Augusta has become the second-highest hotspot in the state for child sexual exploitation and members of Child Enrichment, which combats the problem, say the community needs to be aware and vigilant.
Kari Viola-Brooke, executive director for Child Enrichment, said before the Augusta Commission on Aug. 17 that the state of Georgia has refined its approach to dealing with the commercial sexual exploitation of children by decentralizing and contracting with the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia to provide support and oversight.
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The new direction means allowing regional advocacy groups like Child Enrichment to take the lead in helping children who have been abused and those at risk of abuse. Founded in 1978, Child Enrichment serves nine counties in Georgia.
“Even we didn’t know how widespread it was. Augusta was not even listed as a hotspot, and we were surprised to find that Richmond County is second only to Fulton County,” she said.
Since the CACGA took over in October 2020, Child Enrichment has conducted 53 forensic interviews in child exploitation cases in Richmond County.
According to Brooke, runaways and kids from troubled homes make up the majority of victims she sees, but any child with access to a computer can be at risk.
Long gone are the days when children should only be taught not to accept candy from or to give out their addresses to strangers. Like everything else, child predation has moved online.
Children no longer need to be abducted to be trafficked.
According to an investigative report published by The New York Times, trafficking in child porn is a $20 billion dollar industry worldwide, and studies show that one in five children are solicited sexually on the internet.
Brooke said that criminal pedophiles are skilled at grooming their victims. Websites such as TikTok and Snapchat allow people to share messages and images that are not monitored for content. She said that most often the criminals use innocent sites like the gaming site MineCraft to troll for victims.
“Everything starts off innocent, but they slowly move from innocent and playful topics, to asking for pictures of their genitals or of them masturbating,” she said.
Every adolescent faces the normal hormonal periods of feeling insecure that lead to moody outbursts that can spill out on the internet in a moment of angst inspired ire. Predators look for this puberty-driven weakness to reel in victims, saying to them, “Your parents don’t understand you, mine don’t either. I sometimes hate my parents too.”
In a worst-case scenario, a child can be enticed to run away from home and into a future of prostitution and drug abuse.
While worst case scenarios are rare, Brooke says she wants to prevent any child from being exploited, and part of the solution is to educate parents.
“Our scope has really broadened, but we are up to the challenge. We are working on creating a task force,” she said.
Brooke said that parents can protect their children by doing a few simple things. For younger tweens and teens, do not allow them to have public profiles, and set their accounts to only connect with friends they know in real life but also build trust with them so they will report anything they might see online that makes them uncomfortable.
As teenagers become mature enough to have their internet rules relaxed, Brooke said parents should come clean to their teenagers about the dangers lurking behind a computer screen.
“The best thing to do is just to have a talk with them, warn them like you would warn them about anything else,” she said.
To report suspected or disclosed child sex trafficking, please call 866-END-HTDA (363-4842).
Scott Hudson is the Senior Reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com.
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