A state investigator overseeing child exploitation cases told members of the Minden Lions Club on February 26 that online threats to children are escalating, even as law enforcement agencies strengthen partnerships to combat the crimes.
Supervisor Special Agent Chris Masters, who has 21 years of law enforcement experience with the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, spoke during the club’s noon meeting at the American Legion Memorial Hall. Earlier that day, he attended a signing ceremony in which Minden Police Chief Jared McIver formally joined the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Masters currently supervises 10 law enforcement officers whose sole responsibility is investigating and arresting predators who sexually exploit and victimize children. He works with local, state, and federal agencies and prosecutors across Louisiana.
“This is a very important mission that we’re on,” Masters said. “As far as the Louisiana ICAC Task Force, we are the strongest we’ve ever been. Sheriff Parker is part of that task force and, effective today, the Minden Police Department is a part of our task force. They are one of probably 14 police departments statewide that are on the task force. We have over 60 sheriffs now. We’ll have all 64 soon.”
Masters said the problem continues to grow.
“Every year this problem is expanding, not just in the state of Louisiana but nationally and internationally. If your kid or grandkid has access to the internet, there is potential for them to be exploited by someone,” he said.
He contrasted past warnings about strange people in the neighborhood with current online realities.
“Now your kids are sitting next to you on the couch talking to the strange guy from the neighborhood who is pretending to be 12 years old,” Masters said.
He urged parents and grandparents to closely monitor children’s devices.
“We need to pay attention to our kids’ devices,” he said. “Do random inspections to see who’s on their friends list and say, ‘Who is that?’ If they can’t tell you who that is in real life, then that’s a problem, and you need to take that device away from them.”
He also warned parents to be alert if children receive unsolicited gifts in the mail, particularly clothing or lingerie, which is a red flag in exploitation cases.
Masters said Louisiana received more than 30,000 tips related to child exploitation in 2025 and is on pace to receive 100,000 in 2026.
“We have to do our jobs as parents and grandparents and look into what they’re doing,” he said, adding that children must feel comfortable reporting concerns. “Tell them it’s okay. Tell them the police aren’t coming for them; the police want to arrest the bad guy.”
Masters described a recent case in which he received an active tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children around noon and immediately forwarded it to local agencies.
“Within five hours this person was arrested, and that’s huge for our cooperation with law enforcement. He was sexually abusing a one year old,” he said.
“The trend is that the age of the victim is getting younger and younger,” Masters said. Because of the volume of cases involving children under 13, he said investigators have a harder time reaching cases involving 15- and 16-year-olds.
Masters said the task force recorded more than 500 arrests of child predators last year, rescued over 80 children from ongoing sexual abuse situations, and identified more than 100 previously unknown victims.
“A lot of times these kids aren’t going to tell their parents that this guy’s extorting them,” he said.
He said sextortion — in which someone posing as a juvenile convinces a child to send explicit images and then demands money under threat of distributing them — is increasing and has been linked to higher rates of juvenile suicide.
The SnapChat app is notoriously used in this way Masters said, though he noted the platforms involved are too numerous to name.
“We had one case that we looked at in particular: From the time he began getting exploited till the time he committed suicide was 45 minutes. There was nothing that could be done for that child in that moment, but that’s why it’s important for us as parents and grandparents to have that open dialogue with them,” he said.
Calling the internet the modern child’s “playground,” Masters said north Louisiana agencies work closely together and are well-positioned to respond.
“We’re in a great position, especially here in North Louisiana,” he said. “You all do a great job out here working together as a law enforcement community, and I’m proud that you are part of our task force now.”
Masters said a statewide human trafficking task force is in development and that most recruitment for trafficking now occurs online. He described the case of a 13-year-old girl who ran away after communicating with someone she believed was her boyfriend. She was later found in a box in a basement in Pennsylvania. She had been being exploited for several days, and they were preparing to ship her to another state to be trafficked.
“After that, they’re gone,” he said. “It’s very hard to find these children because they have no digital footprint once that person removes all their electronics.”
He said Louisiana is updating laws to address artificial intelligence-generated images and that deep fakes are already unlawful in the state.
Recidivism rates among offenders remain high, and rehabilitation doesn’t seem to work, he said.
“In my experience, I haven’t seen it become a curable thing,” Masters said.
Residents can search for registered sex offenders in their area through Offender Watch at www.offenderwatch.com/network/louisiana and should report violations to law enforcement. Masters recommended visiting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at www.missingkids.org/home for age-specific safety guidance.
The Lions Club, whose motto is “We Serve,” hosts interesting speakers every Thursday at noon at 119 Pine St. and welcomes new members interested in community service.