FBI Seattle Child Exploitation Task Force MOUs Details Mission and Investigation Types

HardPressed has obtained two memorandums of understanding (MOU) signed between the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Seattle Division and two other police departments in Washington State.

The MOUs outline the operation of the Seattle Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force (CEHTTF) and the South Sound Child Exploitation Task Force (CETF).

CEHTTFs operate across the country, and are run by each FBI field office.

Most infamously, the FBI New York Division CEHTTF "initiated a child sex trafficking case" targeting Jeffrey Epstein in December 2018, according to a document released through the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA).

According to another document released through the EFTA, the FBI NY CEHTTF was "coordinating a robust plan to interview a significant number of co-conspirators and victims in the hours/days following the arrest of Epstein (Total of 65)." No male co-conspirators have been arrested by the FBI.

An FBI Seattle MOU outlines the stated priorities of CEHTTF investigations, including: child abductions, sexual exploitation of children enterprises, contact offenses against children, trafficking of child pornography, international parental kidnapping, other crimes against children, and human trafficking enterprises.

According to the FBI MOU, the mission of the CEHTTF "is to provide a rapid, proactive, and intelligence-driven investigative response to the sexual victimization of children and other crimes against children within the FBI's jurisdiction; to identify and rescue child victims; to reduce the vulnerability of children to sexual exploitation and abuse; to reduce the negative impact of domestic and international parental rights disputes; and to strengthen the capabilities of the FBI and federal, state, local, and international law enforcement through training, intelligence-sharing, technical support, and investigative assistance."

The MOUs are boilerplate documents, similar to the Joint Terrorism Task Force and Safe Streets Task Force MOUs previously uncovered by HardPressed.

HardPressed has also found, that local police task force officers can rake in thousands of dollars in overtime when assigned to work with the FBI. In 2017, task force officers were permitted to bill the FBI up to $18,042/yr in overtime according to an FBI email obtained through a public records request.

All too often, when news is made and press conferences are called, its these task forces that are involved in making that news.