Local law enforcement to announce new approach to stop human trafficking, child sex exploitation

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Law enforcement officials from five local counties, FDLE and the Department of Homeland Security came together Thursday morning to announce a new partnership to help stop human trafficking and child sex exploitation.

Tim Tebow was also there representing The Tim Tebow Foundation,which works to fight human trafficking.

In a video, the Tebows shared personal stories of women who were forced into trafficking, some when they were as young as 9 years old.

“For so many people, this is what the darkest hour of need looks like,” Tebow said in the video. “And that's why we urgently have to bring faith and open love so they don't have to spend another day in this.”

Representatives from a group called ”Operation Light Shine” were also at the event. The group's mission is to stop human trafficking and child exploitation, according to the group's website.

The website features a concept on its homepage called ”Inter-agency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking Task Force,” known as “INTERCEPT.”

INTERCEPT aims to help local communities get the resources to conduct investigations, plan and run operations, identify and rescue victims, spread education and awareness to parents and children, plus process and analyze data.

The group is partnering with local agencies to launch INTERCEPT Northeast Florida.

The organization's founder, Matthew Murphy, launched the group after his sister was murdered by a drug trafficker.

“At the beginning of this when I started this charity, I was just like, ‘If I could stop just one,' you know… ‘If I could stop one more kid from ending up like my sister, then I've don't something right,'“ Murphy said.

According to Operation Light Shine:

• In the US alone, an estimated less than 1% of child sexual exploitation cases are currently being investigated
• In 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 17,200 reports of possible child sex trafficking
• 3.8 million adults are trafficked for forced sexual exploitation