Hey, Mike Rowe. Looking for a dirty job? How about filling in for Tony Godwin? He has the dirtiest of all jobs.
Tony doesn’t muck around in pig pens or crawl through storm drains. He doesn’t collect garbage or bat guano. His hands don’t get dirty. But that doesn’t mean he’s not wanting to take a long, hot shower when he gets home at night.
Tony is a detective with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force in Garland, Texas, and without question, he has the dirtiest of all jobs.
Celebrating Tony
I’m telling his story today because I want to celebrate Tony, who has worked with the task force for the past 19 years.
Only five other people nationwide have served for as long as he has on one of these specially trained high-tech units, which employ digital forensics and other techniques to root out and prosecute people who sexually exploit or commit cyber-crimes against children.
Tony and his colleagues do have the dirtiest of all jobs.
Things You Can’t Unsee
Can you imagine being exposed daily to photos and videos showing the rape of minors? Or encountering those who create and distribute this filth, or use the Internet to find kids whom they can groom, extort, sexually abuse, or traffic?
As he tells me from his home in Texas, “There are so many things you just can’t unsee,” making his longevity on ICAC even more remarkable.
In Tony’s line of work, burn-out and PTSD happen often, made worse by cavalier attitudes expressed from the bench. “It boggles my mind when judges say defendants were just looking at this material,” Tony says. “Tell that to the victim.”
The Effects of Child Sexual Abuse
To be sure, the ramifications of child sexual abuse will break your heart. Mood changes. Eating disorders. Self-hatred. Suicide, to name just a few.
Take, for example, the young woman featured on this blog many months ago. So fearful of being located by a man who had trafficked her, she became increasingly more agitated before abruptly ending our interview. She trusted no one.
Is this what you want for our young people? Mistrust? Mental stress? Fear? Trauma?
A Massive Uptick
Making matters worse, increased Internet usage has made the assault on our kids more prevalent, Tony says. “There’s been a massive uptick. During the Covid lockdowns, for example, we forced our kids to go online. Predators lurk everywhere . . . even on Zoom meetings.”
Did you know that? I had no idea.
“A lot of people think child sexual abuse material only exists on the dark web,” Tony continues. “Yeah, that’s the armpit because the victims are younger.” But many predators hide in plain sight. They operate in online groups and platforms, including social media, pretending to be upstanding, trustworthy people.
But Tony knows better. He has busted thousands of predators. Doctors. Lawyers. Drug addicts. Youth group leaders. Even moms and dads. “I’ve arrested everyone,” he says.
Take a Stand
As ugly as this topic may be, it’s important that we not bury our heads. “You can choose to acknowledge the issue or not to acknowledge it,” Tony says.
If you choose to stand on the side of child protection, get educated. Listen to Catfish Cops, the podcast Tony and another detective, Brandon Poor, started to expose people to the existence of child exploitation and the vile offenders who lure and harm kids.
Learn the technology. Know what your kids and grandkids are consuming online. Talk with them . . . openly about sex and body safety. Recognize the physical and emotional signs of potential abuse. And last, encourage the young people in your life to never keep secrets. Evil exists in darkness.
“The more people we can talk to, the better to raise awareness and bring people to the point where they say, ‘I need to take a stand.’”
How Does Tony Do It?
Because of the pervasiveness and complexity of the problem, this blog post doesn’t scratch the surface. Introducing you to Tony was the goal.
You might ask, how does he do it?
Why does he do it?
He believes it’s his life’s calling.
“I’ve been in this game so long and I’m on the cusp of retiring,” Tony says as we wrap up our conversation. “But I’ll never be out of it.” Even when he turns in his badge, Tony will still be at work, traveling around the country and abroad to teach others how to do the job correctly.
“It’s in my DNA,” he says.
Thank you, Tony and ICAC members nationwide, for doing the dirtiest of all jobs and putting these predators where they belong—behind bars.
I’m so grateful that there are people in the world who are willing to tackle these soul-draining jobs.
So am I. Soul-draining . . . A good phrase to describe his work.
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