{"id":54430,"date":"2025-11-18T11:41:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T11:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/54430\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T11:41:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T11:41:19","slug":"combating-child-sexual-abuse-in-lubbock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/54430\/","title":{"rendered":"Combating child sexual abuse in Lubbock"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUBBOCK, Texas<\/a> \u2013 Child sexual abuse cases continue to appear frequently in Lubbock\u2019s arrest reports, but investigators say the volume reflects proactive work, not necessarily a higher rate than other cities.<\/p>\n

Detective Jeff Buschman, with Lubbock Police Department\u2019s Internet Crimes Against Children Division, said the visibility of these cases comes in part from prosecutors taking on some of the \u201cmost heinous crimes\u201d and securing significant sentences in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve done a great job of prosecuting them lately and getting pretty great sentences,\u201d Buschman said.<\/p>\n

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While Buschman said he does not have national comparison data, he did say that child exploitation is increasing across the country. National organizations that track child abuse and online exploitation, he said, have reported rising trends nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a big problem that is starting to come to the forefront right now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to play catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buschman said hands-on abuse cases typically involve someone the child already knows. Online cases more often involve strangers who pose as teens or peers to gain a child\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n

When it comes to investigations, Buschman said one of the biggest challenges is obtaining digital evidence from platforms where conversations or photos were shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most difficult things is trying to preserve and get the information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Anonymous reporting can also slow down investigations, Buschman said. Knowing who made a report and how they learned about potential abuse often helps officers determine whether a child is in immediate danger.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPlease come forward and help us know who you are,\u201d Buschman said. \u201cOtherwise, we have to come to this almost blind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges, Buschman said the department is committed to protecting children in Lubbock and holding offenders accountable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we look back and go, \u2018Our city was determined to do everything we can to protect the kids, and to put the bad guys in jail,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas \u2013 Child sexual abuse cases continue to appear frequently in Lubbock\u2019s arrest reports, but investigators say…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-54430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lubbock","8":"tag-lubbock","9":"tag-lubbock-headlines","10":"tag-lubbock-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}