Show Description – Chasing Shadows
Predators thrive in the shadows. Parents can’t protect what they don’t see.
Chasing Shadows is a podcast hosted by Sean Lacy, a Digital Forensic Examiner and Special Investigator who has spent years uncovering crimes of online child exploitation. Drawing from real cases and frontline experience, Sean pulls back the curtain on how predators operate in digital spaces most parents have never even heard of.
Episode 15 - Inside the Mind of an Online Predator
Episode 15 - Inside the Mind of an Online Predator
When an arrest makes the news, we call them monsters.
But if we only see predators as monsters, we miss the warning signs hiding in plain sight.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, investigator Sean Lacy takes listeners inside the psychology of online predators — not to excuse their behavior, but to understand how they think, how they justify their actions, and how they blend into everyday life.
Drawing from years of interviews, interrogations, and real cases, Sean explains why many offenders don’t look suspicious, don’t act impulsively, and often live seemingly normal lives while operating in secret online worlds.
26 Jan 2026
Episode 14: When Kids Become Offenders
Episode 14- When Kids Become Offenders: The Collapse of the Line Between Victim and Criminal
For decades, child exploitation cases followed a familiar pattern: adult offender, child victim.
That model is breaking down.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, veteran investigator Sean Lacy exposes a disturbing new reality — one where children are no longer just being targeted online, but are being pulled into the machinery of exploitation itself.
Drawing from real investigations, Sean explains how normalized teen sexting, viral image sharing, and underground online marketplaces are turning victims into participants — sometimes without them even realizing it. He walks listeners through cases in which juveniles were found producing and distributing explicit images of themselves for money, revealing how modern technology has collapsed the line between victim and offender.
19 Jan 2026
Episode 13: The Online Grooming Playbook
he Grooming Playbook: How Predators Prepare Children Before Anyone Notices
Every day, children receive new phones, tablets, and gaming systems — and most parents worry about screen time. Very few think about grooming.
But online exploitation rarely begins with sex. It begins with trust.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, veteran investigator Sean Lacy breaks down the real grooming playbook used by online predators across every platform and app. Drawing from hundreds of investigations, Sean explains how offenders slowly build emotional control over children long before parents see any warning signs.
8 Dec 2025
Episode 12: 764 - Inside the Global Sextortion Network
A three-digit number is showing up on the phones of teens across American and behind it is one of the most aggressive sextortion networks in the world.
In this episode, Sean Lacy takes you inside the criminal enterprise know as "764", an organized, international group responsible for targeting thousands of minors through Snapchat, Instagram, Discord and in every shadow of the internet.
24 Nov 2025
Episode 11: Digital Guardians — A Deep Dive on Bark
Episode 11: Digital Guardians — A Deep Dive on Bark
Technology built the problem—but it can also be part of the solution.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, digital forensic investigator Sean Lacy explores how Bark is helping parents protect kids in an increasingly connected world. From the Bark App that monitors messages and images, to the Bark Phone that puts safety first, to the Bark Watch and Bark Home that extend protection across every device in the house—Sean breaks down what works, what doesn’t, and what parents need to know.
17 Nov 2025
Episode 10: Telegram — The Hidden Network
Episode 10: Telegram — The Hidden Network
What happens when secrecy becomes the enemy of safety?
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, Senior Investigator Sean Lacy pulls back the curtain on Telegram, one of the most encrypted and untraceable messaging platforms in the world — and the hidden dangers it poses for parents, teens, and investigators alike.
Sean unpacks a real homicide case that began inside a Telegram group and ended in tragedy — a local man killed during a drug deal gone wrong, after selling vape cartridges to minors through encrypted chats. But this isn’t just about drugs. It’s about how platforms like Telegram allow hidden communication, illegal exchanges, and child exploitation to thrive in the dark corners of the internet.
10 Nov 2025
Episode 9: The New Omegle
Episode 9: The New Omegle
Omegle may be gone, but the danger didn’t disappear — it just moved.
In this episode, Sean Lacy exposes how apps like Emerald Chat, OmeTV, and Chatroulette are filling the void left behind, offering predators the same instant, anonymous access to children that made Omegle infamous.
Sean breaks down why these platforms are no safer, how they bypass moderation, and what happens when a single click turns into a sextortion scheme.
3 Nov 2025
Episode 8: The Kik Connection
Episode 8: The Kik Connection
Where predators hide in plain sight — and parents think it’s just messaging.
Kik has been around for more than a decade, but behind the chat bubbles and usernames lies one of the internet’s most dangerous playgrounds. In this episode, Sean Lacy takes you inside the world of Kik Messenger — where anonymity fuels exploitation and predators use everyday tools to trade, groom, and target children.
You’ll hear about real investigations: a biker gang member who tested undercover profiles before traveling to meet a “14-year-old,” a public-school IT worker who used his skills to outsmart detection, and an equipment operator who crossed state lines to commit a crime.
Each case began in the same place — a messaging app many parents think is harmless.
30 Oct 2025
Shadow Debrief #3: The Amanda Todd Story
Shadow Debrief #3 – The Amanda Todd Story | The Face of Sextortion
When fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd trusted the wrong person online, she became the victim of one of the most public sextortion cases in history — a case that exposed how digital cruelty and manipulation can destroy lives.
Sean Lacy takes a deeper look at Amanda’s story, the predator who targeted her, the investigation that brought him to justice, and the global reforms sparked by her death.
More than a decade later, her story remains a warning — and a call to action.
27 Oct 2025
Episode 7 - Digital Blackmail: Inside the Sextortion Epidemic
Episode 7 - Digital Blackmail: Inside the Sextortion Epidemic
Sextortion has become the most widespread online crime targeting teenagers — and it’s growing fast.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, Investigator Sean Lacy exposes how predators manipulate boys and girls through everyday apps like Snapchat and Instagram, coercing them into sending private photos and then blackmailing them for money or more content.
You’ll hear how these crimes start, how global networks like the “764” group industrialize sextortion from overseas, and why prosecution is often nearly impossible. Sean also breaks down the warning signs parents need to recognize — and how simple conversations can stop the cycle before it begins.
Sextortion doesn’t always end in an arrest. Sometimes, it ends in tragedy. But awareness can change that.
No polish. No politics. Just the truth behind the takedown.
23 Oct 2025
Shadow Debrief #2: Cayce Savage- VR + Discord
When the virtual world becomes the next crime scene.
Whistleblower Cayce Savage stepped forward with a warning: predators are moving into the worlds parents don’t yet understand — VR spaces, avatars, and private Discord servers.
In this episode, we break down what she revealed before Congress, how offenders use cross-platform grooming to target kids, and what parents and investigators can do to stop it.
From Meta’s virtual worlds to the backchannels of Discord, this debrief exposes how online exploitation continues to evolve — and what happens when law enforcement, tech companies, and families must face the next digital frontier together.
20 Oct 2025
Episode 6- Discord: When the Conversation Leaves the Game
Episode 6 – Discord: When the Conversation Leaves the Game
Discord is one of the fastest-growing platforms in the world — a space where kids hang out, game, study, and connect. But behind the servers and voice chats, predators know how to exploit its features to groom, coerce, and trade illicit material.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, Sean Lacy takes you inside the world of Discord: what it is, how it works, why it’s so attractive to teens, and how offenders use it to target kids. We share a case where a 10-year-old with a “locked down” Roblox account was still contacted through Discord, offered Robux in exchange for explicit content, and messaged by offenders from around the world — all hidden in a single laptop.
13 Oct 2025
Episode 5- Roblox: Building Worlds, Facing Risks
Episode 5- Roblox: Building Worlds, Facing Risks
Roblox is one of the most popular games in the world, with over 70 million daily users—most of them children. Parents see it as creative and safe, but predators see it as an entry point.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, host Sean Lacy unpacks a case involving a 10-year-old girl whose mother thought Roblox’s parental controls would protect her. Instead, predators bypassed those settings by following her into another app. You’ll hear how the situation unfolded, how Roblox’s systems work, and what risks parents need to watch for.
We’ll also break down the difference between normal and parental-controlled accounts, explain Roblox’s safety features, and discuss why they don’t close every door. With 24,522 CyberTipline reports filed by Roblox in 2024, the dangers are real—and parents need to know how to respond.
Chasing Shadows is about case studies, awareness, and practical tools. Because filters can help, but your best defense is knowledge.
Episode 5 – Roblox: Building Worlds, Facing Risks
9 Oct 2025
Shadow Debrief #1: The Chatroom Admin
Shadow Debrief #1: The Chatroom Admin
In this Chasing Shadows: Shadow Debrief, Sean Lacy takes listeners inside a North Carolina case that exposes one of the most dangerous positions online — the chatroom administrator.
Twenty-four-year-old Nicholas Tyler Banks wasn’t just a participant in an illegal chat group. He was the gatekeeper — approving new members, distributing child sexual abuse material, and controlling the very space where exploitation thrived.
In this episode, Sean breaks down how these hidden chatrooms work, why “admins” hold so much influence, and how law enforcement tracks the digital footprints they leave behind. He also offers insight into what parents need to understand about modern chatrooms — from Discord servers to gaming platforms — and how to recognize the warning signs of online predatory behavior.
6 Oct 2025
Episode 4 – Paltalk: Behind the Chat Rooms
Episode 4 – Paltalk: Behind the Chat Rooms
Most parents have never heard of Paltalk. Predators have.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, Sean Lacy takes you inside one of the internet’s oldest chat platforms — a space where anonymity, video chat, and private messaging create the perfect cover for grooming. Through the cases of Sam Smith, a repeat offender who used Paltalk to target teens, and a high school soccer coach living a double life, you’ll see how quickly conversations can escalate and how online behavior often mirrors real-world abuse.
This isn’t just a history lesson about an old app. It’s a warning. Paltalk is an example of how predators exploit platforms parents don’t know exist, and how the same risks show up again and again across different apps. You’ll learn how these chatrooms work, why parental awareness matters, and what steps you can take right now to protect your kids.
Chasing Shadows is about exposing the hidden dangers online so families can stay safe.
29 Sept 2025
Episode 3 - The Traveler
Episode 3 – The Traveler
Description:
Some offenders don’t just hide behind a keyboard — they show up.
Sam Smith was already a convicted sex offender when he entered an online chat room and began talking to who he thought were two 14-year-old girls. Over weeks of conversations, he described what he wanted to do, packed a bag with lingerie and condoms, and drove across state lines to meet them. Instead of children, he found law enforcement waiting.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, host Sean Lacy takes listeners inside Smith’s case to show how undercover chat operations work — how investigators build personas, how offenders groom, and why “traveler” cases are among the most dangerous in child exploitation investigations.
Parents will learn the warning signs of risky online behavior, the apps where grooming begins, and how to keep conversations at home open, safe, and protective.
22 Sept 2025
Episode 2 – The Peer-to-Peer Predator
Description:
Brad Roberts wasn’t caught in a dark alley — he was caught online. A repeat offender, he used a peer-to-peer program called Shareaza to download and trade child sexual abuse material. When his case went to trial, the jury handed him a 75-year sentence. But even that wasn’t the end. Later, Roberts escalated to a hands-on offense, proving what law enforcement already knew: CSAM isn’t a safety valve. It’s fuel for escalation.
In this episode, Sean Lacy unpacks Roberts’ case and explains the hidden dangers of peer-to-peer and torrenting networks like Shareaza, BitTorrent, and LimeWire. What looks like harmless file-sharing can put kids in the same digital space as predators.
Parents will learn what CSAM really is, why P2P programs matter, and the red flags to watch for on home devices.
15 Sept 2025
Episode 1- The Major and the Manifesto
Episode 1 – The Major and the Manifesto: Grooming Exposed
Description:
When a CyberTip leads investigators to the home of an Air Force major, the discovery isn’t just shocking — it’s a window into how predators think. Buried on one of his devices was a 172-page handbook, a so-called guide to manipulating children. It outlined, step by step, how to gain trust, create secrecy, and escalate to abuse.
In this episode of Chasing Shadows, host Sean Lacy breaks down that case and uses it to expose the process of grooming. What it is, why it works, and — most importantly — how parents can prepare their children to resist it.
Grooming isn’t random. It’s deliberate. But it’s also preventable, if you know the signs.
11 Sept 2025
Episode 0 - Welcome to Chasing Shadows
Episode 0 – Welcome to Chasing Shadows
Predators thrive in the shadows. Parents can’t protect what they don’t see.
In this introduction to Chasing Shadows, host Sean Lacy, a Digital Forensic Examiner and investigator, explains why he created this podcast and what you can expect. In 2024, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received over 20.5 million CyberTipline reports—each one representing a potential child victim. Those victims aren’t far away; they could be your neighbor, your child’s classmate, or even a child in your own home.
This season, Sean will cover the apps most often linked to exploitation, the techniques predators use to hunt in these spaces, and the steps parents can take to protect their children. Every episode blends case studies with practical education so families can recognize the patterns, strengthen conversations, and shine light where predators try to hide.
Chasing Shadows is about prevention, awareness, and protecting kids in a connected world.
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