Champaign Co. Sees Rise in Child Exploitation Cases, Detective...

URBANA, Ill. — In an effort to combat the growing issue of online child exploitation, local law enforcement is urging the community to be vigilant about the warning signs. The Champaign County Sheriff’s Office has been particularly vocal, noting a rise in related cases within the area.

The concern extends beyond Champaign County, as online exploitation of children is a mounting global issue that shows no signs of abating.

“These predators exploit the innocence of children who may not fully understand the situation they are in,” explained Detective Travis Wilson of the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office.

Wilson, who specializes in investigating internet crimes against children, is part of a nationwide effort to tackle this issue. According to FBI data, an estimated 500,000 child predators are active online each day. Wilson’s goal is to secure justice for young victims not only in Champaign County but also across the nation.

“Recently, we’ve had a large uptick of kids, mainly between the ages of 8 and 12,” he said. “Sometimes they’re offered money. Other times they think they’re in a relationship with this person who they believe might be a teenager, but in reality, they’re usually in their 20s, 30s, or older.”

Wilson said that he gets local referrals and tips from electronic service providers like Google and Facebook.

“Unfortunately, with these cases, a lot of times the suspect lives out of state, and so tracking them down becomes very difficult,” he said.

But it’s not impossible. Wilson said that they’re able to arrest predators pretty often. He added that these cases take months to work, and it starts with gathering information from the victims, finding IP addresses for the suspect and issuing search warrants.

“We often have to rely on other law enforcement partners to take up the case once we kind of reach the end of our road,” Wilson said.

Even when it gets handed off, he said that these cases stick with him.

“I was just doing a cell phone analysis on a 12-year-old’s phone who was being exploited through Snapchat,” Wilson said. “And the images that we found of violence and sexual images was more than what I’ve seen as a law enforcement officer over my career.”

What keeps Wilson in it is the justice he knows he can bring for the children.

“If we can get an arrest on somebody, just one person off the street,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s 10,000 more out there, but as long as we can get one person out from being exploited, that’s hopefully helpful.”

Wilson also had some advice on what parents could look out for. They should know what apps are on their kids’ phones because exploitation can happen through not just social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, but also through games like Roblox and Minecraft.

He also advised parents to make sure kids only have their phones in public areas of the house, be aware if they want to take their devices to their room, if they are private about what’s on their phones or if they’re checking messages 24/7.

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Champaign Co. Sees Rise in Child Exploitation Cases, Detective Reports

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