PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act of 2025

The PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act of 2025 aims to strengthen the fight against child exploitation by reauthorizing and significantly amending the PROTECT Our Children Act of 2008. It modifies the National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, changing its reporting frequency from every two years to every four years. The bill expands the required contents of this strategy to include comprehensive analyses of current and future trends, strategic solutions, and detailed resource estimates for various federal agencies involved in combating child exploitation. Furthermore, the legislation mandates a thorough review of federal efforts, including the performance of Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task forces and statistical data on child pornography trafficking. The National ICAC Task Force Program is broadened to include Tribal and military law enforcement agencies, with an increased emphasis on the identification of child victims. A notable provision introduces limited liability protection for ICAC task forces and participating law enforcement agencies regarding their prioritization decisions for leads related to internet crimes against children, unless intentional misconduct or gross negligence is involved. The bill clarifies the purposes of ICAC task forces, explicitly including the identification of child victims and prioritizing investigations most likely to result in positive case outcomes and child rescues. It expands collaboration to include probation and parole agencies, child advocacy centers, and child protective services. A new purpose is added: educating the judiciary on the link between intrafamilial contact offenses and technology-facilitated crimes, as well as characteristics of internet offenders. The ICAC Grant Program is also updated, requiring at least 20 percent of appropriated funds to support the ICAC Task Force Program through grants for training, technical assistance, tool development, research, and wellness training. Reporting requirements for grant recipients are enhanced to include the number of child victims identified. Finally, the bill authorizes increased appropriations, specifying $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2027, and $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2028, while also updating reporting requirements for providers of child exploitation material to include supplemental data.