BOISE - A new investigation detailing the growing problem of child sex trafficking throughout country has a lot of people talking.
The report, called "Selling Girls: Sex traffickers are targeting American children," is an effort by KTVB's parent company, Tegna, to raise awareness of the problem by showing the motivation behind it, exposing how sex traffickers find and recruit their victims, and by highlighting stories of survivors.
It's a must-read for parents.
Since we posted the story on KTVB.COM, hundreds of you have responded, expressing emotions from disbelief, to disgust, rage, and sadness.
We asked Idaho State Police to look at the report and give us their insight on child sex trafficking and whether it's happening in Idaho.
Col. Kedrick Wills says he believes that it is, but it's difficult to know the extent of the problem.
As the investigation shows, the industry is underground. But Will says it's something that troopers are trained to look for.
"Our troopers spend a great deal of time on the interstate system, and so we have people not only from Idaho, but [people] passing through Idaho as well," Wills explained. "And we have some serious cases in Idaho where cases have been solved because troopers have looked beyond the obvious or the public noticed something that just didn't seem right and placed a call."
Wills says those tips from the public could make all the difference for a victim of trafficking.
"We want the public to know if they see something that doesn't seem right, please call and let's look into it further because that one phone call may, and in the past, has resulted in victims being saved."