Family · Phoenix, AZ Metro · September 19, 2026
Arizona Groups Launch Grooming-Prevention Tools for Parents, Kids
Arizona anti-trafficking advocates have released new tools aimed at helping families spot the warning signs of grooming before it leads to sex trafficking, according to ABC15 Arizona. The Arizona Human Trafficking Survivor Coalition, led by trafficking survivor Sheri Lopez, has launched an online master class called "Recognizing Grooming Before Exploitation," designed for teachers, parents, and grandparents to understand how traffickers build trust, exploit emotional needs, and isolate a child. Separately, Arizona State University's Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (STIR), directed by Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, has produced nine illustrated graphic shorts based on real Arizona cases, covering scenarios such as family exploitation, "sugar baby" offers, and deceptive job offers. The shorts come in two versions — for seventh-eighth graders and ninth-twelfth graders — and are being distributed free to schools, police, and social workers statewide, with copies also available at sextraffickinghelp.com. Lopez, who was groomed at 15 and later trafficked for seven years before escaping with the help of a Glendale woman, says the goal is to normalize honest conversations between adults and children about predatory behavior before it escalates.
Source: ABC15 Arizona
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Why Bible-Believing Christians Should Care
Scripture treats the exploitation of children as a matter of the gravest consequence, and protecting the innocent from predators is a direct application of the family mandate God has given parents. This initiative is secular in origin, but its aims — equipping parents to recognize danger and speak honestly with children before harm occurs — align with the biblical call to guard the vulnerable rather than remain silent out of fear or discomfort. Christian parents and churches should not assume this responsibility belongs only to schools or advocacy groups; households and congregations are frontline defenses. Where public resources exist, believers can use discernment to evaluate and, where appropriate, adopt them, while grounding the conversation in a biblical view of the body, sin, and protection rather than a purely therapeutic framework.
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. — Matthew 18:6
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From the book
Most parents are not child psychologists, curriculum designers, or physicians. They are people operating on love, tradition, and common sense. Activists exploit that by reframing moral questions as technical questions, which disqualifies the parent from the conversation.
— Chapter 18, “The Expert Against the Parent”
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