HOUSTON — It's a crime that has skyrocketed since the pandemic: sex predators targeting children online.
Cases have more than quadrupled in recent years.
Investigators in Houston are doing everything they can to prevent more kids from becoming victims.
Lt. Freddy Croft is the task force commander of the Houston region's Internet Crimes Against Children unit.
"The main goal of the ICAC task force is to be that barrier between predators and children," he said.
Since the pandemic began, their caseload has increased significantly. In 2017, the team received 3,202 cyber tips. In 2022, they got 17,547.
"It's increased dramatically," Croft said. "You have all these kids who never really used the internet in an interactive manner and now they are all pushed online (due to the pandemic), and with that, they become available (to predators)."
In one case he said his team recently worked, Kelvin Dias was arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old child with autism. Investigators said he posted images of the child on Twitter.
Dias was arrested after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children got a tip.
"They reached out to us and said, 'This is a possible victim, can y'all look into this?'" Croft said.
Four days later, the team made the arrest in Houston.
"It is very fast. It was tremendous work by the investigators on that case," Croft said.
They are working with more agencies and training more officers because they know more cases are coming. Croft also said there are things you can do to keep your children safe.
"This isn't something we are going to be able to investigate our way out of it ... it's not something law enforcement is going to be able to solve by themselves. The way we are going to have to do it is prevention and getting in front of the kids and teaching them (how to be safe online)," Croft said.
Authorities said the best way to do that is by talking to your children and making sure you are engaged and connected to what they are involved with, especially online.
If you know of online crimes against minors, you can call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's 24-hour hotline at 1-800-843-5678.