The Weight We Carry

Every day, our team at the Innocent Lives Foundation sees what most people can’t even imagine. It’s not something you’ll find in a headline or a social media post. It’s hidden, buried in the darkest parts of the internet, where predators think no one is watching.

We see children forced to smoke, drink, or use drugs before they’re old enough to understand what’s happening. We see parents, the very people meant to protect, turning their own children into victims. We see children trafficked, abused on forums for paying audiences.

And then there are the communities built around cruelty itself. Networks dedicated to what’s called “hurt core.” People trading images and videos not just of abuse, but of deliberate pain. They don’t just exploit children, they celebrate their suffering. Evil doesn’t get clearer than that.

When we talk about the “hidden internet,” most people think of the dark web, those corners you need special software to access. And yes, a lot of this exists there. But predators don’t only lurk in dark web forums. They also use encrypted apps, private groups, even mainstream platforms, places you might scroll past every day without realizing what’s happening in the background.

That’s what makes this fight so difficult. It’s not a matter of closing down one site or one app. It’s everywhere, constantly shifting, predators adapting as fast as technology does. For every door that closes, another opens. That’s why we need persistence, and why we can’t afford to look away.

There is one case that still sits with me.

A girl was taken from her home in one country and trafficked into El Salvador. In those dark online circles, she became “famous.” We tried to find the people responsible. We searched every lead. But they had covered their tracks too well.

To this day, I don’t know if she’s safe.

Those are the cases that break us. The ones we can’t finish. The ones that remind us why we can’t stop.

But there are victories, too.

I remember another case, a man who used faith, my faith, to get closer to kids. He was a youth choir director. He had a wife. Children of his own. He wrapped himself in trust, in scripture, in community, and used it all as a shield.

This time, we were able to follow the links. We uncovered who he really was. And we submitted everything to the proper authorities. That case was closed. That predator was exposed.

Those are the cases that keep us going. The ones that remind us this work saves lives.

And yet, every case comes with a cost.

Some of our PIT volunteers are parents themselves. They tuck their children into bed at night, and then they sit down at their computers to face the worst of humanity. They sift through digital trails predators leave behind. They watch, read, and document what no one should have to, because it’s the only way to break the cycle. The toll is heavy, but the alternative, silence, is significantly worse.

This work doesn’t just live on a screen. It lingers. Sometimes it creeps into dreams. Sometimes it follows us when we’re laughing with friends or sitting at a child’s birthday party. But we do it because every child deserves someone who will fight for them, even though they will never know our names.

So far, as of writing this, we’ve closed over 577 different cases. That’s 577 predators identified and handed to law enforcement. Well over 577 children who may now be safer because of it. And yet, it’s only scratching the surface. For every case we close, more are waiting. More children need us to keep going. 

I carry the faces of both kinds of cases with me. The girl who vanished into the dark, trafficked until she became a “name” in those circles, and the man who used my faith as his cover. One I couldn’t reach, and one I could.

That is the tension of this work. Heartbreak and hope, side by side.

Here’s where you come in.

If you’re a parent, talk to your kids about their digital world. Let them know they can come to you without judgment if someone online makes them feel uncomfortable. Start the conversation now, not later. 

If you’re in tech, fight for accountability. Build platforms with safety in mind. Don’t settle for “good enough” when children’s lives are at stake. Predators thrive in loopholes; you have the power to close them.

And if you’re neither, you can still be part of this fight. Share our mission. Donate if you can. Every dollar fuels the next investigation. Every share puts our work in front of someone who might be the missing link to stopping a predator.

This work takes a toll. We carry images and words that no one should have to carry. But the weight is worth it when we remember why we do it. A safe child. A stopped predator. A life that doesn’t have to be shattered.

Children deserve a world free of this. And whether you know it or not, you have a role in making that world possible.

Don’t look away. Stand with us.