By the time the Oregon Department of Justice notifies a law enforcement agency that a child is being exploited online, it has already confirmed the existence of an image and where it was posted, an investigation that involves social media outlets and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In 2016, Oregon officials notified Deschutes County law enforcement agencies of four cases. In 2021, however, that number had soared to 57 cases. 

And while the exact number isn’t available for 2022, it was even higher, said Sgt. Thomas Lilienthal of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, who helps lead a multi-agency digital forensics lab that investigates the cases.

“Last year for us, it was a nightmare,” he said.

The increase is part of a disturbing trend. As young people increasingly use the internet and social media platforms in their everyday lives, predators are taking advantage, say Central Oregon law enforcement officials.

They coerce youths into sending inappropriate pictures, sometimes disguising themselves as young people to gain trust with unsuspecting kids. They search online and download these photos and blackmail kids and their families, extorting them by threatening to post their images on social media platforms if they don’t send money, photos, videos and more, regional law enforcement officials say.

Bend Police Sgt. R.C. Bigelow, a supervisor with a unit that investigates crimes against children, said 17 cases involving such crimes are being investigated or prosecuted in the courts.

“It’s incredibly concerning,” he said. “We’re seeing these tips being generated from every social media platform you can think of.”

Each of the Bend Police unit’s 11 officers are currently investigating internet crimes against children. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is hiring an investigator on July 3 who will specifically focus on these crimes. Agencies are sending police officers into schools to talk about these crimes and how to safely use the internet and social media platforms.

Authorities are also working with victims by using a tool from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that searches online for an image’s digital fingerprint, or “hash value,” and then takes the images down.

Take It Down

The “Take It Down” service through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children helps people remove online nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photos and videos taken before you were 18, the website says.

Online exploitation rises

The number of these cases moving through the courts also has steadily increased in recent years, according to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. In 2019, prosecutors filed charges in 22 cases involving online exploitation of children. In 2022, they filed charges in 38 cases out of the 53 referred by law enforcement that year.

“We see a ton of these cases, unfortunately,” said Matthew C. Nelson, a prosecutor in the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office. 

A 30-year-old Terrebonne man was arrested in June 2022 after police searched his home and reportedly found hundreds of photos of child sexual abuse that he had allegedly downloaded from the internet. During his interview with police, he said he sexually molested a 2-year-old child he was babysitting at his home in Redmond, Oregon State Police said.

A 35-year-old Bend teacher was indicted in September 2022 after authorities reportedly found child sexual abuse videos that were allegedly uploaded and linked to his phone, according to court records. He taught music at a local church and multiple regional schools, its website said.

A 24-year-old man from Bangladesh was arrested in September 2022 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, and was later indicted for allegedly exploiting hundreds of children across the United States, including a child in Deschutes County, said Nelson. A special agent with the FBI called it “one of the most prolific and malicious sextortion schemes investigated by the FBI to date.”

Images spread on social media

Authorities have differing views on what’s driving the increase. Some say social media platforms are tracking down and reporting inappropriate images at a greater pace than before. Others say that, since the pandemic, youths stuck at home started to delve further into the dark web, leaving them vulnerable to criminals.

Illegal images, particularly those involving children, have long shown up in the dark areas of the internet, authorities say. Today, this form of exploitation also stems from criminals using platforms like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Whatsapp and Snapchat.

These platforms are federally mandated to report the images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The nonprofit then informs the Oregon Department of Justice, which in turn sends information to local police agencies to investigate.

Now, authorities are devoting more time and resources to investigating these cases, which are often time-consuming due to the challenges of tracking down concrete evidence online. Those who download and send such images can be anywhere, which can be challenging because it requires multiple law enforcement agencies to work together and share information.

Most importantly, authorities say, the cases are traumatizing for child victims, many of whom may be embarrassed or vulnerable when reporting to authorities. Lilienthal said many investigations into these internet crimes eventually find that the child involved has been abused by the suspect.

“We can’t let these cases take a sideline,” he said.

Authorities are urging families to encourage and educate children not to trust strangers online and not to send out inappropriate photos, even to people who they believe they know and trust.

“Teenagers just don’t understand that when they send these images out, they can be out there forever,” Nelson said.