Hope for Justice is backing a U.S. bill which would fortify efforts to identify child victims of online sexual exploitation.
Child online sexual exploitation is where technology is used to coerce, manipulate or deceive children under 18 into sexual activity.
It is critical that we protect and safeguard children from this horrific form of exploitation, and so we are proud to endorse the bipartisan Renewed Hope Act. The legislation would strengthen federal government’s work to identify the boys and girls who are depicted in child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Sarah Butler, our United States Program Director, said: “The Renewed Hope Act is a critical step toward protecting our most vulnerable children. By strengthening resources for investigators, advancing technology, and improving coordination among agencies, this bipartisan legislation ensures that predators are held accountable and that every child has a better chance of being found, protected, and restored to safety. We are proud to support this legislation.”
The bill unanimously passed the House Judiciary Committee this week and will now proceed to the full House for consideration. It was reintroduced by Representative Laurel Lee and is being co-led by Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Why do we need to improve identification efforts?
Since 2024, the number of children depicted in sexual abuse material has risen from 57,000 to more than 89,000, according to U.S. Congresswoman Laurel Lee’s office.
A recent study shows a 1,325% rise in harmful AI-generated online abuse material, such as deepfakes placing real children’s faces onto sexual images, in just one year. Specifically, there were 67,000 such reports logged by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2024, compared to about 4,700 the year before.
In 2024, NCMEC received more than 546,000 reports of online enticement, a 192% increase compared to 2023. Online enticement is when an adult initiates contact with a child for sexual purposes, which includes sextortion.
Most reports made to the CyberTipline in 2024 (including reports of images, videos and other files), related to suspected child sexual abuse material (CSAM). There were reports of 62.9 million images, videos and other files related to child sexual exploitation.
What would the Renewed Hope Act achieve?
If it becomes law as we hope, the legislation will:
- Increase the size of the teams responding to online child sexual exploitation within law enforcement. It would improve the hiring, training and retention of specialized victim identification personnel within Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It calls for them to hire, train and assign no fewer than 40 forensics analysts, 30 child exploitation investigators and 130 additional forensics analysts and child exploitation investigators to support identification and rescue of victims of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
We believe that the involvement of these trained specialists would greatly enhance efforts to identify, locate and rescue children who are trapped in situations of ongoing exploitation.
Here is the full press release from Congresswoman Laurel Lee, who is leading the legislation:
Congresswoman Lee’s Bipartisan Renewed Hope Act Passes House Judiciary Committee
January 14, 2026
Press Release
Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed the bipartisan Renewed Hope Act, legislation led by Congresswoman Laurel Lee (R-FL) to strengthen federal efforts to identify child victims of online sexual exploitation. The bill, co-led by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), now advances to the full House for consideration.
“Yesterday’s bipartisan vote in the Judiciary Committee moves us one step closer to delivering real help to children who have been exploited and remain unidentified,” said Congresswoman Laurel Lee. “The Renewed Hope Act ensures law enforcement has the specialized personnel needed to find victims, rescue them, and hold predators accountable.”
“Children must be protected from the staggering rise in digital predators who seek to exploit them. That means expanding efforts to identify and support these child victims of online abuse,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “Mounting evidence points to a disturbing escalation of extreme, violent online content. I’m proud to join my colleagues to introduce this bipartisan legislation to increase capacity to identify victims of child sexual exploitation, and invest in front-line, dedicated professionals who can find predators and save innocent lives.”
“For too long, hundreds of thousands of girls and boys have endured horrific abuse — often at the hands of adults who are supposed to protect them,” said Tim Tebow. “Children in our nation are right now living in the darkest of evils, crying out for help. Their pain must stir us to act. This is why we’re calling on Congress to pass legislation to strengthen our nation’s response to identifying and rescuing these boys and girls. Because even with law enforcement and organizations working around the clock to rescue these children, it’s just not enough. I’m deeply grateful to our leaders for shining a light on this bipartisan issue so that we can build a stronger rescue team of analysts, investigators, and law enforcement as we unite to find and safeguard every child in our nation suffering this great evil.”
Background:
The Renewed Hope Act strengthens the federal government’s ability to identify children depicted in child sexual abuse material by expanding the hiring and retention of specialized victim identification personnel within Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The legislation reflects recommendations from victim identification experts and law enforcement partners working to locate and rescue children trapped in ongoing exploitation.
The legislation is supported by the Tim Tebow Foundation, which has long partnered with law enforcement and victim identification organizations to combat child sexual exploitation and advocate for stronger efforts to identify and rescue victims
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You can also view the full press release here.
