HELENA, Mont. — Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and the Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation called on Montanans to take steps to protect children from online predators during Internet Crimes Against Children Prevention Month, releasing new data showing a sharp rise in reported exploitation nationally and thousands of tips received in Montana over the past year.
From June 1, 2025, through May 31, 2026, the Montana Department of Justice’s ICAC Task Force received 3,542 cyber tips involving child sexual abuse material. Nationally, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 21.3 million CyberTipline reports in 2025, including a 158 percent increase in reported online enticement and a 323 percent increase in reported child sex trafficking compared to the prior year.
The ICAC Task Force receives cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and works with prosecutors to hold perpetrators criminally accountable for using the internet or other technology to exploit children.
The announcement highlighted a recent Montana prosecution that illustrated the evolving nature of online child exploitation. Prosecutors in Knudsen’s office charged a Carter County man, Shy Herbert McCutchan, with three felony counts of sexual abuse of children after investigators found he had captured images of a child from a public social media account and used artificial intelligence to manipulate those photos into child sexual abuse material.
In response to the growing use of AI in child exploitation, Knudsen supported House Bill 82 during the 2025 Legislative Session, which was signed into law and allows for the prosecution of offenders who use artificial intelligence to digitally alter images of children.
Sextortion — in which predators lure victims into sending explicit images and then use those images to demand money or compliance — is also on the rise in Montana. Knudsen successfully advocated during the 2023 legislative session for funding for an additional ICAC investigator, and the task force commander regularly travels the state to educate parents and students about online safety risks.
Knudsen urged parents to think carefully before posting photos of children on public social media accounts, keep accounts private, watch for warning signs of grooming behavior, and talk openly with children about the dangers of online predators.
