42 U.S.C. § 5771
Section 5771 · Findings
Amended 5 times on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case United States v. Ackerman (2016)
Most recently applied in State of Washington v. Jay Karl Friedrich (August 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Congress finds that—
each year thousands of children are abducted or removed from the control of a parent having legal custody without such parent’s consent, under circumstances which immediately place the child in grave danger;
many missing children are at great risk of both physical harm and sexual exploitation;
many missing children are runaways;
in many cases, parents and local law enforcement officials have neither the resources nor the expertise to mount expanded search efforts;
abducted children are frequently moved from one locality to another, requiring the cooperation and coordination of local, State, and Federal law enforcement efforts;
growing numbers of children are the victims of child sexual exploitation, increasingly involving the use of new technology to access the Internet;
children may be separated from their parents or legal guardians as a result of national disasters such as hurricanes and floods;
sex offenders pose a threat to children;
the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention administers programs under this chapter through the Child Protection Division, including programs which prevent or address offenses committed against vulnerable children and which support missing children’s organizations; and
a key component of such programs is the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which—
serves as a national resource center and clearinghouse;
works in partnership with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Secret Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and many other agencies in the effort to find missing children and prevent child victimization; and
operates a national network, linking the Center online with each of the missing children clearinghouses operated by the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as with international organizations, including Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, and others, which enable the Center to transmit images and information regarding missing and exploited children to law enforcement across the United States and around the world instantly.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in par. (9), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 93–415, Sept. 7, 1974, 88 Stat. 1109, known as the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 5601 of this title and Tables.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 402 of Pub. L. 93–415 amended section 3888 of this title and repealed section 3889 of this title, and was repealed by Pub. L. 95–115, § 10, Oct. 3, 1977, 91 Stat. 1061, and Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title II, § 12221(a)(4), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1894.
Amendments
2013—Pub. L. 113–38 added par. (3) and redesignated former pars. (3) to (9) as (4) to (10), respectively.
2008—Pub. L. 110–240 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section consisted of pars. (1) to (5) stating findings of Congress concerning missing or abducted children and the role of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
2003—Pub. L. 108–96 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, section consisted of pars. (1) to (21) stating findings of Congress.
1999—Pars. (9) to (21). Pub. L. 106–71 added pars. (9) to (21).
Effective Date
Subchapter effective Oct. 12, 1984, see section 670(a) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as an Effective Date of 1984 Amendment note under section 5601 of this title.
Short Title
For short title of title IV of Pub. L. 93–415, which enacted this subchapter, as the “Missing Children’s Assistance Act”, see section 401 of Pub. L. 93–415, as added by Pub. L. 98–473, set out as a note under section 5601 of this title.