Illustration of distraught young man

In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received a staggering 36.2 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. To counter that, a chilling new interactive video, “No Escape Room,” uses dozens of real-life tipline scenarios to immerse parents and caregivers into a child’s online world, often fraught with peril. Throughout the experience, users are prompted to engage in a conversation with someone they think is another teenager. The friendly, flirtatious chat soon involves requests for nude or sexually explicit photos, eventually trapping the child in a blackmail scenario. The video’s immersive viewpoint shows parents firsthand how children are targeted by predators and struggle to navigate dangerous circumstances. At the end of the experience, users are directed to NCMEC’s resources on sextortion.

The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee issued a warning not to support a GoFundMe page connected to a missing 15-month-old girl. On February 19, 2020, the sheriff’s office issued an AMBER Alert after 18-year-old Megan Boswell reported her daughter was missing. On February 23, the sheriff’s office said a donation site that claimed to be connected to the investigation was fraudulent and it was not authorized to use the agency’s name. On March 6, the child was found dead, ending a 17-day-search in 3 states. The mother is now charged with making a false report.