5K run and concert help Invictus Project combat child exploitation

ASHEBORO —  The rain cleared just in time for about 250 runners in Bicentennial Park on Saturday, Aug. 22. They took off through downtown Asheboro in the morning for the Rescue Run, a 5K fundraiser for the Invictus Project.

In the afternoon, a “Back to School Bash Concert” featured performances by Madison Renee and the Vintage Student Worship group. The parking lot was full of food trucks and information tables about organizations who provide counseling, guardian ad litem for court cases, foster care support, and mental health financial assistance.

“Each year, it’s grown,” said Whitney Miller, director of development for the Invictus Project. “It’s been pretty incredible. The community keeps getting more engaged.”

The Invictus Project partners with law enforcement at the county, state and federal levels. It helps pay for training and technology to better track child predators. 

“The bulk of our fundraising is community driven, which is so powerful,” Miller said. “Because what that means is our community is standing in the gap for children.”

In 2024, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office teamed up with the Invictus Project to form a task force. It commits law enforcement from several counties to work together on arresting suspected predators.

“Before, you pulled together the detectives you could find,” Chief Deputy Steven Nunn said.

Nunn said the task force fulfills a longtime passion of Sheriff Greg Seabolt, who began working with the Invictus Project founder Ray Dawson, a sworn officer with the sheriff’s office and one of the task force investigators.

“We were able to cultivate an environment in which the sheriff was able to include other agencies,” Dawson said. 

“We leverage our ability to fundraise out of the private sector to supplement the financial needs of the investigators.”

The task force investigates cyber tips for suspected child exploitation. It sends undercover officers to online chat rooms.

Cyber tips come through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to local law enforcement. Nunn said before the task force, the sheriff’s office often dealt with a backlog of 30-50 tips. 

“Now, we just have so much more manpower, federal partners, state partners as far as equipment and stuff like that,” he said.

The Invictus Project also focuses on education for families, schools, churches and other community groups. A recently created “Continuing the Conversation” is a guide for parents with appropriate talking points for children at different ages.

“The reality of it is our kids are being exposed to pornography at the average age of 8 years old for first exposure,” Miller said.

“A lot of these parents are having to have these conversations much sooner than they ever expected.”

Today, the task force has personnel from the Randolph, Alamance, Davidson, Rockingham and Forsyth county sheriff’s offices, the Liberty police department, the US Dept. of Homeland Security, and the State Bureau of Investigation. 

Because of that, Dawson said the task force can reach across the state. This spring, one undercover operation led to more than a dozen arrests out of Nash County.

“We bring our expertise, manpower and resources to help facilitate that fight,” Dawson said. “Because ultimately, at the end of the day, if all of the kids don’t matter, none of the kids matter.”

“We see the victimization of our children every day,” Nunn said. “It’s kind of a cliche, but they’re our future. And we’ve got to take care of them.”