KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Financial sextortion targeting children is on the rise in Tennessee, and law enforcement says families need to act now.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 50,000 reports of financially motivated sextortion in 2025 — an average of 137 reports per day. That figure represents a significant increase from the more than 36,000 reports received in 2024.
In Tennessee alone, the TBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Squad is actively working to identify and locate more than 150 child victims of sextortion.
Two threats trending up
Lt. Andrew Boatman, commander of the Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said two threats in particular are growing across the state and nation.
“That’s financial sextortion and sadistic online enticement,” Boatman said. “Sadistic online enticement is enticement to commit harm, whether it be self-harm or harm to others or to pets or property.”
Boatman said financial sextortion involves convincing a child to provide embarrassing or incriminating material online and then immediately blackmailing them with the threat of public release.
“Both of these end up with harm to the child,” he said.
What parents should know about sextortion
Boatman said parents should be careful about the language they use when talking to children about online safety — particularly around the permanence of content posted online.
“We used to teach kids things that we now know are harmful. We’d tell them, ‘be careful what you put online, it’s never coming back,’” Boatman said. “We want to tell our kids the positive side is we do have resources that can take that stuff offline. Any damage that someone is threatening to do to you today is not permanent. It’s not the end.”
Boatman said it is critical that children feel they can come to a trusted adult without fear.
“We need to be really cognizant of that because when we’re telling our teenagers who are going through so much already that something is so high stakes, we got to know that we need to provide them with resources and the confidence to know that they can come to us with these problems and it’s not the end of the road,” he said.
ICAC task force guidance
Boatman said the most important step parents can take is navigating the online world together with their children — including learning the apps and games their kids are using and knowing who they are communicating with.
“The biggest red flag you can see in communications online is when you’re on a platform like Roblox — and they will always try to get a child to go off platform to communicate on something that’s more difficult to track, like a texting app or WhatsApp or a phone number,” Boatman said.
The PAWS framework
The National ICAC has developed a safety framework for children called PAWS.
- P — Private: Keep personal information private. Do not share details that can be traced back to real life.
- A — Alert: Tell a trusted adult when something does not feel right or when something has gone wrong.
- W — Walk away: Leave any situation — online or in person — that feels uncomfortable and find a trusted adult.
- S — Screen your friends: Do not add people online that you do not already know in real life.
“If you don’t already know them in real life, you don’t need to be friending them online,” Boatman said.
Prevention starts with conversation
Kate Trudell, executive director of the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking, said the internet has become one of the primary places where offenders target and exploit children.
“Whether the goal is sextortion, sexual abuse or human trafficking, these crimes often begin with grooming: building trust, manipulating emotions and taking advantage of vulnerabilities through social media, gaming platforms or messaging apps,” Trudell said.
Trudell added prevention does not require parents to know every app their child uses.
“Parents and caregivers don’t have to know every app or platform their child uses, but they do need to create an environment where young people feel safe talking about their online experiences without fear of getting in trouble,” she said. “When children know they can ask for help and they have a trusted adult to go to, they’re much more likely to speak up before a situation escalates.”
Trudell said early reporting and open communication are key.
“By staying informed, keeping the lines of communication open, creating spaces where children feel safe asking for help without fear of judgment, and reporting concerning behavior early, we can work together to protect children from exploitation in every environment they navigate,” she said.
A family’s experience
The threat is not abstract for one East Tennessee family. Amanda Bartkoski said a moment on the school bus prompted her to take a closer look at what her children are exposed to online.
Her 10-year-old son, Brody, was riding home when another child was playing a mobile game. When he looked over, he saw an advertisement appear on the screen.
“I thought it was part of the game. And then I looked up to the top corner, and I saw an ad. So, I saw that and I was like, ‘that’s an ad that’s even more inappropriate,’” Brody said.
“The first ad that he told me about that he saw on the bus ride home was of a beautiful woman in a very revealing bikini, red bikini, with her chest area out,” Amanda Bartkoski said.
Bartkoski added the moment was a “win” for their family — proof that the environment she has built at home, where honesty is rewarded, was working.
“You don’t want to expose them to everything that’s out there, but you need to equip them with the knowledge and wisdom that will empower them to then make the right decisions and discern what is appropriate, what isn’t appropriate,” she said.
Games and apps that concern parents
Bartkoski said she has placed hard limits on certain platforms. Roblox and Fortnite are not allowed in her home.
“Roblox is what’s called open-ended play. And it’s an open-ended forum. So, anyone can get on there and create their own games and it never ends,” she said. “And that’s that addictive tendency that we see in these kids to these devices and these games.”
She said Minecraft, while offering some educational value, also carries risks in its unfiltered form due to open chat features that can give outside users access to children. She noted a creative mode within the app allows children to build without those open chat functions.
Bartkoski said parental controls on platforms like Roblox and Fortnite exist but are not sufficient on their own.
“They can be breached so easily and they’re not a full safe thing,” she said.
Bartkoski uses a home internet program called Eero to manage her children’s online access, allowing her to set time restrictions per device and block specific websites and apps.
“I think keeping it simple is the easiest way to do it,” she said. “It was a very effective way to do all of the blocks and the safety implementations that I would want for my child.”
The following is a statement from Roblox:
Sextortion hits close to home
Bartkoski said sextortion is something she has already discussed with her 10-year-old son.
“I think the best thing we can do with our children is to equip them with knowledge and wisdom and discernment. Because we cannot always be there to be the voice of reason. But if we are the voice in their head that they hear and they know they can come to us, they know the red flags,” she said.
Bartkoski said she encourages other parents not to wait.
“I just would encourage parents to go and look up these statistics for themselves and really talk to their kids. Be that safe space that they can go to. Don’t just give your kid a device and just say, ‘it’ll be fine,’” she said.
How to report
Anyone whose child has been victimized is urged to report it to local law enforcement and submit a tip to the NCMEC Cyber Tipline or by calling 1-800-THE-MISSING.
Additional internet safety resources for parents and educators are available at ICACtaskforce.org and through NCMEC’s NetSmartz program.
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