NCMEC’s CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children. The public and electronic service providers can make reports of suspected online enticement of children for sexual acts, extra-familial child sexual molestation, child pornography, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the internet.
What Happens to Information in a CyberTip?
NCMEC staff review each tip and work to find a potential location for the incident reported so that it may be made available to the appropriate law-enforcement agency for possible investigation. We also use the information from our CyberTipline reports to help shape our prevention and safety messages.
Is Your Image Out There?
Get Support
One of the worst things about sextortion is feeling like you’re facing everything alone. But you have people who care for you and want to help. Reach out to them!
A trusted adult can offer advice, help you report, and help you deal with other issues. It could be your mom, dad, an aunt, a school counselor, or anyone you trust and are comfortable talking to. You can also “self report” by making a report on your own to the CyberTipline.
Don’t Give Up
Having a sexual exploitative image of yourself exposed online is a scary experience. It can make you feel vulnerable and isolated, but remember, others have been in the same situation as you – and they’ve overcome it. Learn the steps you can take to limit the spread of the content.
The Senate will vote on a bill addressing hate crimes against Asian Americans on Wednesday amid a surge in AAPI hate crimes. The bill comes as many Asian American parents are now discussing with their kids about the bullying, racism, and violence that they may encounter.
As a father to two young boys, New Jersey Democratic Congressman Andy Kim finds himself reflecting on the first time he was targeted for being Korean American. He said he was about six years old when a group of older kids mocked his appearance.
"Saying things like, 'How can I see through these slanty eyes' and, oh, 'He's Chinese or Japanese, oh, it doesn't matter.' It's honestly one of the earliest memories that I can remember at all in my life," Kim told CBS News' Elaine Quijano.
"He said a bigger kid kept telling him, 'Call him China Boy, Chinese boy' over and over again. And my son just kind of laughed it off and was just like, 'I kept telling him, I'm a New Jersey boy.' And it was so sweet that he said that and I could tell it bothered him," Kim said.
He said that he told his son "that he did the right thing" but struggled to find words to comfort him.
"But at that point, I was really floundering and I really struggled to figure out the right words to say... what should I do in preparing myself to have this conversation with my kid?" Kim said.
Those tough conversations about race are something developmental psychologist Tiffany Yip believes parents of all backgrounds should start early.
"I think it's really important for us to think about how we could teach our kids to speak up for their peers. I think if we can empower our children to speak up more for each other, they'll also learn to speak up for themselves better," Yip said.
It's an approach Jane Park is using in Seattle with her two children. Park's conversation came in the wake of the Georgia shootings that killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent. Her video that showed Park talking to her seven-year-old son Bennett about the issue went viral and has been viewed over two million times.
"I was saddened because he's so young. It's just the reality that so many AAPI families are facing is that this is no longer a conversation that we can kind of table for a later time," Park said.
Park said she wants to prepare her children to respond to all hate, no matter who the target.
CBS correspondent Elaine Quijano asked Bennett, "If you were on the playground and you saw somebody else, and they were being bullied just because of how they look, what would you do?" she asked.
"I would say that's not right, and you should be better," Bennett said.
Congressman Kim is going through his own personal reckoning. He's just now learning about years of discrimination his parents endured quietly as immigrants.
"The question for us and our generation is, 'Are we going to accept that there's just a certain baseline of foreignness and xenophobia and discrimination that we just have to accept?' And I say no, this is a moment where many of us feel empowered to say that 'This is just not right and yes... we belong,'" he said.
Psychologists report that children are able to understand the concept of race as young as age three, and that's why parents should start these conversations early, so children aren't left to try to make sense of things on their own.
Yip recommends that one place to start is parents expressing to their children how bias makes them feel, which can then open the door for kids to voice their own feelings.
Protective factors and adverse childhood experiences are frameworks utilized in prevention efforts to reduce the risk of maltreatment and prevent the recurrence of abuse or neglect by drawing upon the strengths of families and acknowledging traumatic events.
Protective Factors
Protective factors are conditions or attributes that, when present in families and communities, increase the well-being of children and families and reduce the likelihood of maltreatment. Identifying protective factors helps parents find resources, supports, or coping strategies that allow them to parent effectively—even under stress. There are 6 protective factors:
Nurturing and attachment
Knowledge of parenting and of child and youth development
ACEs are traumatic events that occur before a child reaches the age of 18.
ACEs include:
All types of abuse and neglect
Parental substance use or mental illness
Parental incarceration
Domestic violence
Divorce
A landmark study in the 1990s found a significant relationship between the number of ACEs a person experienced and a variety of negative outcomes in adulthood, including poor physical and mental health, substance use, and risky behaviors1. The more ACEs experienced, the greater the risk for these outcomes. By definition, children involved with the child welfare system have suffered at least one ACE. Understanding the impact of ACEs and how to build resilience in children and families can lead to more trauma-informed interventions that help to mitigate negative outcomes.
Case Highlights Growing Online Crime with Devastating Real-Life Consequences
The doors were locked, the alarm system was on, and the 13-year-old girl never left her room. But a child predator was able to reach her simply because she was tricked into connecting with him online.
The link between Presley (her name has been changed to protect her identity) and someone she believed was another teenage girl named K.C. started out as a friendly exchange over a popular messaging app. They sent each other occasional messages and pictures of their outfits over a few weeks.
One mildly revealing photo from Presley, however, gave K.C.—who was actually a grown man in Florida named Justin Richard Testani—an opening to begin his threats. He said he would share the photo and spread rumors about her to friends and family if she didn’t do as he asked.
“She let her guard down,” her mother said. “She let her guard down because she thought it was another teenage girl.”
The demands and threats escalated quickly from there. According to FBI investigators, Testani told Presley he would rape and kill her and her loved ones if she didn’t perform the increasingly graphic and extreme acts he demanded over a video call.
Presley had become a victim of sextortion. With the internet allowing predators to hide their identities and easily reach thousands of young people over games and apps, it’s a crime the FBI is seeing in alarming and rising numbers.
To keep Presley from hanging up, the predator used details he’d gathered from their conversations and information she’d posted online to make his threats specific and terrifying. According to Presley’s mother, he told her, “I know where your mom works. If you don’t do what I’m telling you to do, I’ll go kill her.”
He told Presley he knew where she lived. He knew where she went to school. He knew how to get to her friends. “She was convinced it was someone who was standing right outside the door,” Presley’s mother said. “Someone who could get to her immediately.”
Presley was desperate and terrified when she finally reached her mom to ask for help.
We have several resources to help caregivers and young people understand what sextortion is, how to protect against it, and how to talk about it.
If a young person is being exploited, they are the victim of a crime and should report it. Contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report it online at tips.fbi.gov.
Presley’s mother said her daughter called at her first opportunity to break the phone connection with the predator. Testani wanted to take over one of her social media accounts so he could use it to contact her friends, giving him the ability to deceive and exploit another group of young girls. But as he took over her existing account, he needed her to create a new one for herself so they would still be connected online.
As she was carrying out that demand, Presley had a chance to call for help. “He told her she had two minutes to get it done,” her mother said. “When they broke that connection, she felt she could call me.”
Presley’s mother and stepfather raced home. And although they were confused about what was happening, they couldn’t mistake the terror in Presley’s voice. Her stepfather reached her first and immediately called the police when he saw what was happening on her phone.
Presley’s bravery in reporting helped investigators find the man who terrorized her. Testani pleaded guilty to child sexual exploitation in February and was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on August 6, 2020.
Special Agent Kevin Kaufman, who investigated the case for the FBI in Tampa with local law enforcement, said that they identified several other victims across the country—some as young as 10 years old.
The investigation showed that Testani obtained the login information for other victims’ social media accounts, which allowed him to message hundreds of other young people.
The length of Testani’s sentence reflects the number of children he hurt, the extreme nature of his crimes, and the devastating effects this type of sexual violence has on its victims. Presley’s mother said her daughter is still dealing with depression and anxiety, has trouble concentrating in school, and experiences panic attacks.
The fact that Presley never met Testani in person and never even saw his face only amplified her fear. This man who hurt her could be anyone, anywhere. “That’s why she went from a social butterfly to absolutely terrified to leave the house,” her mother said.
On this episode of Inside the FBI, we're warning kids, teens, and caregivers about an increasingly common online threat called sextortion. Listen
The New Stranger Danger
Kaufman stressed that this case and the many he sees like it are a reminder to children, teens, and those who love and care for them to rethink dated assumptions about where children are safe and at risk.
“Parents—and kids, too—think that if they are home, they are in their safe haven,” Kaufman said. “But these are professional online predators who have perfected their craft. You’re putting them up against 11-, 12-, 13-year-old children. I have seen victims who were straight-A students. I’ve seen victims who were adults, for that matter.”
Presley’s mother hopes that parents and caregivers shift the conversations they’re having with their children. “We teach our children from the time they are old enough to walk about stranger danger,” she said. “We teach them what to do if someone says something to you or touches you in the wrong way, but we don’t teach them about stranger danger online.”
She wants kids and parents both to understand that sextortion can happen so they can recognize it as a crime and can act. Many parents don’t know enough about the current online environment and what their children may be doing.
Kaufman agrees. “Know what these applications can do,” he said. Parents may not know that a texting app also allows their child to video chat with multiple people at once or that their children are getting friend requests from strangers and accepting them without a second thought. “People can portray themselves to be anyone online,” Presley’s mom said. “Know that you know who you’re talking to.”
“We teach our children from the time they are old enough to walk about stranger danger. We teach them what to do if someone says something to you or touches you in the wrong way, but we don’t teach them about stranger danger online.”
Mother of sextortion victim
Additionally, Kaufman warns that many people aren’t aware of easy-to-download applications that let someone record anything online, even without the other person knowing. Any so-called private or “disappearing” interaction can be saved and shared.
Presley’s case, with the perpetrator’s pattern of taking over his victims’ accounts, shows that even if a message is from a friend’s account, there can still be a risk. The best protection against that uncertainty is to avoid doing anything in front of a screen that you wouldn’t be comfortable doing in real life.
“I fear the belief some people—especially kids—have that if it happens behind a screen, it’s not real,” Presley’s mom said. Her family’s experience shows the risks are real, and the possibility of long-term harm is, too.
So what’s the most important thing parents and caregivers can do? Presley herself says that it’s to be available if your kids need help. If your child is afraid of getting in trouble for downloading a forbidden app or breaking another family rule, they may not ask for help if they become a victim of sextortion. This means they’ll suffer alone, and the predator will be free to target another victim.
And Presley also has a message for young people spending time online: “Everything is not always as it seems. It is easy for people to act like someone they are not on the internet. Don’t believe everything you are told. If you are put in one of these situations, one of the most important things to remember is that although they tell you they have all the power, you are the one in control. Don’t be afraid to speak up. You are not alone.”
Police in Davenport confirmed Wednesday that remains discovered by fishermen are those of 11-year-old Breasia Terrell
Davenport police Chief Paul Sikorski made the announcement during a news conference. Terrell's body was discovered in a pond in a rural area near DeWitt, about 20 miles north of Davenport. Authorities have been investigating the disappearance of the 11-year-old girl since last summer.
On July 9, Breasia spent the night with her brother Detorious, whose father is Henry Dinkins. Dinkins is the person of interest in her disappearance.
Dinkins, now in custody and awaiting trial for an unrelated charge, remains a person of interest in the disappearance.
"They know he knows something but he's not talking," said Breasia's uncle DeMarcus Lankford. "That's basically all we hear."
In recent months, there have been few updates on the investigation by Davenport police and the FBI. In December, Davenport police said three investigators and a supervisor remained on the case.
The FBI is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to Breasia or the arrest of anyone involved in her disappearance.
In the year 2000, just about half of all American adults were online. Today, nine-in-ten adults use the internet in the United States, according to Pew Research Center.
And in 2020, Americans, along with the rest of the world, are spending even more time online. People are spending 45% more time on social media since March of 2020 globally, with a 17% increase in the U.S., according to Statista.
Unfortunately, as our time spent online has increased, so has the chance that we may come across abusive content on the platforms where we should all feel safe.
Because we are not a direct-service organization, Thorn is not able to field reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or child sex trafficking. But since we build software and tools aimed at detecting, removing, and reporting abuse content, we can help to point you in the right direction should you ever inadvertently come across harmful content.
Reporting this content through the right channels as a community helps to keep platforms safe, and could lead to the identification of a victim or help to end the cycle of abuse for survivors.
Here’s what to do if you find CSAM or evidence of child sex trafficking online.
Child sexual abuse material and child sex trafficking
First we need to talk about what child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is, and how it’s different from child sex trafficking.
Child sexual abuse material (legally known as child pornography) refers to any content that depicts sexually explicit activities involving a child. Visual depictions include photographs, videos, digital or computer generated images indistinguishable from an actual minor. To learn more about CSAM and why it’s a pressing issue, click here.
As defined by the Department of Justice, child sex trafficking “refers to the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act.” To learn more, click here.
Now let’s look at how to report this type of content should you ever come across it online:
1. Never share content, even in an attempt to make a report
It can be shocking and overwhelming if you see content that appears to be CSAM or related to child sex trafficking, and your protective instincts might be kicked into high gear. Please know that you are doing the right thing by wanting to report this content, but it’s critical that you do so through the right channels.
Never share abuse content, even in an attempt to report it. Social media can be a powerful tool to create change in the right context, but keep in mind that every instance of CSAM, no matter where it’s found or what type of content it is, is a documentation of abuse committed against a child. When that content is shared, even with good intentions, it spreads that abuse and creates a cycle of trauma for victims and survivors that is more difficult to stop with every share.
It’s also against federal law to share or possess CSAM of any kind, which is legally defined as “any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age).” State age of consent laws do not apply under this law, meaning federally a minor is defined as anyone under the age of 18.
The same goes if you think you’ve found illegal ads promoting the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), such as child sex trafficking. Sharing this content publicly may unwittingly extend the cycle of abuse. Instead, be sure to report content via the proper channels as outlined below.
2. Report it to the platform where you found it
The most popular platforms usually have guides for reporting content. Here are some of the most important to know:
But let’s take a moment to look at reporting content to Facebook and Twitter.
Reporting content to Facebook
Whether you want to report a page, post, or profile to Facebook, look for the three dots to the right of the content, click on them, and then click on Find support or report Page.
From there you will be guided through the process and will get a confirmation that your report has been received. Be sure to select Involves a Child when making your report.
Reporting content on Twitter:
While you can report a tweet for violating Twitter’s policies in a similar way to Facebook content (clicking the button to report a tweet), if you are reporting child exploitation content on Twitter, there’s a separate process that ensures reports of CSAM or other exploitative content are given priority.
First, click here to see what content violates Twitter’s child exploitation policies. Then fill out this form with the appropriate information, including the username of the profile that posted the content, and a link to the content in question.
To find the direct link to a tweet, click the share button at the bottom of the tweet and select Copy link to Tweet.
For any other platforms, you should always be able to easily find a way to report abuse content with a quick online search. For example, search for: Report abusive content [platform name].
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also offers overviews for reporting abusive content for multiple platforms here.
3. Report it to CyberTipline
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is the clearinghouse for all reports of online child sexual exploitation in the United States. That means they are the only organization in the U.S. that can legally field reports of online child sexual exploitation. If NCMEC determines it to be a valid report of CSAM or CSEC, they will connect with the appropriate agencies for investigation.
This is a critical step in addressing the sexual exploitation of children online. Be sure to fill out as much detail as you’re able.
4. Report CSEC to the National Human Trafficking Hotline
If you find evidence of child sex trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
Managed by Polaris, the hotline offers 24/7 support, as well as a live chat and email option. You can also text BEFREE (233733) to discreetly connect with resources and services.
5. Get your content removed and connect with resources
If you have been the victim of explicit content being shared without consent, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative put together a guide for requesting content to be removed from most popular platforms.
If you have been the victim of sextortion—a perpetrator using suggestive or explicit images as leverage to coerce you into producing abuse content—take a look at our Stop Sextortion site for more information and tips on what to do.
Close the computer. Take a deep breath. Go for a walk.
This is an extremely difficult issue, and if you’ve just gone through the steps above, it means you’ve recently encountered traumatic material.
But you’ve also just taken a first step in what could ultimately be the rescue of a child or the cessation of a cycle of abuse for survivors.
Practice the things that create balance and support in your life, and if you need to, connect with additional resources. Text the Crisis Text Line to connect discreetly with trained counselors 24/7.
Or maybe you’re left with the feeling that there’s more work to be done. Learn more about local organizations working in this space and see if they offer volunteer opportunities. Fundraising for your favorite organizations can also make a huge difference.
If you’re here, whether you’re making a report or just equipping yourself with knowledge should you ever need it, you’re joining a collective movement to create a better world for kids. Know that you are part of a united force for good, one that won’t stop until every child can simply be a kid.
button to report a tweet), if you are reporting child exploitation content on Twitter, there’s a separate process that ensures reports of CSAM or other exploitative content are given priority.
