GREENSBORO, N.C. — An alarming case of child exploitation in the Triad has renewed an effort to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.
It's related to the investigation into that 13-year-old Texas girl found in a Davidson County shed.
Jorge Camachois in jail, accused of taking her from her home in Dallas.
Investigators found her in Davidson County more than a week later.
Investigators said they met online, playing video games and chatting through discord, which is an instant messaging platform.
This case has law enforcement urging parents to know what their kids are doing online.
WFMY News 2's Itinease Mcmiller spoke with the Guilford County Sheriff's Office about its efforts to catch predators.
Investigating tips, and catching predators exploiting children is something lieutenant Jay Eaton's major crimes unit at the Guilford County sheriff's office handles in partnership with the SBI.
“We get a brief description of what they think is going on and then we have detectives trained to follow up on those tips,” Eaton said. “As soon as they come in we act on them.”
The sheriff's office gets 3 to 5 of those tips a month. Each case requires a different approach.
“From as simple as going to the location and doing what we call a knock and talk and try to talk to whose there and determine If we feel there's more that needs to be investigated," Eaton said. "There are ways we can investigate electronically by looking at social media websites."
The unit has three investigators who focus on young victims and a detective who gathers all kinds of information from social media. The types of crimes they investigate vary.
"Perpetrators enticing juveniles to send them illicit photos, Eaton said. "It could also be where the perpetrator wants to meet with the juvenile somewhere."
Lt. Eaton said cases that severe are not common in Guilford County, but they are seeing a lot of a crime called sextortion.
"We are seeing a tremendous amount of sextortion. Someone reaches out to a teenager via a social media platform and convinces the victim to send them some nude selfies,” Eaton said. “And they turn around and say give me $2,000 or i'll release these photos of you nude to your followers.”
The FBI said law enforcement agencies received 7,000 reports in 2022 of online sextortion involving minors.
They said offenders often they release the photos or videos regardless of whether they receive payment. The increasing threat has resulted in an alarming increase in suicides.
With technology continuing to evolve law enforcement said parents need to take an active role in their child's online activity.