Angel Watch Center

Initially created in 2007 as “Operation Angel Watch” and formally established in 2016 through International Megan’s Law, the Angel Watch Center (AWC) is managed by the HSI Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (CEIU) as a joint effort with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). The AWC plays a crucial role in the global fight against transnational child sexual abuse by targeting individuals who have been previously convicted of sexual crimes against a child and who may pose a potential new threat: traveling overseas for the purpose of sexually abusing or exploiting minors. Using flight data, along with the National Sex Offender Registry and publicly available state sex offender websites, the HSI CEIU and CBP identify and alert foreign law enforcement, through HSI attaché offices or CBP joint partnerships, of offenders pending arrival to their country. Since 2016, the AWC has made more than 10,000 notifications to foreign countries and provided notice to the Department of State for more than 3,500 passports that require a convicted sex offender endorsement.