Blanche Taps Longtime Prosecutor to Coordinate Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Cases
By Sarah N. Lynch
Washington — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday appointed Alessandra Serano, a longtime federal prosecutor, to serve as the Justice Department’s national coordinator on human
trafficking and child exploitation cases.
Serano has worked in various roles at the Justice Department on and off since 2003, including as a prosecutor in the Southern District of California, the Virgin Islands and, most recently, the Eastern District of Virginia.
She has been serving as a senior counsel to the deputy attorney general, and recently completed a temporary assignment with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
As national coordinator, Serano will be responsible for overseeing efforts across the Justice Department and other federal agencies to investigate and prosecute human trafficking and child exploitation crimes.
The role also entails working with the Office of Justice Programs, which awards grant money to victims services organizations that work directly to assist crime victims and local law enforcement.
“Ending human trafficking and the exploitation of children has been and remains one of the highest priorities of the Department of Justice,” Acting Attorney General Blanche said in a statement.
“With today’s appointment of Ali Serano, we are sending a clear and unmistakable message to predators: we are coming for you,” he added.
Human trafficking and child exploitation cases are prosecuted out of the Justice Department’s 93 U.S. Attorney’s Offices. There are also two separate offices in the Criminal Division that handle human trafficking and child exploitation cases, particularly if they span across multiple districts.
Her role will combine oversight of both areas, and be based in the deputy attorney general’s office, effectively elevating the role to a higher level of leadership within the department.
Her appointment comes after the Justice Department announced last week it is investigating the whereabouts of some 300,000 unaccompanied minors — some of whom they fear have been sold into labor or sex trafficking.
DOJ and Department of Homeland Security officials said that they are focused on so-called “super sponsors” who sign up to act as sponsors for three or more unrelated children who enter the U.S. alone.
Some of the unaccompanied children end up being trafficked for labor or sex, they said.
In an interview with CBS News, Serano said the Justice Department’s efforts to track down the missing children will be a priority for the administration as part of its broader mission to combat human trafficking.
“I’m not saying that all of these kids have been trafficked, but I wouldn’t doubt that many of them are. And one kid trafficked is one too many,” she said.
In 120 days, Serano will be tasked with helping to submit a report updating the DOJ’s strategy for combatting child exploitation and human trafficking.
Serano said the Justice Department is seeing a number of trends related to both trafficking and child exploitation cases.
One trend involves “financially motivated sextortion,” she said. The schemes involve a predator pretending to be a teenager online and tricking victims into sending illicit photos of themselves. The predators then threaten to distribute the photos unless the victims send them money.
Another trend involves nihilistic violent extremist groups, such as one known as “764,” in which the group members coerce children to harm themselves or engage in other heinous acts.
In one case in the Middle District of Florida on Monday, a member of 764 pleaded guilty to distributing and possessing child sexual abuse materials, after prosecutors said he caused a minor girl to cut herself and use her blood to write messages. He also distributed gore and sexually explicit images of children.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, a judge sentenced a Maryland man also associated with the 764 group to 30 years in prison for sexually exploiting at least 10 minor females and urging them in some cases to cut themselves with razors and use their own blood to write on the wall.
Serano added that the Justice Department is also seeing more cases involving artificial intelligence-generated images of children being sexually exploited.
