Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the task force has worked on over 1,000 cases in the past five years.
Every file Detective Donna Montague opens holds a child’s worst memories. She goes through dozens in a day.
“I get a lot of joy out of the end result of our cases, even though they are mentally draining,” she said. “It's just, for me right now, enough to keep me going — to be able to come back the next day.”
For the past 23 years, Montague has worked in the Gainesville Police Department’s child sex crimes unit, and she joined the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force five years ago. She has investigated hundreds of cases and received a national award for her work.
Montague received the Excellence in Digital Forensics award, which is meant to highlight an outstanding investigator who delivered positive impacts to their community, from Cellebrite’s Digital Justice Awards in April. Cellebrite is an international forensics company.
GPD is the host agency for the North Florida ICAC Task Force, and Montague is the only investigator in the department who shoulders the burden of the cases. As the host agency, GPD oversees ICAC efforts across 38 counties in northern Florida.
“Nobody really wants this job,” she said. “So for us, it's just, ‘Who else is going to do it right now?’”
All electronic service providers are required by federal law to report suspected child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. These create CyberTips and go through CyberTipline, a reporting system operated by NCMEC. CyberTipline reported 1.6 million child pornography tips related to U.S. users in 2023.
Reports are then filed and sent to the ICAC investigator for the suspected region where the crime took place.
While case volume has always been one of the biggest challenges for the department’s ICAC task force, Montague said she’s seen an increase in cases since the beginning of 2025. Each case is time-consuming, often taking months of investigation, and a number have recently resulted in arrests in the Gainesville area.
The task force has worked on 1,219 cases in the past five years, seeing a jump from 244 cases in 2023 to 361 in 2024. There have already been 156 cases in 2025. GPD has been up over 100% in cases since January, Montague said.
“It doesn't end,” Montague said. “There's no catching up at this point, but we're just trying to stay on top of what we can.”
The cases typically fall into two categories, she said. While a significant portion involves an adult preying on a minor, there is a fraction of cases when the minor is exchanging images with other minors or selling the images themselves.
Sgt. Christopher King, the ICAC unit supervisor, said assigning the cases to Montague and seeing the sheer volume of them takes a toll.
“That's the toughest part about the job, knowing that there's not five of Donna for the Gainesville Police Department,” he said.
Children’s online platforms have become a hotspot for cases, King said. Predators might intentionally scroll apps and websites targeted toward children, he said, knowing there are vulnerable kids behind the screens.
Investigative processes have also evolved over the past decade. The way a search warrant is written today is entirely different from one in 2015, King said, and the legalities surrounding them have evolved as well.
King said the most important part of dealing with the cases is ensuring the children involved get the help and support they need in the aftermath. NCMEC offers a variety of free resources in multiple languages for children who have experienced sexual abuse, he said.
The best preventative measure parents can take is to have open communication with their children, King said, and to keep an eye on their online activity.
“I have a 10-year-old daughter,” he said. “I've been having conversations with her since she was probably about 7 about the dangers online.”
Montague said her conversations with her 16-year-old son are similar, and safety is her top priority after doing her job for so many years. She said her family is her biggest support system, in addition to the therapists and mental health resources provided by GPD.
“I have a lot of hobbies outside of work,” she said. “My family is very important, so I spend a lot of time with my family, and that's kind of it.”
Her experiences and the cases she’s worked on changed her as a person, making her more aware and understanding, she said. Being forced to see into the mind of the offenders has been eye-opening.
While Montague and King agreed there’s a case that hits home every year, one in particular stuck with Montague.
Montague said it was one of her first cases, nearly five years ago — a single image spiraling into a nightmare.
“It was kind of realizing the importance of our work, even if it seems minor,” she said. “Like, ‘Oh, it's this one image.’ Those can change. Those cases that only have one, I think, are just as important as cases that have 100 that are reported.”
The case expanded, leading to the discovery of multiple images and years of crimes against children from a man who operated a home daycare. The first photo they found was over 30 years old. The woman didn’t even know she’d been a victim.
“He ended up getting 40 years, federally,” Montague said. “He’ll die in prison. But I think things like that…that is the purpose.”
GPD’s task force has only four members, including Montague and King.
Lt. Lonnie Scott Jr., the criminal investigations division commander, said understaffing has proven to be a challenge in selecting new members.
“If it's a detective that is a senior detective that's currently in the bureau, I'm OK with making that lateral move right, but I have to fill their spot as well,” he said.
Balancing the staff at GPD between divisions and filling out patrol requirements isn’t the only aspect that’s taken into consideration, he said. The ICAC team is exposed to child sexual abuse images, videos and other materials, and he has to know applicants can handle that part of the job.
“They may get into that position, and they may not be able to take it all,” Scott said. “It takes a unique person to work these cases.”
The task force’s current goal is to get the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to work with it more directly, Scott said. While the Alachua Police Department and High Springs Police Department often help with cases, he said, getting more officers in-house would help ease GPD’s workload.
Looking forward, Scott said a member of the ICAC team who specializes in digital development is working on new software to lessen the load of information Montague needs to review. The software is cutting edge, he said, and would help review the child sexual abuse materials before the ICAC team needs to begin an investigation.
Contact Kaysheri Haffner at khaffner@alligator.org. Follow her on X @kaysheri_h.
Kaysheri Haffner is a second-year journalism major and the Criminal Justice reporter for the Alligator. When she's not on the clock, she can be found reading a book or working on a creative writing project.
