MillionKids.org

(The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.) None of us chose the time, place, or circumstances we were born into and yet we spend our entire lives navigating the ripple effects of those beginnings. And while we rarely control when our story ends, we do have power over the stretch in the middle. That middle span is critically important and for the next generation, it...

(The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.) For more than fifteen years, I have spent my life combating child sex crimes, especially online exploitation of minors. People say, it is all so negative. Nobody really wants to hear about it, and even more people seem to think that it is the kid’s fault. They should know better than to send a nude on line. Honestly, it is...

The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised. Part 2 - Many times parents find it difficult to talk with their teen about the risks of online communication. The teen is often defensive (fearing they may lose access to their device). Or they may meet you with "Oh Mom/Dad, I will know if I am being catfished". Or even worse, "you just don't understand&q...

(The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.) Many times parents find it difficult to talk with their teen about the risks of online communication. The teen is often defensive (fearing they may lose access to their device). Or they may meet you with "Oh Mom/Dad, I will know if I am being catfished". Or even worse, "you just don't understand". P...

(The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.) **IF YOU KNOW A TEENAGER WHO IS USING CHARACTER AI OR OTHER CHARACTER BASED CHAT BOT AND YOU HAVE NOT USED IT – YOU MUST HEAR THIS PODCAST** Multiple research reports indicate that more than HALF of U.S. teenagers use Character AI or other character based chatbot daily, most often on their cell phone. Most adults are compl...

(The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.) Character AI and other character based interactive chat bots are now a way of life for many teenagers. Yet, few adults have any working knowledge of these technologies and even more concerning the negative impact they can have on young people. This is a major concern as there have been multiple situations where a teen beco...

(The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised.) This is the first installment in a critical new series exploring the rise of AI chatbots among teens — with a spotlight on a recent research study conducted by Heat Initiative and ParentsTogether Action. We are deeply grateful for their investment in uncovering how young people are interacting with AI-powered characters, a...

*The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast is part 2 of a two part series. Operation Broken Blade In August 2025, the U.S. Federal Government agencies including DOJ, FBI, and IRS joined with the Los Angeles Police Department to arrest 11 members of the Hoover Criminal Street Gang for sex trafficking children and adults along the Figueroa Corridor in sou...

*The podcast may contain sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast is a two part series. In August 2025, the U.S. Federal Government agencies including DOJ, FBI, and IRS joined with the Los Angeles Police Department to arrest 11 members of the Hoover Criminal Street Gang for sex trafficking children and adults along the Figueroa Corridor in south Los Angeles. The individuals a...

We may be living in THE most important time in all ofhistory.  Especially if you are a pastor,or Christian leader working with youth. Why? Because in 2022 the entire worldwas connected by 5G high speed internet at the same time as new technologieswere introduced including AI, geo location software, global money transfer andmass audience live streaming.  This isthe first generation of young people...

This past week we saw a story in the Associated Press with an interesting headline. “Students have been arrested for false alarms from AI surveillance." The story relates an interesting situation. It seems a 13-year-old girl made an offensive joke while chatting online with her classmates, which triggered the schools’ AI surveillance software. Everyone seemed to agree (including mother and student...

Romance Scams have created more than $105 BILLION dollars in losses for the year ending 2024. Almost every victim of a romance scam would have sworn that it would not happen to them. Most people think they will know if they are being taken in by someone they have never met. What few of us realize is that the predators are out there in numbers we cannot even imagine, and they are very good at makin...

The following may contain sensitive topics, listener discretion is advised. For the past few years, the Million Kids Team has explored the challenges related to global financial sextortion of our kids. It is truly a pandemic with many victims and many kids who pay the ultimate price. One of the discussions we have had is centered around the role that schools and educators can or should play in pre...

In August 2024, the Million Kids research team came across an article that discussed a case where five 8th grade boys in a Beverly Hills Middle School were expelled for creating and sharing deep fake nude photos of female classmates. In this situation, the students accessed “nudify” apps and used the software programs to super impose the faces of their classmates on images that were nude or sexual...

Warning: This podcast explores subjects that may be sensitive to some. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) or a local mental health professional. This podcast looks at how people in developing countries, access, groom and exploit U.S. teenagers and exploit them to the point of abuse and sometimes suicide. It is called “Financial Sextortion”,...

Warning: This podcast explores the impact of suicide in the context of financial sextortion. If you are experiencing thoughts of self-harm, we encourage you to seek help—support is available. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) or a local mental health professional. For the past two years, the team of researchers at MillionKids.org has follow...

UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF GLOBAL MONEY TRANSFER IN FINANCIAL SEXTORTION SCHEMES IMPACTING TEENS AND ADULTS. Recently, our team of researchers at Million Kids saw two completely different articles about criminal online exploitation scams involving large payouts of money that were generated out of the country and impacted U.S citizens. One had the headline: “I lost $1M to a romance scam” and the oth...

CSAM (Child S*x Abuse Materials, formerly known as "child p*rn") is one of the most prolific underground crimes of our generation. Most people don’t understand it, and many people don’t want to look at it or acknowledge it. The reality is that it is truly horrific, traumatic and for most of us it is downright disgusting. But we cannot look the other way. A child’s whole life is at stake....

The Take It Down Act will protect victims of digital exploitation, hold internet platforms accountable by requiring them to remove such imagery from their platform and provide justice for victims by allowing prosecutors to go after those who publish nonconsensual explicit images online," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters (as reported in USA Today Network). May 19th P...

Many apps are classified as mass audience live streaming and that includes Discord, TikTok, Byte, Like, Snapchat and Instagram. In many of these apps you can create a live stream where you are in real time with your audience allowing for immediate engagement. A lot of the gaming platforms also allow for live interaction with the other players. In both cases you are exposed to thousands of individu...

Our world has experienced a technological transformation unlike anything we have ever seen in history. Right after the Covid Pandemic, we began to see announcements about how the entire world is now connected by 5G high speed internet. It is estimated that there are now over 5.5 Billion Internet users around the globe. Think about the impact! That means your children are the first generation in al...

The crime of sextortion has been around for nearly two decades. Historically sextortion involved someone being tricked and coerced into sending a nude or illicit image, video or sharing an explicit live stream. There were many different variations of sextortion and driving influencers. Sometimes it was an individual pedophile that wanted to own/control their victim and even meet up to exploit the...

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PODCAST ANY PARENT CAN LISTEN TO AND A CALL TO ACTION. Our world has "tilted" and nobody noticed. Million Kids has been combating sextortion since 2010. Initially, we dealt with kids who sent nudes, or who bullied others who had sent a nude. Occasionally, it would be a case of 'revenge porn" where to lovers took photos during a hot moment and then brok...

Every day it seems I witness young kids playing online and I wonder if the adult in their lives have any idea the danger that child is in. Most parents that hand a young child a device mean well and they say to themselves, "I will keep an eye on them" and "I am sure my child will tell me if something is wrong". It is well meaning and they are not bad parents. However, few paren...

This is the third podcast in a series of three about understanding how pedophiles and predators seduce kids and adults online.  With artificial intelligence technology surrounding us at ever turn, it is more critical than ever for parents, grandparents, educators, social workers etc tounderstand the art of online grooming.  First, it is good to understand who the predators are and why they want to...