaps.
The documented scale
39,000+
ICAC cases in FY2022 — a fraction of what is ever reported, let alone investigated.
88.3M
CSEM files reported by platforms in 2023 — with no criminal liability for systemic failure.
48 hrs
Trafficking risk window after foster-care exit — documented in urban case reviews.
Three moves
Unify the mission. Fund it. Close the law.
01
Unify the mandate
One authority. One chain of command. End the jurisdictional handoffs that let cases die between desks.
02
Fund the work
$1 billion per year, ring-fenced — so prevention, investigation, and survivor care are not competing with rounding errors.
03
Close the law
Raise the commercial sexual activity and explicit-material production age threshold to 21 where it is currently legal at 16 or 18.
$73 million versus $50 billion
ICAC (approx.)
$73M
Federal drug enforcement
>$50B
Scale is linear. ICAC is a sliver.
Congress does not need another study.
The evidence is public. The gaps are mapped. What remains is political will.