By Wayne Gates

Eight men were each sentenced to decades in prison for sex crimes against children last year in Brown County in just an eight month period of time. Seven of those sentences were for life.

It’s one of the biggest collection of similar crimes in recent memory, but investigators fear that it’s just the beginning of a new pattern where crimes against children are on the rise.

What is causing the rash of sex crimes against children? Local professionals point to a number of factors, including the breakdown of the traditional family structure.

Single parents putting their children into the care of those who abuse them is one scenario seen frequently in these cases, but it’s not the only factor.

“You have families breaking down, the availability of pornography through cell phones, the sexualization of children by society and kids left unsupervised in some cases. It’s a perfect storm for these types of cases,” said Brown County Sheriff’s Office Detective Quinn Carlson, who investigates child sex crimes full time.

“What we are seeing is kids as young as seven or eight years old having smart phones and livestreaming themselves doing sex acts or in a state of undress. There are also live chats where people are telling these kids to do different things,” Carlson said. “The kids don’t really know what they are doing, but they are creating all this pornography for these sick individuals. It’s beyond disturbing.”

Carlson said he works with a couple of national agencies to fight child sex crimes. They are ICAC is (Internet Crimes Against Children) and NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).

“They flag a lot of these videos and photos from the internet and social media. I know these things are going locally on because these agencies send me a lot of them that are being generated in this area,” Carlson said.

He said that the kind of work that he and other local investigators are doing can sometimes be difficult.

“It’s a tough job because it’s a pretty dark world. But it’s also rewarding because there is such a clear line between good and evil. When you have a seven year old child as a victim, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are hunting a true monster,” Carlson said.

Brown County Prosecutor Zac Corbin said that the problem is not just with adults.

“We see this weekly in juvenile court. 12, 13, 14 year olds committing these same types of sex offenses against their five, six or seven year old family members or family friends,” Corbin said.

He said that one reason for the increase in juvenile offenses is the constant availability of pornography to kids who are too young to handle it without acting out.

“I see a lot of kids with cell phones with internet access. How long do you think it is before they find things they shouldn’t? And what are the consequences of that?” Corbin asked.

When asked what the public doesn’t realize about this issue, Carlson said “Most people have no idea just how prevalent this activity really is. How often it happens.”

He added that the stereotypical idea of who is guilty of these offenses is often incorrect.

“I think a lot of people have an idea that it’s a stranger coming in and doing these things, but only about seven percent of child sexual assaults are done by strangers. That means that 93 percent of these crimes are done by someone the child knows,” Carlson said.

So what should a parent do if they suspect that their child has been abused? Carlson said it starts with a simple idea.

“I would just say believe your kids. Because most of the time when they disclose, something is going on,” he said.

“The minute they say something, call us so we can start investigating. Time is precious, especially at the very beginning of a case.”

Corbin agreed with the idea of listening to your kids, saying “A young child is not going to make this up. They are not going to make up details about explicit sexual acts that they should have no idea about.”

He added that while eight convictions or guilty pleas in eight months seems like a lot, “That’s just a glimpse of what Detective Carlson deals with on a daily basis. Sadly, we are into 2020 and we have more cases that are making their way to the grand jury.”

Corbin also said that parents need to be vigilant.

“An abuser is almost always someone who is in a trusted position in the home. You have to know who you are bringing around your kids,” he said.

“Also tell your kids that if an adult tells them that something needs to be a secret,that’s a problem.”

Corbin and Carlson both recommend checking the cell phones of children on a regular basis, including apps where they can communicate with others.

Corbin said that Carlson deserves praise for the work he did in 2019 on these cases.

“It is a testament to his work product and his passion for the job. Frankly, he has done an amazing job with all of these cases,” he said.

Carlson was quick to include others in the praise as well.

“We have a fantastic team in place. It’s not only due to me, we have a great time between the sheriff’s office, the prosecutor’s office and children’s services,” Carlson said.

“Without Jessica Roush working with the victims, without Kristin Ogden with children’ services doing crucial work as well, we would not have the amount of success that we have had.”

If you need to talk with someone about any suspicions of child abuse, you can call the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at (937) 378-4435 or Child Protective Services at (937) 378-6104.

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