INTERCEPT Task Force

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The CCSO INTERCEPT Section is comprised of dedicated, highly trained, detectives and investigative specialists who are part of the INTERCEPT Task Force, the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and are cross designated Task Force Officers or Task Force Personnel with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). They are responsible for the investigation of child exploitation related crimes and human trafficking within Collier County.

Operation Light Shine created the Inter-Agency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking Task Force (INTERCEPT) to provide the staffing, and support required to identify and rescue child victims, apprehend their offenders, and reduce the risk through public education and awareness. The state-of-the-art facilities will bring together law enforcement, NGO’s, prosecutors, victim services, and medical professionals in a multi-disciplinary approach to fight the exploitation and trafficking of children. The INTERCEPT Task Force is a world-class, first-of-its-kind workspace providing all of the resources required to conduct investigation, plan and run operations, identify and rescue victims, educate parents and youth and process and analyze seized data, and serve its community. Learn more about the INTERCEPT Task Force and Operation Light Shine.

For immediate assistance, please call 239-252-9300.

Child Exploitation
Human Trafficking

Child exploitation refers to the global exploitation of children, usually facilitated through the internet and digital media, for sexual purposes. This includes crimes such as the possession, transmission or production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), solicitation of a child for unlawful sexual activity, transmission of harmful materials to a minor, and sextortion. With the proliferation of technology, this crime type has increased exponentially since 2014, placing a huge demand on law enforcement to respond. In 2013, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received 505,280 cybertip reports of child exploitation. By 2022, that number reached 32,059,029. Between 2019 and 2021, reports of sextortion of children to NCMEC more than doubled. It is the mission of CCSO and the INTERCEPT Task Force to vigilantly identify the child victims in these cases so they can be freed from their victimization and to bring their offenders to justice. If you have information regarding child exploitation, please report it immediately to your local law enforcement. If you wish to remain anonymous or are unable to determine where the child exploitation is occuring, you can report it to the NCMEC cybertipline here: https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline