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us Sexual violence & highly sensitive situations child asked for nudes • adult asking child photos • adult offering gifts online • online grooming child • private video call request • sexual messages to child • stranger asking child pictures • adult wants private photos • child says someone online • grooming for gifts • someone buying child presents • adult requesting explicit images • child pressured online • unsafe online contact child • child asked for secret photos • adult asking for webcam • child offered money or gifts • online sexual exploitation child • suspicious adult chat child • child worried about messages

What to do if…
your child says an adult is asking for private photos or video calls and offering gifts in return

Short answer

Treat this as child sexual exploitation risk, not misbehavior. Stay calm, stop the contact if you safely can, and report it to the CyberTipline, law enforcement, or both rather than trying to investigate it yourself.

Do not do these things

  • Do not blame, shame, or punish your child for telling you.
  • Do not ask your child to keep chatting with the adult to collect more evidence.
  • Do not delete messages, usernames, screenshots, payment offers, gift records, or account information if they still exist.
  • Do not message, threaten, or try to identify the adult yourself.
  • Do not make your child relive the whole story repeatedly if it can be avoided.
  • Do not promise that you can keep it entirely private; explain that some adults may need to help keep them safe.

What to do now

  1. Get your child to a calmer, private place and say clearly: “You are not in trouble. Thank you for telling me. This is not your fault.”
  2. Stop the contact in the safest practical way. Help your child stop replying, block the account, leave the chat, disable live video or location sharing, and put the device aside for the moment if new messages are still coming in.
  3. Save what already exists without circulating it further. Capture usernames, profile names, app names, message threads, gift offers, payment requests, threats, and dates if you can do that without making your child keep engaging with the content.
  4. Check the immediate risk level: whether any photo or video was sent, whether a live call happened, whether money or gifts were exchanged, whether the adult knows your child’s real name, school, phone number, address, or plans, and whether any in-person meeting was suggested.
  5. Report it. In the U.S., suspected online enticement or child sexual exploitation can be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline. If there is immediate danger, a planned meeting, blackmail, or fear the adult may find your child soon, call 911 or local police now. You can also contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report online at tips.fbi.gov.
  6. If sexual images or videos of your child may already be online, use NCMEC’s Take It Down and make a CyberTipline report. Do not keep forwarding the material between adults unless a platform or investigator specifically requires a reporting upload.
  7. If the adult is linked to your child’s school or a youth activity, tell a responsible safeguarding or supervising adult there the same day so they can help keep your child away from that person while reports are being made.
  8. Stay close for the next several hours. Check for backup accounts, new friend requests, gift cards, payment-app messages, or threats across other platforms so your child is not managing this alone.
  9. Arrange support for your child tonight. A calm, familiar adult presence matters. If you need help with what to do next or how to report child abuse concerns, Childhelp USA can help, and a trusted pediatrician or mental-health professional already involved with your child may also help with immediate support.

What can wait

You do not need to solve every device rule, school consequence, or long-term internet plan today. You also do not need a perfect written statement from your child right now. The urgent priorities are safety, ending contact, preserving what already exists, and getting the right reporting and support started.

Important reassurance

Adults who target children often use attention, secrecy, gifts, pressure, or flattery. Children may freeze, comply, hide it, or worry they will be blamed. None of those reactions make this their fault, and telling you was a protective step.

Scope note

This is first steps only for a highly sensitive situation. Later decisions about police follow-up, school, devices, and emotional support may need specialist help.

Important note

This is general information, not legal, law-enforcement, or mental-health advice. If you think there is any immediate danger, coercion, blackmail, or risk of an in-person meeting, call emergency services now.

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