Colorado parents and teachers are dealing with a predator that does not lurk outside school fences, but inside apps, games, and chat rooms. AI-generated images, sextortion schemes, and violent online groups have rapidly expanded the ways kids can be targeted in the last two years. Local nonprofits and police say their caseloads and even classroom conversations are being reshaped by the online threat.
Nationally, reports of online enticement jumped 192% year over year to more than 546,000 in 2024, and incidents involving generative AI spiked 1,325% between 2023 and 2024. NCMEC's CyberTipline also logged more than 1,300 reports tied to violent online groups, a rise of over 200%, underscoring how quickly the landscape has shifted, according to data from NCMEC.
Colorado's caseload and local surveys
The Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is run out of the Colorado Springs Police Department, works with about 98 affiliate agencies across the state, per the Colorado Springs Police Department. In 2024, that task force fielded 15,935 cybertips of online exploitation. A Denver Gazette analysis found that 56% of 418 surveyed Colorado students had experienced at least one dangerous online interaction, while only 37% of 172 parents and youth workers said they felt confident protecting kids online, according to reporting in The Denver Gazette.
Local prevention: the INFLUENCED program
Trying to get ahead of the surge, Colorado nonprofit The Exodus Road rolled out a digital safety curriculum called INFLUENCED in 2024. The program targets caregivers, educators, and teens with practical skills on sextortion, privacy settings, and how to spot grooming. The training has been brought into schools and community groups across the state and includes a Parent Academy and in-person workshops, according to The Exodus Road.
AI, sextortion and why kids are vulnerable
Technology has accelerated the threat. Easy-to-use generative models let offenders create realistic abusive images and craft grooming scripts at scale, and sextortion rings have increasingly shifted toward financial blackmail. "Sextortion is a rapidly escalating threat," FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee in December, and that warning lines up with the spike in AI- and enticement-related tips recorded by NCMEC and reflected in congressional testimony.
New law raises reporting stakes
The REPORT Act (S.474), signed into law in May 2024, broadened what platforms must preserve and report to NCMEC. It extended mandatory reporting to certain child sex trafficking and online enticement cases and increased preservation timelines and penalties for noncompliance. Those changes are intended to give investigators more usable evidence, according to Congress.gov.
What parents and schools can do
For families and schools, prevention starts with adults: tighten account privacy, keep conversations open, and avoid shaming kids who come forward when something goes wrong online. The Exodus Road's INFLUENCED Parent Academy and community workshops offer concrete steps for families, per The Exodus Road, and local law enforcement has guidance and reporting resources available on its site, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.
"A predator doesn't need a passport, a hotel room, or a red-light district to exploit a child," Laura Parker wrote, a blunt summary of why prevention now has to be digital as well as physical, per The Denver Gazette. The combination of new tools, new laws, and local training gives Colorado a chance to push back, but experts say it will take coordinated action from platforms, schools, parents, and police to keep pace.
