"Accurate information, leads to effective solutions"
- Jessica, Executive Director A.C.T. United
- Jessica, Executive Director A.C.T. United
Child trafficking and online sextortion is happening
The sexual exploitation of children and teens is the fastest growing crime in the world. These crimes include online sextortion and child sex trafficking.
There are an estimated 11 million people under age 18 globally and estimates ranging from 300,000 to 1 million in the United States trafficked every year (ILO 2016, timtebowfoundation.org). Cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 US states and Washington D.C. (Polaris.org). In 2018, The National Center for missing and exploited Children (NCMEC) report that 1 in 7 missing children, in the United States, are victims of sex trafficking.
Currently in the United States, the FBI issued a warning of an alarming spike in online sextortion crimes targeting children, especially boys, 9-17 years old (FBI release 2023 and 2024). Sextortion has serious outcomes for kids and teens including anxiety, bullying in school, feeling trapped, self-harm, and even death by suicide.
Thorn research found that 40% of children 9-17 using online platforms reported being contacted by someone online for the purpose of befriending them for manipulative purposes (Thorn.org 2025).
The internet has expanded the reach of predators and traffickers into all communities, with predators reaching children and teens on digital devices even in the "security" of their own homes.
There are an estimated 11 million people under age 18 globally and estimates ranging from 300,000 to 1 million in the United States trafficked every year (ILO 2016, timtebowfoundation.org). Cases of human trafficking have been reported in all 50 US states and Washington D.C. (Polaris.org). In 2018, The National Center for missing and exploited Children (NCMEC) report that 1 in 7 missing children, in the United States, are victims of sex trafficking.
Currently in the United States, the FBI issued a warning of an alarming spike in online sextortion crimes targeting children, especially boys, 9-17 years old (FBI release 2023 and 2024). Sextortion has serious outcomes for kids and teens including anxiety, bullying in school, feeling trapped, self-harm, and even death by suicide.
Thorn research found that 40% of children 9-17 using online platforms reported being contacted by someone online for the purpose of befriending them for manipulative purposes (Thorn.org 2025).
The internet has expanded the reach of predators and traffickers into all communities, with predators reaching children and teens on digital devices even in the "security" of their own homes.
Definitions
Sexual Exploitation: when someone with more power, or perceived power, benefits from the commercial sexual exploitation of another person
Commercial sex: engaged in commerce for the purpose of making a profit. The exchange of a sex act for something of value.
Something of value: anything of value including money, payment of rent or housing, payment of utility bills, food, clothing, critical medications, or baby formula and diapers
Sex acts include: all forms of sexual intercourse, sexual contact, erotic massage, exotic dancing, or sexually explicit photos or videos
Commercial sex: engaged in commerce for the purpose of making a profit. The exchange of a sex act for something of value.
Something of value: anything of value including money, payment of rent or housing, payment of utility bills, food, clothing, critical medications, or baby formula and diapers
Sex acts include: all forms of sexual intercourse, sexual contact, erotic massage, exotic dancing, or sexually explicit photos or videos
Juvenile Sex Trafficking
Legal definition: The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act. (US Department of Justice) In other words, anyone, who does anything, to help facilitate the commercial sexual exploitation of a person under age 18.
Child Traffickers: are predators who receive profit, or gain, from the sexual exploitation of a minor. Traffickers can be boy/girlfriends, peers, gang or occult members, persons with position of authority, or family members including biological parent(s).
Buyers: people who pay to sexually exploit / sexually assault, minor children, teens (or adults). Buyers can be males or females, strangers or someone known to the minor. Studies show the average buyer is a middle aged male, with full time employment, above average financial means, no criminal background, and over half are married with children of their own.
Minors impacted by sex trafficking: can be any ethnicity, gender, and come from any community urban to rural.
Common vulnerabilities that increase risk: youth who are experiencing shelter, food or financial instability, missing from home, parents/caregivers with substance abuse or addiction, no early intervention and care for youth with a history of sexual trauma or mental health concerns, and marginalized groups or individuals.
The #1 pathway into sex trafficking for minors: is relationships. Traffickers/predators use grooming tactics to build relationships with youth that gain trust, dependence, and secrecy, leading to control, violent abuse, and exploitation. They create the kind of relationships children and teens run to, not from. Kidnapping does happen for the purpose of entry into sex trafficking, but it is less common.
Child Traffickers: are predators who receive profit, or gain, from the sexual exploitation of a minor. Traffickers can be boy/girlfriends, peers, gang or occult members, persons with position of authority, or family members including biological parent(s).
Buyers: people who pay to sexually exploit / sexually assault, minor children, teens (or adults). Buyers can be males or females, strangers or someone known to the minor. Studies show the average buyer is a middle aged male, with full time employment, above average financial means, no criminal background, and over half are married with children of their own.
Minors impacted by sex trafficking: can be any ethnicity, gender, and come from any community urban to rural.
Common vulnerabilities that increase risk: youth who are experiencing shelter, food or financial instability, missing from home, parents/caregivers with substance abuse or addiction, no early intervention and care for youth with a history of sexual trauma or mental health concerns, and marginalized groups or individuals.
The #1 pathway into sex trafficking for minors: is relationships. Traffickers/predators use grooming tactics to build relationships with youth that gain trust, dependence, and secrecy, leading to control, violent abuse, and exploitation. They create the kind of relationships children and teens run to, not from. Kidnapping does happen for the purpose of entry into sex trafficking, but it is less common.
Cyber Sex TraffickingCybersex trafficking is the live streaming of sexual abuse and exploitation of children viewed over the internet. Children are abused and assaulted from any location with an internet connection and a webcam, or a mobile phone.
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Sextortion
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Sextortion: After sending a nude or private image, threats of exposure are used, to demand more sexual images, money, sex acts, or to meet in person.
Reports of financial sextortion in 2023
to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children |
Perpetrators: there are two types of offenders exploiting youth through control of sexually explicit photos and videos. The first is people, authority figures, or peers that youth know in real life. They use their relationship to pressure, persuade, or simply ask youth for an explicit photo or video. The second is online "friends" who groom youth into relationships via social media platforms, texting, or gaming, to obtain that first nude or private photo or video. These "friends" can use their real identity or are often "catfish" predators using a fake profile pretending to be someone similar in age. In both scenarios, that first private image is used to extort youth victims under fear of exposure.
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The impact of sextortion on youth: is devastating! As people who love and care for them, when there is a disclosure, or discovery, our emotions can be high, but this is not the time for anger or judgement. It is the time to give immediate support. Then gather information and be their advocate to get any legal and emotional support. Youth who have experienced online sexual exploitation report high anxiety, depression, isolation, fear, and 1 in 3 youth report self-harming including cutting and attempts at suicide, and fear caused by this crime. Sadly, dozens of youth victims of sextortion have also died by suicide.
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