Before the Evidence Vanished

On an ordinary weeknight, while families across the country are tucking their children into bed, ILF’s Predator Identification Team (PIT) gathers behind their screens. This is the quiet hour when agents from all walks of life step forward to confront what most people could not bear to imagine. As one PIT agent puts it, “Every case we touch comes from a child who deserved a quiet life, a safe home, and a future that wasn’t stolen by someone stronger than them.” 

One Tuesday night, an agent uncovered a popular dark web forum where predators trade and solicit child sexual abuse material (CSAM). There, amid the usernames and threads, one poster stood out. He called himself “Carlos.” He was openly sharing CSAM and commenting on posts, acting as if he were invincible. 

During a review of the forum, our PIT agents realized the moderators were planning to shut the site down in order to obscure their identities and destroy all evidence. This case became urgent and the agent who took the case and wasted no time. “Someone has to open those threads,” the agent would later say. “Someone has to read every sentence and follow every breadcrumb, hoping it leads somewhere real.”

Thinking of their own children sleeping in the next room, the agent used OSINT (open-source intelligence) to quickly assess the case. “Carlos” didn’t stay a username for long.  The agent revealed that he lived in Argentina and found enough evidence to ensure he would not harm another child.

Argentinian authorities moved quickly once ILF turned the case over. They arrested him, searched his home, and found four terabytes of CSAM, including material of his own children. Four terabytes of data is equivalent to 1,000 copies of the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. While that discovery will haunt everyone who saw even a fraction of it, the truth remains: this work matters and makes a difference to every child and family.  It has to, to help the children affected.

Behind each file, each post, each repulsive detail, there is a child who deserves an innocent life. The Innocent Lives Foundation established a group of undercover heroes in our PIT to do everything in their power to pull that child back into the light. 

Our agents can keep going only because people like you choose to stand with them, to say these children are worth fighting for. Your donation helps ensure that when the next “Carlos” appears in a forum will be seen.  That there is someone prepared to follow that predator’s trail, gather the evidence, and work with law enforcement to bring that child one step closer to safety.