230 – Cal Walsh and Protecting our Children

This episode is brought to you by Vanguard University and the Global Center for Women and Justice, who offer an incredible anti-human trafficking certificate. Whether you're a frontline responder, a social worker, in the ministry, a healthcare provider, or simply a community member who wants to help, this program is built for you. Head over to gcwj.org/ahtc to take the next step and apply today. ---Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Callahan Walsh, a child advocate for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. They discuss how COVID-19 has presented challenges and opportunities in the fight against child sexual exploitation and how we can make sure that kids are equipped with safe and smart decision making to prevent online exploitation. Callahan Walsh Callahan Walsh is a child advocate for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. He is the son of John and Revé Walsh, who co-founded NCMEC in 1984 after the kidnapping and murder of their first son, Adam. Following in his parent’s footsteps, Callahan has focused his energy on fighting crime, helping find missing children, reducing child sexual exploitation, and preventing child victimization. Key Points John Shehan, NCMEC Vice President, shared, “In the first quarter of 2020, NCMEC became aware of predators openly discussing the pandemic as an opportunity to entice unsupervised children into producing sexually explicit material.” Parents, educators, community leaders, and law enforcement have access to free online resources through NetSmartz that can help create a safer online community for kids. Coming together as a community and using online safety programs can prevent the issues of missing and exploited children. Resources NCMEC CyberTipline Report NetSmartz NetSmartz Student Project Kit NetSmartz Classroom Activities Are you enjoying the show? If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe or rate the podcast on iTunes by clicking here. Click here for FAQs about podcasts and how to subscribe. Haven’t been receiving our newsletter? Visit our homepage to join today. Contact us with questions, comments, or suggestions at [email protected]. Transcript Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 230 – Callahan Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Protecting Our Children. Production Credits [00:00:12] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential. Dave [00:00:33] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak. Sandie [00:00:39] And my name is Sandie Morgan. Dave [00:00:41] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I’m so glad for our guest today because he and his family have been such an important voice and important partners in the work that so many of us care so deeply about. And today I know we’re going to learn so much from him. I’m so pleased to welcome Callahan Walsh to the show today. He is a child advocate for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. He is the son of John and Reve Walsh, who co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 1984 after the kidnapping and murder of their first son, Adam. Following his parents’ footsteps, Cal has focused his energy on fighting crime, helping find missing children, reducing child sexual exploitation, and preventing child victimization. Cal we’re so glad to welcome you to the show. Cal [00:01:40] Thank you for having me. I really appreciate being here. Sandie [00:01:43] So, Cal, I’ve been associated with a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for many years, worked with some greats that have been part of the team there. And when I read the latest statistics, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children published this note: that you have experienced a 90.46 percent increase in Cyber Tipline reports between January and June 2020 versus the same time period last year. And I have a quote from NCMEC Vice President, John Shehan, who said, “COVID-19, has presented challenges and opportunities in the fight against child sexual exploitation in the first quarter of 2020. NCMEC became aware of predators,” I have to pause here because I want people to listen, “became aware of predators openly discussing the pandemic as an opportunity to entice unsupervised children into producing sexually explicit material. At the same time, we experienced an explosion in reporting to our Cyber Tipline from both the public and electronic service providers, all while transitioning to a telework environment.” Cal, this is overwhelming. If I’m the parent of a child being schooled at home, what’s the first thing I need to do? Cal [00:03:20] Well, it’s important for parents to understand some of the dangers that lurk online that their children face. Now the internet has created a life for the better in so many ways, but it has created new ways to harm children. And the fact that so many more kids and adults have increased screen time during this COVID epidemic has only increased the opportunities for those child predators to prey on victims, on these children. And so, it’s important for parents to understand that, it’s important for parents to understand these things and talk to their children about safe and smart decision making. As that quote that you just read from John Shehan. We did observe chatter on the darknet from these child predators, discussing how this is a great time to try to exploit children online, including sharing best practices. We have seen overall a 90 percent increase in the last few months, although in April alone there was over a 300 percent increase in reports to the Cyber Tipline of suspected child sexual exploitation and abuse. It went from last year’s numbers about a million reports during April, to over four million reports in April alone. And this from a few different factors. There were a few CSAM videos, child sexual abuse material videos that went viral, if you will, on some popular social media channels. Many people seeing those horrific images and videos, of course, want it to end. And they are well intended, but a bit misguided in the fact that they will often share that video or that post in hopes that it brings attention possibly to identify the child or the perpetrator. However, th...