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Sheriff: Be wary of juvenile exploitation
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office has seen an increase of juveniles being exploited through the internet. Although the county is not deemed a hot spot for sexual exploitation or child trafficking, it should be on every parent or guardian’s radar.
Unfortunately, sex trafficking is a rapidly growing business in our country and the state of Florida. It is important to have age-appropriate conversations with children on why it is so important to not send or ask others for sexually explicit content. Once something is shared, you no longer have control.
Just last November in Tallahassee, Operation Stolen Innocence led to 170 arrests for child sex trafficking. According to the Tallahassee Police Department, more than 100 were charged with felonies, including human trafficking, lewd and lascivious battery on a child under the age of 16, as well as, production and possession of child pornography.
Franklin County is roughly 72 miles from Tallahassee. As law enforcement, the sheriff’s office is committed to keeping your children safe from harm. Please use resources such as missingkids.org and justice.gov to learn more about internet safety.
If you have questions or concerns about child sex trafficking, please call the sheriff’s office at 850-670-8500.
This article originally appeared on The Apalachicola Times: Sheriff: Be wary of juvenile exploitation
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.