It can happen overnight.

It can happen when a parent simply leaves the room.

It can happen to just about any child.

They are truths that hit home to the parents who attended a recent forum on child abuse and exploitation sponsored by the Collier County Public Schools and the Collier County Sheriff's office.

It's happening around the world and certainly not just in Collier County.

The numbers are scary.

• Nationwide, reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have increased by more than 31,000% in the past three years.
• Since 2021, cases of sextortion and online enticement have risen by more than 3,400%.
• From 2023 through 2025, the Southwest Florida Intercept Task Force initiated more than 2,600 investigations and identified 177 child victims.
• During that same period, local law enforcement seized approximately 500,000 files of child sexual abuse material.

So what's a parent or loved one to do?

Presenters were in agreement about ways to communicate with children about this.
Lieutenant Wade Williams of the Special Crimes Unit of the Collier County Sheriff's Office and Alina Donahue of Operation Light Shine — herself a victim of human trafficking and now a director of a nonprofit advocating for victims — stressed both making young people aware of child abuse and exploitation and the need to remain calm and approachable.

"Sometimes as parents, we try to protect our children, and by protecting our children, we think that by not telling them about all these dangers that are out there, that it'll protect them," Donahue said. "But inevitably, what we are doing is accidentally creating a naive environment for our children. So it's important to communicate with our children the wrongs and the rights and the dangers that are out there, especially [since] we're in the year 2026. Going online is normal in this day and age."

But the dangers are lurking in Instagram, in gaming apps, in so many places parents wouldn't think to look. Children are often solicited through the chat functions by predators posing as young people.

Sextortion — for instance, convincing a child to send a questionable photo and then demanding money to keep it secret — can happen in minutes. That's why it's so important to use parental controls online and to know what your child is doing, Donahue said. And forget giving them "privacy" by not checking their phones. Do it, she said.

"That's really the best thing they can do, is create an open line of communication and monitor their behavior, pay attention to their behavior and their phones, their online activity," Williams said.

If a parent suspects a child may be in trouble, "That's where the parents really need to create an open dialogue with their child and make them feel safe," Williams added. "And they're not going to be yelled at."

Create an environment in which it's OK to say what's happening, "to say, 'Mom, I got a problem and I don't want you to get mad at me about it. ...Can [you] just have a conversation with me without getting mad. I got myself in a situation.' Tell them they can do that," Williams said.

Often, parents are in the dark. But there are red flags, he said. Be suspicious if the child suddenly has money, has a phone you don't know about, is self-harming or secretive, going on dates with people you don't know or using drugs.

See the entire presentation here.

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