Study Reveals: 1 in 12 Children Face Online Sexual Exploitation

A new study from Georgia State University's School of Public Health and the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute estimates that 1 in 12 children worldwide have experienced online sexual exploitation or abuse. Published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, the research analyzed over 120 studies from 57 countries, revealing that 8.1% of children globally have been affected.

The study identified various forms of abuse, including unwanted sexual talk (12.5%), non-consensual sharing of sexual images (12.6%), online sexual exploitation (4.7%), and sexual extortion (3.5%).

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Team Spotlight

"Judge" Marcus Long is a retired Chief Circuit Judge of the 27th Judicial Circuit of Virginia. He was born in Radford, Virginia and resided in Blacksburg, Virginia his entire life prior to recently retiring to the Lake Norman area of North Carolina. Judge Long graduated from Virginia Tech in 1973 and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1976. He has been married to his wife Elizabeth for 36 years and they have two adult daughters.

He was appointed judge by the Virginia Legislature in 2005 and retired in 2020 as Chief Judge of the 27th Judicial Circuit of Virginia. During his career on the bench, Judge Long established a family drug treatment court program along with five adult drug treatment courts. Virginia’s Lawyers Weekly named Judge Long a Leader in the Law in Virginia in 2016.

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