NCMEC Highlights Growing Online Threats to Children Ahead of National Missing Children’s Day

Ahead of National Missing Children’s Day on May 25, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is drawing attention to the growing threats facing children online while also highlighting the critical role the public continues to play in helping recover missing children across the United States.

As part of this year’s awareness efforts, NCMEC released its 2025 Impact Report, detailing the organization’s ongoing work supporting law enforcement, families, and child-serving professionals while responding to rapidly evolving forms of child exploitation — particularly those involving generative artificial intelligence.

One of the key tools highlighted by NCMEC is the continued use of age-progression imagery in long-term missing child cases. As missing children grow older and their appearances change over time, forensic artists create updated images to show what they may look like today, often generating new investigative leads and renewed public attention.

“In many long-term missing child cases, one image can spark a memory, a recognition, or a critical tip,” NCMEC said in its awareness materials. “The public continues to play a vital role in helping bring missing children home.”

In 2025 alone, NCMEC forensic artists created 187 age-progressed images to support missing child investigations nationwide.

The organization’s annual report also reveals the growing scale and complexity of online child exploitation. Since the creation of the CyberTipline, NCMEC has responded to more than 226 million reports related to child sexual exploitation, including more than 300,000 reports tied to child sex trafficking.

In 2025 alone, the CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports containing more than 61.8 million images, videos, and other files related to suspected child sexual exploitation.

Among the most alarming developments identified in the report is the sharp rise in exploitation linked to generative AI technologies. According to NCMEC, the organization received more than 1.5 million CyberTipline reports in 2025 involving a nexus to generative AI and child sexual exploitation.

Those reports included AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), manipulated content, grooming activity, and attempts to create exploitative material using AI tools and text prompts.

After excluding more than 1.1 million reports submitted by Amazon AI Services that contained no actionable information, NCMEC found:

• More than 12,000 reports involved CSAM identified within AI training data.
• Over 7,000 reports involved users generating or possessing AI-generated CSAM.
• More than 30,000 reports involved attempts to generate CSAM through uploaded images and text prompts.
• More than 145,000 reports involved AI tools used to alter or manipulate CSAM content.
• Approximately 3,000 reports involved other forms of AI-facilitated exploitation, including grooming and abuse.
• More than 133,000 reports indicated a generative AI connection but lacked enough information to determine how the technology was used.

NCMEC said the data underscores the rapidly evolving role of AI technologies in online child exploitation and the urgent need for coordinated responses among technology companies, policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and child safety organizations.

The report also showed significant increases in reports related to child sex trafficking following implementation of the federal REPORT Act, which expanded mandatory reporting requirements for online platforms.

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 implementation, that number surged to 105,877 reports — an increase of more than 1,100 percent.

Online enticement and sextortion cases also continued to rise sharply. NCMEC received approximately 1.4 million reports of online enticement in 2025, representing a 156 percent increase from the previous year.

Despite the mounting challenges, NCMEC reported continued success in helping recover missing children and supporting affected families. In 2025, the organization assisted law enforcement, child welfare agencies, and families with 32,167 reports of missing children. Of those cases, one in seven children were believed to be likely victims of child sex trafficking.

According to the report, the overall recovery rate for children reported missing to NCMEC was 90 percent.

Beyond investigations, NCMEC also continued expanding its prevention, training, and support services nationwide. In 2025, the organization’s call center responded to more than 138,000 calls from families, law enforcement, and members of the public seeking assistance. NCMEC also conducted nearly 42,000 trainings for child-serving professionals focused on child safety, exploitation prevention, and investigative response.

National Missing Children’s Day is observed annually on May 25 to honor missing children, support affected families, and recognize the efforts of organizations and individuals working to protect children and bring them home.