Law enforcement agencies warn parents about rise in online crimes targeting Tennessee children

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Law enforcement departments have urged patients to pay close attention to what their kids are doing online.

On Monday, the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Southeast Precinct invited investigators from the department, members of the MNPD’s Youth Services Division, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI to discuss online safety measures.

The TBI said the number of cases involving online child exploitation has more than tripled in just a few years.

“At the TBI alone, when I started back in 2017, we were getting about 30 cases a month — about one a day,” Assistant Special Agent in Charge for TBI Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Robert Burghardt, said. “Now, the TBI alone is easily seeing about 110 — if not more — cases a month involving child exploitation.” Investigators said one of the fastest-growing scams targeting kids is online sexual extortion. It often starts with someone pretending to be a friend or romantic interest online, asking for a nude photo.

“Once the scammer has obtained a nude image, they then reveal that they are a scammer and say, ‘Because you friended me on social media, I have your whole contact list, and I’m going to send this image of you to everyone you know unless you pay me,'” MNPD Detective Chase Harriman explained.

Harriman told News 2 that some cases have led to devastating consequences.

“Some children have even committed suicide because they’ve gotten trapped in this, and they’re afraid their parents are going to find out, and they don’t see any way of, you know, keeping this from getting out,” Harriman said.

A detective with Metro’s Youth Services told News 2 they usually see an uptick in reports of juvenile sexual assault cases when school is in session.

“At that point, they feel comfortable to talk with a trusted teacher, counselor — it could be even a peer of theirs,” Bryson Wilsons, a detective with the MNPD’s Youth Services Division, said.As more kids spend time online, predators are following. Some of those predators have even businesses off of it.

“People are actually using cryptocurrency and purchasing access to dark web known child sex exploitation websites,” Burghardt described. “That is a huge area, especially in Tennessee. I know we have at least this year alone about 500 cases of those.”

Earlier this year, the MNPD arrested Denzil Miller and Misty Jensen on multiple felony charges after they discovered child sexual abuse material was shared to social media by Miller’s IP address.

Investigators added that in most cases catching those responsible can be difficult.“Arrests are zero to none, because most of these scammers are in different countries,” Harriman explained.

The MNPD hopes the information shared prompts honest conversations between parents and their children.

“We’re hoping that this is going to be able to open the eyes of some of the parents to be able to look through phones and iPads and see what’s going on,” Sergeant Steffani Dahlstrom, the MNPD’s Southeast Community Coordinator, said.