A heads up before we start the show, especially if you have kids within

hearing distance, we discuss child sexual abuse and pedophilia in this

episode. Okay, here's a show.

When Alyssa created an Instagram account for her 11-year-old daughter in 2020, there really wasn't a lot going on. It was during the pandemic and her

daughter was interested in photography and fashion and they were kind of stuck at home and bored.

That's Jennifer Valentino DeVries, a reporter at the New York Times.

A lot of parents in this world get into this in a similar way. Their child is in some sort of activity and where there are other children who are influencers and the attire in the activities

and the equipment and so forth is quite expensive and they realize that they can get

discounts on this by posting the children you know wearing this clothing on

Instagram.

At first, Alyssa kept her daughter's account private, but the idea that her child could become an influencer and scoop up some brand deals was tempting

To get these brand deals and have this activity she turned her daughter's account to public and

you know they started getting more followers and you

know they thought it was just a fun activity but I think over time it became clear that a lot of

these followers were men.

Jennifer spoke to dozens of parents like Alyssa.

She discovered scores of men following the child influencers.

In telegram channels monitored by the Times, men openly fantasized about sexually abusing

the young girls they were following on Instagram. Often they'd leave sexually charged

comments on the girls' posts. But most of the content on the girls' accounts

isn't sexual, it's just girls being girls, posing in leotards or other dance outfits showing off their

interest in fashion trying to be like the older girls and women they know but for

...