Blanche taps longtime prosecutor to coordinate human trafficking and child exploitation cases

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.

Blanche taps longtime prosecutor to coordinate human trafficking and child exploitation cases

TL;DR

  • Alessandra Serano appointed as the Justice Department's national coordinator on human trafficking and child exploitation cases.
  • Serano's role will oversee investigations and prosecutions and involve collaboration with other federal agencies and victim services organizations.
  • The appointment comes amid the DOJ's investigation into 300,000 unaccompanied minors, with concerns of potential trafficking.
  • Emerging trends in exploitation include financially motivated sextortion and nihilistic violent extremist groups coercing children.
  • The DOJ is also increasingly seeing cases involving artificial intelligence-generated images of child sexual exploitation.