LITERARY TITAN

Call Us Daddy is a true crime story following a detective and his colleagues as they navigate a complicated trail of digital evidence, online identities, forensic examinations, interviews, and legal procedures in the effort to bring child predators to justice. What made you decide that this particular investigation needed to be shared with readers?

After 22 years in law enforcement, I had seen a lot, but working child exploitation cases left an impression on me that never really went away. For 12 of those years, I investigated crimes against children, including seven years on an Internet Crimes Against Children task force working alongside the FBI. I saw the dedication it took to investigate these cases, but I also saw how much was happening behind the scenes that the public never got to see.

I think one of the things that bothered me most was how easy it could be for someone to hide behind a computer screen and target a child. As a detective, I knew what it took to follow the evidence, identify the people responsible, and build a case. But I also knew that most people had little understanding of how these crimes happened or how much work went into stopping the people responsible.

That was a big part of why I wanted to write Call Us Daddy. I wanted to take readers along on an investigation and let them experience it from the detective’s perspective. I wanted them to see the frustrating dead ends, the small breakthroughs, the hours spent tracking digital evidence, and the determination it takes to keep going when the answers don’t come easily. This wasn’t just about catching a predator. It was about understanding what was at stake every step of the way.

I also wanted to tell the story without losing sight of the children. Their privacy and dignity were extremely important to me, and I knew I had a responsibility to protect them while telling the story honestly. The offenders may be the focus of an investigation, but the children are the reason the work matters.

Now that I’m retired from law enforcement, writing this book has given me a different way to continue doing something I believe in. I can’t go out and investigate these cases anymore, but I can share what I learned and hopefully help parents understand the dangers their children may face online. That’s also why I created companion workbooks for parents and teenagers. I want families to have these conversations before something happens, not after.

If there’s one thing I hope readers take away from Call Us Daddy, it’s that protecting children online can’t be left entirely to law enforcement. Parents, educators, and communities all have a role to play. I spent years investigating these crimes, and I know how important that work is. But if sharing my experience helps even one parent recognize a warning sign or have a conversation that could protect their child, then writing this book was worth it.

What do you believe are the most important misconceptions parents and caregivers have about how online grooming and exploitation can develop?

I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that online predators are strangers who approach children in an obviously threatening way. After years of investigating these cases, I learned that grooming often doesn’t look dangerous in the beginning. It can start with a friendly conversation, a compliment, someone showing interest in a child’s hobbies, or simply making a young person feel understood. The person on the other side of the screen may gradually build trust before using that relationship to manipulate the child. By the time something feels wrong, the child may already feel emotionally attached, confused, or afraid to speak up.

Another misconception is that it only happens to children whose parents aren’t paying attention. That’s simply not true. Good parents can have loving relationships with their children, set rules, and do everything they believe is right, yet their children can still be targeted. Predators look for opportunities, and the internet gives them access to children in ways that previous generations of parents never had to consider. It can happen in a bedroom, on a gaming platform, through social media, or in a private message that a parent never sees.

I also think many adults underestimate how quickly an online interaction can change. A conversation that seems harmless can move to private messaging, requests for secrecy, emotional pressure, or demands for pictures. Children don’t always recognize what’s happening because the person may have spent weeks or months building their trust. And when children do realize something is wrong, shame, embarrassment, fear of getting in trouble, or threats from the offender can keep them silent.

If there’s one thing my experience taught me, it’s that we can’t rely on simply telling children not to talk to strangers online. We have to help them understand that someone can appear friendly and still have harmful intentions. We need to create an environment where children feel safe telling us about uncomfortable conversations, even if they’ve made a mistake or broken a family rule.

My advice to parents is to stay involved without making every conversation feel like an interrogation. Know which apps and games your children use, understand how those platforms work, and talk openly about online relationships, privacy, and boundaries. Most importantly, make sure your children know that if someone pressures, threatens, or manipulates them, they can come to you without fear of being blamed or getting in trouble. You have to create a safe place for a child to talk to you.

We can’t monitor every message or prevent every risk, but we can make it much harder for predators to use a child’s silence against them. Sometimes, the most important protection we can give a child is the confidence to speak up and the knowledge that the adults in their life will listen.

How does repeatedly investigating crimes against children affect the emotional well-being and personal lives of law enforcement professionals, and what changes or resources do you believe are most important for supporting the long-term mental health and resilience of professionals working these cases?

This is something I think people outside law enforcement don’t always understand. When you’re investigating crimes against children, you’re exposed to things most people will never see, and you’re expected to process that information, remain professional, and keep moving forward. You have victims who need help, evidence that needs to be examined, and cases that need to be built. You don’t always have the luxury of stepping away and dealing with what you’re feeling because there’s another case waiting for your attention.

During my 22 years in law enforcement, including 12 years investigating child sex crimes and seven years on an Internet Crimes Against Children task force, I learned that the work can follow you home, even when you try your best to leave it at the office. Certain cases stay with you. You may find yourself thinking about a child or a family long after you’ve finished the investigation. You can become more protective of your own children, more aware of the dangers around you, or frustrated by how easily someone can exploit a child’s trust. At the same time, you still have to show up for your family, be present in your relationships, and carry on with everyday life.

I think one of the hardest parts is that investigators are trained to focus on the evidence and the facts. You learn to compartmentalize because you have a job to do, and in many ways, that’s necessary. But being able to put your emotions aside while working a case doesn’t mean those emotions disappear. Sometimes you don’t recognize the effect the work is having on you until much later. You may become withdrawn, irritable, emotionally exhausted, or simply feel like you have nothing left to give when you get home. Every person handles it differently, and not everyone experiences the same effects, but I believe we need to be honest about the toll this work can take.

As for what needs to change, I believe agencies must treat mental health support as a normal part of the job, not as a sign of weakness or something an investigator seeks only when things become unbearable. Professionals working these cases should have access to confidential counseling with people who understand trauma and the realities of child exploitation investigations. Regular check-ins, manageable caseloads, time away from particularly difficult assignments, and supervisors who recognize the warning signs are also important. Peer support can be valuable because sometimes the person who understands what you’re experiencing best is another investigator who has been there.

I also believe we need to change the culture around asking for help. Law enforcement professionals are often expected to be the strong ones, the people others turn to when something goes wrong. That mindset can make it difficult to admit when we’re struggling ourselves. We need to make it clear that seeking support doesn’t make someone less capable of doing the job. It helps them continue doing it in a healthy and sustainable way.

Looking back on my career, I have tremendous respect for the men and women who do this work every day. They investigate these crimes because children need someone willing to stand up for them, even when the work is difficult and the subject matter is heartbreaking. But those investigators are human beings, too. They have spouses, children, and lives outside the job. Protecting the people who protect children should be part of the mission. If we want experienced investigators to stay in this field and continue doing this important work, we have to take their well-being just as seriously as we take the cases they’re responsible for.

What do you hope readers understand about the realities of Internet Crimes Against Children investigations that they might not appreciate from television, news coverage, or fictional crime stories?

After 22 years in law enforcement, I can tell you that some of the most important moments in an investigation never happen the way they do on television. There is no dramatic music, no detective suddenly connecting every clue, and rarely a moment when everything falls neatly into place. Instead, there are long hours, frustrating dead ends, unanswered questions, and times when you have to keep pushing forward because you know a child may be depending on you to get it right. When you’re investigating crimes against children, you don’t have the luxury of treating the case like a puzzle. There is a real child behind the evidence, and that never leaves your mind.

I think television and fictional crime stories have created an expectation that investigations move quickly. A detective finds a clue, runs a search, gets an answer, and suddenly the case is solved. In reality, it rarely works that way, especially with Internet Crimes Against Children investigations. These cases can involve weeks or months of painstaking work, and sometimes much longer. You may have a small piece of digital evidence that leads to an account, an account that leads to an internet address, and an internet address that eventually helps you identify a person. Every step requires patience, attention to detail, and the ability to follow the evidence wherever it leads.

One of the biggest things I want readers to understand is that digital evidence doesn’t automatically tell you the whole story. An online username isn’t a real identity, an internet address doesn’t necessarily identify the person responsible, and a single piece of evidence may raise more questions than it answers. Investigators have to verify information, work with service providers, obtain legal process, coordinate with other agencies, and make sure the evidence is gathered and documented properly. You can’t simply assume you know who is responsible. You have to prove it, and you have to build a case that will stand up in court.

Another reality is that these investigations often extend far beyond one detective or one jurisdiction. A suspect might be in one state, a victim in another, and the digital evidence held by a company somewhere else. Bringing everything together requires cooperation, persistence, and a lot of communication between people who may never meet in person. It isn’t always glamorous work. Much of it involves reading reports, reviewing evidence, writing search warrants and subpoenas, conducting interviews, and following up on details that might seem insignificant to someone looking in from the outside. But sometimes those details are what move an investigation forward.

I also want readers to understand that identifying an offender is only part of the job. We have to remember why we’re doing the work in the first place. There are real children behind these investigations, and the consequences for them can be devastating. Protecting their privacy, treating them with dignity, and making sure they aren’t defined by what happened to them are responsibilities I took seriously throughout my career.

I have enormous respect for the people who do this work. They don’t have a television script telling them what to do next, and they don’t always get immediate answers or a satisfying resolution. They have to keep going even when progress is slow, and the material they’re dealing with is difficult to process.

Ultimately, I hope readers finish Call Us Daddy with a better understanding of the dedication these investigations require and the people behind them. I want them to appreciate that protecting children online takes more than making an arrest. It takes careful investigative work, collaboration, persistence, and a commitment to getting the facts right. And I hope they recognize that while law enforcement has an important role to play, parents and communities also have a responsibility to understand the dangers children face online and help prevent these crimes before another child becomes a victim.

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