OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY PREVENTION WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1984 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:40 a.m., in room 2261, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ike Andrews (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Members present: Representatives Andrews, Williams, Owens, and Petri. Staff present: Gordon A. Raley, staff director; Deborah Hall, clerk; and Edward Larson, Republican assistant counsel for human resources. Mr. ANDREWS. Good morning, Mr. Regnery, and ladies and gentlemen. Pardon me for being a few minutes late this morning. The Governor of North Carolina asked that the Members of our delegation meet with the representatives of the National Guard in North Carolina with respect to enormous damage that occurred there as a result of tornadoes about 2 weeks ago. We just saw some rather horrible pictures and were asked to assist with some Federal aid in that regard. I felt that I just couldn't leave. Twenty-two hundred homes were totally destroyed. Towns of the size of 5,000 or so, had their business districts completely wiped out. It is just a horrible situation, and I felt that I couldn't leave. Mr. Regnery, we are looking forward to your statement. Thank you, sir. [Prepared statement of Alfred S. Regnery follows:] (1) Prepared Statement of Alfred S. Regnery, Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice As you know, Mr. Chairman, when I last appeared before this Subcommittee, I submitted for the record a summary of recent and current program activities of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. My statement also expressed the views of the Administration regarding our support of Title III of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, but opposing reauthorization of Title II, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. At the outset today, I would like to take a few minutes to discuss a major new emphasis of my office that has recently received considerable attention by the news media and some Members of Congress. Unfortunately, some of the published commentaries on elements of our activities have attempted to sensationalize the issue by seriously misrepresenting various aspects of an extremely important and unpleasant subject sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Juveniles as Victims - the The JJDP Act authorizes my office to address issues related to "sexual abuse or exploitation" in the context of juvenile delinquency. We have discovered, Mr. Chairman, that these issues are awesomely complex and the magnitude of related problems is far more extensive than most of us can imagine. Over one million children disappear or run away from their homes every year. Thousands of these children are never accounted for, and virtually all of them are in significant danger of physical, sexual or other criminal exploitation.. Some estimates show as many as 2.4 million teenage boys and girls are engaged in prostitution, and up to one million children-some as young as six months old have been used in pornographic pictures and films. - The child pornography market is estimated by researchers to account for up to $1 billion of the $2-4 billion pornography business. One-half of the victims of reported rapes are under 18; 25 percent are under age 12. In addition, some 2,500 juveniles each year are murdered by psychopathic serial murderers, pedophiles, child prostitution exploiters, and child abusers. Many of these killers were themselves abused as children, and law enforcement reports that many of these victimizers of children have a virtual obsession with pornography. The interrelationship between these issues is an important focus of OJJDP's programs. Through a series of separate projects, including cooperation with the FBI and citizensupported organizations involved in efforts to locate and assist missing children, we have begun to probe these problems systematically. A few days ago, we awarded funds for the establishment of a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Center, which will be located here in Washington, will assist parents, citizen action groups, law enforcement agencies, and state and local governments in dealing with the problem of exploited and missing children. It will coordinate the local resources that are available to assist parents searching for missing children. It will collect information on education and prevention methods that parents can use to prevent abduction of their children, and will collect and correlate effective searching techniques once a child is missing. I OJJDP is also sponsoring a research project that will examine the role of pornography in the abuse of children. might note for the record, Mr. Chairman, that anyone who is inclined to trivialize this project by trying to dismiss pornography as little more than some of the well-known, so-called "girlie" magazines would have to be ignorant of the huge volume of utterly sickening material involving children and adults that is in circulation and that is often found in the possession of child abusers. The assessment of the role of pornography in the exploitation of children will involve an examination of existing research from a variety of disciplines - medicine, sociology, psychology. The results will be analyzed and submitted for a comprehensive review by recognized experts in those disciplines. These experts will attempt to determine what solid facts can be learned from the body of research about the effect pornography might have in producing violent, anti-social behavior by and against children and adults. OJJDP is supporting another major effort to study the possible connection between sexual abuse and exploitation of children and their subsequent juvenile delinquency and criminal violence. The experiences of children who have been used in pornographic activities and those who have survived rape or murder attempts will be studied in an attempt to develop a profile of children who have overcome the trauma of their victimization and are participating in normal activities. A profile of offenders who victimize children also will be developed through interviews with incarcerated pedophiles and serial rapists who began committing rapes as juveniles. In addition, OJJDP and the National Institute of Justice have funded, through Sam Houston State University Criminal Justice Center, a series of planning sessions dealing with missing and exploited children, child prostitution and pornography, and serial murders. This project involves close liaison with the FBI, law enforcement and the academic community, and is designed to assist local law enforcement agencies in dealing with these complex cases. Mr. Chairman, we believe these steps mark the important beginning of a national assault on those responsible for sexual abuse and exploitation of children and we are convinced that any progress in this effort is worth the investment of public funds. School Safety OJJDP has undertaken another initiative in response to President Reagan's announcement last December of a six-part program to improve the American education system. He recognized, as a major priority, the need to restore an atmosphere conducive |