Parents, grandparents, educators and caregivers are encouraged to attend upcoming “Know the Signs” presentations designed to raise awareness about online dangers facing children and how adults can help prevent exploitation before it occurs.

The presentations will feature Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Russell Warlick and will be held at 6 p.m. on Jan. 26 at Linton First Christian Church, 9878 W. State Road 54, and again at 6 p.m. on Jan. 29 at Bloomfield First Baptist Church, 500 Lincoln Drive.

According to Greene County Deputy Prosecutor Carrie Speer, the challenges facing today’s children are vastly different from those adults experienced growing up, largely due to rapid advances in technology.

“The struggles that your kids are facing now are entirely different from the struggles you faced at their age,” Speer said. “Few things in this world have developed faster than technology, and while those advances do bring a lot of advantages, they also bring more danger.”

Speer, who serves as Greene County’s sex crimes prosecutor and supervises juvenile cases, said technological advances—particularly in social media and online gaming—have made it easier than ever for predators to access children.

“Predators seeking to exploit children have always been around, but technological advances, especially in the world of social media and gaming, have made it so much easier for these predators to access your children,” she said. “As technology continues to develop, so do the techniques of these predators.”

While residents may feel a sense of security living in a small community, Speer cautioned that predators are already reaching local children—often in ways parents do not expect.

“Yes, we live in a small community, and it is easy to feel safer in small communities,” she said. “However, I can say with certainty that predators already have been reaching our children. And the ones I see are just the ones that have been discovered.”

Speer emphasized that a child’s phone can serve as an open gateway for exploitation.

“Your child’s phone is not a one-way street, it is an open door,” she said. “While it is allowing kids access to the world in exciting ways, it is also allowing the world to have access to our kids.”

She added that many parents are unsure what warning signs to look for because technology evolves so quickly and because common stereotypes about predators are often inaccurate.

“We also tend to have an idea in our heads of a specific type of predator, and if something does not fit within that preconceived idea, we don’t tend to flag it as concerning,” Speer said. “Predators usually don’t look like what we expect them to.”

The goal of the “Know the Signs” presentations, she said, is to provide parents and guardians with practical knowledge so they can intervene before harm occurs.

“That is what this presentation is for — to equip parents and guardians with the knowledge they need to come alongside their children and hopefully stop the victimization before it happens,” Speer said.

National data underscores the urgency of the issue. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, reports of online enticement and sextortion involving children increased by more than 300% between 2021 and 2023. In 2024 alone, the NCMEC CyberTipline received 20.5 million reports involving 29.2 million incidents of suspected child sexual exploitation.

Of those reports, nearly 19.9 million involved the possession, manufacture or distribution of child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as child pornography.

While law enforcement continues working to identify and prosecute offenders, Speer said prevention begins at home.

“Parents with the appropriate knowledge will have far more power to prevent the victimization from happening in the first place,” she said. “Come learn what predators look like today, how they are targeting your kids, why your kids don’t realize it until it is too late, and what to do if you find something concerning on your child’s phone.”

Both presentations are open to the public.