Parents who want to know how predators reach children through phones and apps can hear it from the people who investigate those cases in Grayson County.
The Grayson County Sheriff's Office will hold a free Protecting Our Children Online event from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at Sherman Bible Church. It is the first such class taught by the office's own investigators who work child exploitation and trafficking cases, KXII reported Thursday.
The sheriff's office told the station it has seen more than 200 cases involving child exploitation or trafficking so far this year.
Capt. Jeremy Cox said those cases involve "people who travel here from another location to exploit children or just people within the community that will exploit children."
"A lot of times people think, well, this is Grayson County and that won't happen here. But in reality, it's the world," Cox told KXII.
What the evening covers
The office's registration page describes the event as a parent internet safety and awareness night focused on the risks children face on social media, messaging and other digital platforms, including grooming, online exploitation and trafficking. Investigators plan to cover warning signs parents should watch for, how to start hard conversations with their children and practical steps to keep them safer online.
