Sources: TBI ICAC press conference (September 2025), TBI Newsroom, LegiScan, NamUs DOJ January 2025 Report, NCMEC
Tennessee has a child safety crisis. And the numbers to prove it have been sitting in plain sight.
At a press conference on September 22, 2025, TBI ICAC Commander Lt. Andrew Boatman revealed that Tennessee now has more than 22,000 open youth exploitation cases — a 140% increase since 2020. Meanwhile, 500 to 600 children are reported missing in our state every single month.
If you have a child in Tennessee, or if you know one, these numbers are about your community. Your school. Your neighborhood.
The Bethany Markowski Foundation was built from 25 years of one mother’s firsthand experience with exactly this failure. Bethany Markowski disappeared from Jackson, Tennessee on March 4, 2001. She was 11 years old. Her mother Jonnie Carter has spent 25 years watching the systems that should protect children fall short, and building something better.
This post compiles the most current and verified Tennessee child exploitation statistics available. We’ve sourced every number directly from the TBI, the Department of Justice, NCMEC, and official legislative records. Nothing here is estimated or approximate. If a statistic could not be verified from a primary source, we have said so. Our readers deserve that. If you’re not familiar with our work, our 2026 Tennessee Missing Children’s Day event is a good place to start.
Tennessee Has 22,000+ Open Child Exploitation Cases
In September 2025, TBI ICAC Commander Lt. Andrew Boatman announced at an official press conference that Tennessee currently has more than 22,000 open youth exploitation cases — a 140% increase from 2020 levels. Multiple Tennessee news outlets confirmed this figure, including WSMV Nashville and Local Memphis / Action News 5.
These cases are not all the same. They span a wide range of crimes against children, including online enticement, sextortion (also called financial sexual exploitation), the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, and grooming through social media platforms. Commander Boatman identified financial sextortion as the fastest-growing category — and named Snapchat and Kik as the platforms most commonly involved.
22,000+ open youth exploitation cases in Tennessee [Source: TBI, Sept. 2025]
140% increase in exploitation cases since 2020 [Source: TBI ICAC Commander Boatman]
To put the growth in context: TBI ASAC Robert Burghardt told Tennessee Town & City magazine in November 2024 that when he joined the unit in 2017, the team processed approximately 30 cases per month. By 2024, that figure had surpassed 100 cases per month, and the team has never grown proportionally to meet that demand.
Source: Tennessee Town & City, November 2024
Who does this? According to the TBI’s own data, 90% or more of child abuse is committed by someone the child already knows — a family member, friend, coach, or trusted adult. Online predators typically don’t start as strangers either. They groom over time, building trust before exploitation begins.
500 to 600 Tennessee Children Go Missing Every Month
Tennessee averages 500 to 600 missing children a month, according to the TBI’s official website. Many cases involve parental abductions or runaways and are resolved quickly. But not all of them are.
Tennessee currently ranks 7th nationally for total missing persons cases. As of January 2025, the DOJ’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) documented 924 active missing persons cases in Tennessee, making our state one of the ten most affected in the country, even though we are not among the ten most populated.
Source: NamUs Bi-Annual Report, January 2025 (DOJ/NIJ)
| 500–600 | children reported missing in Tennessee per month [Source: TBI official website] |
| 7th | Tennessee’s national ranking for total missing persons cases [Source: NamUs DOJ Report, January 2025] |
An important note on case counts: The 932 active missing persons figure you may have seen from our March 2026 Tennessee Missing Children’s Day event coverage refers to ALL missing persons of all ages in Tennessee, not missing children specifically. As of March 4, 2026, approximately 356 of those cases involved children specifically. We want to be precise because our credibility depends on it.
If your child goes missing, you do not have to wait 24 hours before reporting it. Tennessee law requires law enforcement to take your report immediately. We published a complete step-by-step guide — What to Do If Your Child Goes Missing in Tennessee — covering every agency to call, your legal rights, and what not to do in the first 24 hours.
Online Predators in Tennessee: What the TBI’s Operations Found
The TBI doesn’t just track these numbers; it runs active operations to address them. In 2024, TBI conducted two major statewide operations targeting online child exploitation. The results were alarming and detailed.
Operation Protecting Tomorrow — Spring 2024
Conducted across 21 Tennessee counties over three months, Operation Protecting Tomorrow produced the following results:
- 12 individuals arrested on felony charges
- 24 child victims identified
- 181 electronic devices seized
- 264,000+ images and videos of child sexual abuse material found
- Primary platforms: Snapchat and Instagram
TBI Director David Rausch stated:
“The massive volume of vile images and videos our agents uncovered — and the number of suspects identified, and victims helped during this operation — should trouble every Tennessean.”
Operation Autumn Shield — Fall 2024
Six months later, Operation Autumn Shield covered 19 counties and found:
- 10 additional arrests
- 19 child victims identified and located — all between ages 12 and 17
- Primary platforms: Instagram and Snapchat
- Tennessee’s first documented case of AI-generated child sexual abuse material — a man used AI to create a nude image of his own minor daughter
- Identified a 14-year-old male who had founded an online extremist group that extorted minors into self-harm and producing abuse material
In less than one year, TBI’s two major operations resulted in 22 arrests, 43 victims identified, and the seizure of hundreds of thousands of illegal files — and that is just two operations, from a unit that operates with just five full-time TBI agents.
The platforms are not random: Both operations found the same platforms appearing repeatedly: Snapchat and Instagram. This is consistent with national data. Snapchat’s disappearing messages and Instagram’s direct messaging features make them particularly common tools for grooming and exploitation. If your child uses these platforms, read our post on
AI deepfakes and child safety — it covers platform-by-platform privacy settings and warning signs every parent should know.
Sextortion: The Fastest-Growing Threat to Tennessee Children
Sextortion, where predators coerce minors into producing sexual content and then threaten to release it unless the victim pays money or produces more, has become the dominant form of online child exploitation in Tennessee and across the country.
The FBI’s Memphis Field Office issued a specific public warning about sextortion schemes targeting teenage boys in middle and west Tennessee. Predators pose as age-appropriate girls on social media, build a relationship, coerce a boy into sending an image, then immediately pivot to financial demands, sometimes within minutes. The emotional devastation is severe. Nationally, at least 36 teenage boys have died by suicide after sextortion victimization since 2021.
The key things parents need to know about sextortion:
- It can happen to any child, but teenage boys are currently the most-targeted group
- It often starts as what seems like a normal online friendship or relationship
- The first demand is almost always money, not more images — which means your child can be victimized before you would ever expect it
- If it happens: do not pay. Do not delete messages. Contact the FBI and NCMEC immediately. Report using NCMEC’s Take It Down tool at takeitdown.ncmec.org to remove images without anyone having to view them
If your child is being sextorted right now: Stop. Do not pay. Do not delete. Call the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI. Report to NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST. Use the Take It Down tool at takeitdown.ncmec.org to remove images. Your child is not in trouble. They are a victim.
How Tennessee Compares to the Rest of the Country
Tennessee’s exploitation numbers are not isolated. They reflect a national crisis that has accelerated significantly since 2020. But Tennessee’s numbers are particularly troubling given the state’s population size.
According to the NCMEC’s 2024 annual report, the national CyberTipline received 20.5 million reports in 2024, including a 1,325% increase in reports involving generative AI-created child abuse material (from approximately 4,700 reports to roughly 67,000 in a single year). In 2023, Tennessee alone received 17,557 CyberTipline reports, one of the highest per-capita rates in the southeastern United States.
The FBI’s 2025 data, released by Attorney General Pam Bondi, showed federal agents arrested more than 1,700 child predators nationally — a 10% increase from 2024 — and shut down 3.8 million dark web accounts used for child exploitation.
The takeaway: the national infrastructure is fighting harder than ever. But the problem is growing faster than the response.
Tennessee Is Fighting Back — Two Key Bills in 2026
In 2026, Tennessee families pushed two significant bills through the legislature. It is important to understand that these are separate pieces of legislation addressing different problems.
SB 2225 / HB 2527: Child Abuse Investigation Reforms — PASSED
SB 2225 passed the Tennessee Senate 32-0 on March 2, 2026, and passed the House 93-0 on March 30, 2026. This bill:
- Requires inclusion of child advocacy organizations specializing in commercial sexual exploitation on child protective teams when human trafficking is involved
- Extends investigation timelines from 60 to 90 days for standard cases, and up to 180 days for child fatality cases
- Mandates annual training for team members on severe child abuse and sexual abuse
This bill passed both chambers unanimously. That is the kind of bipartisan action that happens when evidence is overwhelming and advocacy is persistent.
HB 2606 / SB 2649: TBI Cold Case Division — Pending
The second bill — HB 2606 and its Senate companion SB 2649 — would create a formal cold case division within the TBI, with regional offices, a director, and no fewer than five detectives per region. Right now, TBI has one full-time detective working nearly 480 cold cases. One. For the entire state.
The bill requires local agencies to submit unresolved missing person or homicide cases after 10 years, and gives families the right to formally request a review. As of April 2026, both versions are in their respective Finance, Ways, and Means committees — meaning funding is the remaining question.
Jonnie Carter, founder of the Bethany Markowski Foundation and Bethany’s mother, testified before the Tennessee legislature in support of this bill alongside Casey Robinson, sister and niece of missing Jennifer and Adrianna Wix, who represented nine other families of missing persons, as covered by NewsChannel 5. Jonnie told lawmakers: ‘I never quit on Bethany.’
If you want this bill to pass, contact your Tennessee state senator and tell them you support SB 2649. Find your senator at capitol.tn.gov.
Why this matters for cold cases: Bethany Markowski has been missing for 25 years. Her case is active with the TBI and FBI. But active doesn’t always mean resourced. A dedicated cold case division would mean cases like Bethany’s receive structured, ongoing investigation rather than being worked around every new case that comes in.
We have published more on the cold case research tools and volunteer coordination networks that support families like ours — see our posts on cold case research networks and digital volunteer search coordination for practical resources.
What Tennessee Parents Can Do Right Now
Statistics don’t protect children. Actions do. Here are specific, concrete steps every Tennessee parent can take today.
Report exploitation immediately
- TBI Tip Line: 1-800-TBI-FIND (1-800-824-3463) — available 24 hours
- Tennessee DCS Child Abuse Hotline: 1-877-237-0004 — available 24/7/365
- NCMEC CyberTipline (for online exploitation): report.cybertip.org
- FBI online tip line: tips.fbi.gov
Tennessee law: Every person in Tennessee is a mandated reporter of suspected child abuse or neglect under TCA 37-1-403(i)(1). You are not just allowed to report — you are legally required to.
Get a free child ID kit — before you need one
When Bethany Markowski disappeared in 2001, her mother Jonnie had no fingerprint card. No DNA sample. No formal child ID kit. In the chaos of those first hours, when every second counted, she was working from memory and school photos.
- TN KidKit — free from TBI at tn.gov/tbi — stores your child’s photo, fingerprints, and contacts on your phone
- National Child Identification Program — free inkless fingerprint kits at childidprogram.com
- McGruff Safe Kids ID Kit — free at mcgruffsafekit.com
Know the platforms your children are using
Both of TBI’s 2024 operations found the same platforms being used by predators: Snapchat and Instagram. These are also the two most popular social media apps among Tennessee teenagers.
Our post on AI deepfakes and child safety includes step-by-step privacy setting guides for both platforms, what warning signs to watch for, and exactly what to do if your child is targeted. It is the most practical resource we have published to date.
Talk to your children — directly and specifically
Children who know what exploitation looks like are harder to exploit. The conversations don’t have to be frightening. They do have to happen.
- Tell them: no adult should ask them to keep a secret from you
- Tell them: if something online makes them uncomfortable, they will not be in trouble for telling you
- Tell them: fake images can be made from any normal photo — no sharing required
- Tell them: if someone online asks for images or money, they come to you immediately
Support the Foundation Jonnie Built
The Bethany Markowski Foundation exists because one mother refused to let her daughter’s disappearance be forgotten, and refused to let other Tennessee families face what hers did without resources.
We are building two free programs:
- The Tennessee Families of Missing Children Handbook — a plain-language guide for Tennessee families in the first 24 hours after a child goes missing
- Free online child safety courses — covering everything in this post and more, designed for Tennessee parents and children
Both are completely free. Both are funded entirely by donations.
Help us protect Tennessee children. Donate at givebutter.com/gptnQ8
Volunteer with us: We need help with social media, grant research, video production, website updates, event coordination, and case research. Remote roles available. Email volunteer@findbethany.org or visit findbethany.org/volunteer.
Sources Used in This Article
Every statistic in this post has been verified from a primary source. Here is the complete reference table:
| Statistic | Source | URL |
| 22,000+ cases / 140% increase | TBI ICAC Commander Boatman, Sept. 22, 2025 press conference | WSMV Nashville |
| 30/month → 100+/month case growth | TBI ASAC Burghardt, TN Town & City, Nov. 2024 | Tennessee Municipal League |
| 500–600 missing children/month | TBI official website | TBI.tn.gov |
| Tennessee 7th nationally (missing persons) | NamUs Bi-Annual Report, January 2025 | DOJ/NIJ NamUs |
| Operation Protecting Tomorrow results | TBI Newsroom, May 20, 2024 | TBI Newsroom |
| Operation Autumn Shield results | TBI Newsroom, December 17, 2024 | TBI Newsroom |
| NCMEC 2024 CyberTipline data | NCMEC 2024 in Numbers, 2025 | NCMEC |
| Tennessee 17,557 CyberTipline reports (2023) | NCMEC 2023 Reports by State | NCMEC |
| SB 2225 Senate vote 32-0 | LegiScan / TN General Assembly records | LegiScan |
| HB 2606 / SB 2649 Cold Case Division | LegiScan / TN General Assembly records | LegiScan |
| Jonnie Carter testimony | NewsChannel 5 / WTVF, April 2026 | NewsChannel 5 |
| FBI sextortion warning — TN teenagers | FBI Memphis Field Office | FBI.gov |
About The Bethany Markowski Foundation
The Bethany Markowski Foundation is a Tennessee 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 41-2321010) based in Lebanon, Tennessee. Founded by Jonnie Carter in memory of Bethany Leanne Markowski (TBI Case #01-4723, NCMEC #906662, NamUs MP #4238), the foundation supports families of missing children and provides free child safety education across Tennessee. We incorporated in October 2025 and received tax-exempt status in January 2026. findbethany.org | (615) 784-3287 | team@findbethany.org | Donate: givebutter.com/gptnQ8
