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Lehi • Sen. Orrin Hatch on Wednesday condemned the "scourge" of child sexual abuse and trafficking and pledged to work to ensure federal funding for programs to combat the problem in the U.S. and around the globe.

"This is really an epidemic that is totally wrong," Hatch said. "Of all the criminal activity I've seen in my years in the United States Senate and before as an attorney, I've never seen anything more despicable, more rotten or dirty or terrible than child sex trafficking. These beautiful children are so messed up. Some of them never get over it."

Hatch's remarks came at a Utah County gathering of community and business leaders at the headquarters of Younique, a cosmetics company whose foundation provides services to women who are survivors of sexual abuse.

The presentation included an update on the International Megan's Law, which was passed by Congress in 2015 and signed into law by President Barack Obama and established the Angel Watch Center inside the U.S. Immigration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office.

The bill, HR515, requires the passports of convicted sex offenders to be affixed with a special designation, so they can be identified by authorities. Under HR515, offenders are required to report international travel plans and allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to alert authorities overseas.

Hatch said he is working to secure additional funding needed to expand the work of the Angel Watch Center. He'd also like to see improved coordination between federal agencies and private organizations that are also focused on ending child sex trafficking.

Included among those is Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), a Utah-based nonprofit that conducts trafficking rescue operations in conjunction with law enforcement around the world.

OUR founder Tim Ballard, a former undercover federal agent, testified on behalf of HR515 in 2015 and spoke alongside Hatch on Wednesday, commending the seven-term senator for his decades of support of legislation that combats crimes of violence against children.

Ballard, who showed a dramatic video of a rescue operation in Haiti that was conducted on Super Bowl Sunday in February, said that since is founding in 2013, OUR has worked in 15 countries to rescue "hundreds of children" and put close to 300 traffickers behind bars.

"There are more children being abused today than ever before in the history of the world," Ballard told the crowd. "There are more people enslaved today than ever in the history of the planet."

Ballard said he is pleased to be working with Hatch to foster the kind of public/private partnerships both believe can make a meaningful difference. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes also was billed as a participant in the event but was too late to make it to the media availability.

Hatch praised Ballard and his team for the work they've done and said Utah — the state where children and family are so valued — should take the lead in the fight against trafficking and in working to support its victims.

"It's important that we all gather together and do our very best to stop this scourge," he said. "And I believe we have a moral obligation to help those who have suffered through the evils of trafficking."