Tim Tebow Shows 338,000 Child Exploitation-Linked IP Addresses

“We have to do a whole lot more, and we have to do it faster because every day we wait, they’re suffering, they’re crying,” Tebow said.

Kelly McBride Ni

Published: 3/5/2026, 6:08:24 AM EST

Tim Tebow Shows 338,000 Child Exploitation-Linked IP Addresses — Tim Tebow testifies before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 6, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow urged senators Tuesday to accelerate efforts to combat child sexual exploitation, warning lawmakers the United States is “losing every day in this battle.”

Testifying on child exploitation before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on March 3, Tebow displayed a map showing what he described as more than 338,000 red dots representing unique U.S. IP addresses trading child sexual abuse material involving children under 12.

“We have to do a whole lot more, and we have to do it faster because every day we wait, they’re suffering, they’re crying,” Tebow said. “Or are we just going to continue talking about it?”

He told senators the blue dots on the map represented active investigations but were barely visible compared with the volume in what he described as a sea of red dots.

“Law enforcement needs more resources, more support…a bigger rescue team,” he said.

Tebow, founder and chairman of the Tim Tebow Foundation, later wrote in a March 4 social media post, “Child sexual exploitation is not shrinking. It’s growing. Live-streamed abuse. Sextortion. Grooming. Runaways being targeted.”

He said the number of unidentified child victims depicted in abuse material has grown sharply in recent years.

Other witnesses at the hearing detailed the impact and trauma of child trafficking, and highlighted the alarming number of victims.

Jane Doe, identified as the mother of a victim, told senators her daughter was sexually abused as an infant by her father, who documented the abuse and shared the images online. “I only knew something felt deeply wrong," she said, referencing her then-husband's time spent on the computer and his behavior.

The abuse continued for nearly four years before an undercover detective encountered the father in an online chat room used by offenders.

She added that 25 years later, the Justice Department continues to notify her tens of thousands of times that “yet another offender has been found in possession of images" documenting her daughter’s abuse.

Julia Einbond, chief executive officer of Covenant House New Jersey, said traffickers target vulnerable youth. “Children who lack housing, family support, and safe community connections are the traffickers’ targets,” she said. “If we want to stop trafficking before it starts, we must treat vulnerability as the crisis.”

Staca Shehan, vice president of the Analytical Services Division at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said technology has intensified the crime but also improved detection.

She cited new federal reporting requirements under the REPORT Act. In 2023, before the law took effect, online platforms submitted 8,480 CyberTipline reports related to child sex trafficking. In 2025, the first full year after enactment, platforms submitted 105,877 reports—a 1,149 percent increase.

“This astounding 1,149 percent increase…is a testament to the power of federal legislation to illuminate online dangers to children,” Shehan said in prepared remarks.

Shehan said that of more than 32,000 missing children reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 2025, 1 in 7 were likely victims of child sex trafficking. The average age was 15.

Yasmin Vafa, executive director of Rights4Girls, cited data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing a rise in sexual violence against teen girls. In her testimony, Vafa said CDC data indicates 1 in 5 girls experienced sexual violence in 2021, which is up 20 percent from 2017, and more than 1 in 10 were raped, up 27 percent since 2019.

“These statistics are devastating,” Vafa said, describing sex trafficking as one of the most egregious forms of violence facing young people.

The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, chaired by Sen. Josh Hawley, oversees federal criminal law and counterterrorism policy. The panel also supervises Justice Department efforts to combat trafficking and exploitation.