When Our Rescue CEO Derek Benner sat down with Mike Prado, Deputy Assistant Director of Homeland Security Investigations’ Cyber Crimes Center, or C3, their conversation marked more than a reunion. The two have been allies in the fight against child exploitation for more than a decade, first as colleagues at HSI’s Washington DC Headquarters, now as leaders bridging law enforcement and nonprofit work together.
“Name the community, name the town—big, small, rich, poor. This crime transcends all boundaries. The way forward is through education and partnership,” Benner said.
With Our Rescue focused on prevention and support, and the C3 headquarters leading the nation’s cybercrime response at DHS, Benner and Prado’s recent conversation outlines how much the landscape has shifted. Urgent trends shape the fight against child exploitation: the explosion of sextortion, the growing threat of generative AI, and the global networks that make these crimes harder than ever to investigate.
Cyber Crimes Center (C3) Founding and Future
Founded in 1997, the Cyber Crimes Center, known as the Department of Homeland Security Cyber Crimes Center (C3), began to confront child exploitation online. Nearly three decades later, it remains the government’s hub for tackling some of the darkest corners of the internet.
C3 helps identify and rescue nearly 2,000 children each year, according to Prado. Child exploitation is still the top priority, but Prado points to C3’s boost in computer forensics, adding data scientists, cryptocurrency tracing, and darknet investigations, boosting HSI’s mission worldwide. Prado began his career as an HSI special agent in California investigating crimes against children, serving with ICAC and eventually leading those initiatives, which culminated in his current role as head of C3.
“Across that time span, we’ve seen a huge evolution in how predators exploit children. As technology has become more sophisticated, so have our adversaries. A lot of that has been tied to the evolution of technology. So what we’ve done at C3 is not just try to keep pace with that but where we’ve really excelled is to look ahead three, five, ten years out. What are the technologies on the horizon?” said Prado.
Sextortion: A Life-and-Death Threat
Derek Benner remembers when sextortion cases were rare. As he was retiring from Homeland Security Investigations during the pandemic, investigators were just starting to see cases trickle in. Now the numbers are staggering. The FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) now report a dramatic rise in sextortion cases. The number of online enticement reports increased by more than 300 percent, receiving 456,000 sextortion reports as of fall 2024.
Sextortion is a form of online exploitation in which predators coerce children or teens into sending sexually explicit images or videos. Once the material is shared, the offender threatens to release it publicly or send it to friends and family unless the child complies with further demands, often for more explicit content or even money.
Most commonly it is criminals, often in sophisticated organized criminal networks, who initiate contact through social media platforms, gaming apps, or other open-source online channels. They typically pose as peers or trustworthy figures, striking up casual conversations that quickly turn personal. Over time, they groom and manipulate minors through flattery, promises, or false relationships, then escalate to coercion once compromising material is obtained. The manipulation leaves victims trapped in fear and shame, making it difficult for them to seek help.
“Sextortion is frightening,” Prado said. “It’s a matter of life and death. We’ve sadly seen too many cases where kids, under intense pressure from offenders, have taken their own lives — sometimes within hours of first contact.”
According to the U.S. State Department, traffickers increasingly use the internet to find, contact, and groom potential victims. A 2024 study by risk intelligence firm Crisp revealed that offenders can lock a child into a high-risk grooming conversation in as little as 19 seconds after first contact, with the average grooming cycle unfolding within just 45 minutes.
“What I would say about sextortion is it did really identify for us sadly, there is such a target rich environment out there of children online that they can monetize,” said Prado. “That’s a tragedy that just cannot happen. One is too many.”
A Global Crime Scene
Picture this scenario Prado recently described chasing digital footprints across continents. A lead that starts in Northern Virginia, bounces off a server in Ireland, involves a suspect in Belgium, and connects to an organization in Southeast Asia. All of this needs to be investigated before suspects disappear or evidence gets destroyed. This is just one example of this type of investigative activity that happens everyday and the sense of urgency is palpable for investigators.
“So we have folks in every one of those locations and we’ve got to do all that in real time,” said Prado.
The 2024 Global Tips Report showed a 31 percent increase in detected child trafficking cases since 2019, with a 38 percent rise among girls. The crime fuels one of the world’s largest underground economies.
Prado recently traveled to Côte d’Ivoire, where HSI and partners saw a surge in U.S. victims tied to offenders there.
“With capacity building, we’re beginning to turn the tide, but it’s still a game of whack-a-mole,” said Prado.
When an Ivorian officer needed to attend training in the U.S. but was paying out of pocket, Our Rescue stepped in to cover her travel.
Benner called it “the kind of bridge-building I’ve always believed possible, to coordinate, communicate, prioritize, figure out what the gaps are, and then come up with a strategy on how to fill them.”
The Next Frontier: Generative AI
If sextortion caught law enforcement off guard, generative AI has them scrambling. Prado calls AI the most disruptive challenge yet, creating an entirely new population of victims who don’t even know they’re being victimized. Benner compared the moment to “building an airplane in flight,” as law enforcement races to adapt while offenders exploit new technology.
“That wave crested so quickly because it spread like wildfire,” said Prado. “Predators can take a child’s photo from social media or even a public place and insert it into violent, sexually exploitative imagery. These are real kids, traumatized without realizing it until, heaven forbid, one day they stumble across the content or someone shows it to them. It’s a whole new rock we’ve just overturned, and now we have to deal with it.”
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is tracking the rapid rise of AI-generated content. In 2024 alone, NCMEC saw a 1,325% increase in CyberTipline reports that involved generative AI technology. All of this puts investigators under further strain with the backlog of cases is immense, and the emotional toll on investigators is crushing. Benner points out how Our Rescue has a mission to bolster ICAC teams across the nation.
“It’s a house of horrors every day,” Benner said. “People don’t realize the toll this work takes. That’s why we’re committed to supporting these investigators and elevating them as heroes in their communities.”
“The term hero can be overused,” Prado added, “but here it’s accurate. Victim identification specialists devote their careers to going through horrific material, pixel-by-pixel, to find kids. It’s work most people couldn’t bear, but it saves lives.”
Prevention and Partnership
Nearly 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery worldwide, with forced commercial sexual exploitation generating more than $172 billion annually. Yet both Benner and Prado stressed that prevention is possible and necessary in the staggering scale of the crisis.
At Our Rescue, the Our Shield framework helps parents, educators, and communities start hard but necessary conversations. C3 has launched Know2Protect.gov, the first federal prevention campaign on child exploitation, which has already reached over 500 million people.
“With support from Congress, DOJ, DHS, and our tech partners, we’ve been more successful than we could have imagined,” Prado said.
“We need to remove the stigma so kids feel safe telling a trusted adult. Parents and educators must have conversations before handing over a phone or gaming account. Protecting children requires all of us,” added Prado. “There has to be a change where a child can feel comfortable telling a trusted adult.”
Join the Fight
At Our Rescue, we believe protecting children requires everyone coming together. Urgent threats from sextortion to generative AI technology call for urgent solutions. Benner and Prado agree the solution starts with awareness and unified action. As their decade-long partnership shows, collaboration between law enforcement and nonprofits isn’t just helpful, but essential in filling critical gaps in resources and support.
Partnerships also require the public’s support, through a myriad of ways to get involved. Our Rescue invites you to learn more or share what you know. Join The Fight against exploitation, we know that together with voices and action, we will fight boldly.
“Every child matters. A child should not have to rely on the fact that they live in a zip code that is more resourced than the zip code one county over. I commend what Our Rescue is doing in helping resource ICACs and local police agencies. It’s not something that anybody can do, and you need certain tools and resources to accomplish that mission,” said Prado.
