Senator Andrew Lang on Wednesday introduced a bill to strengthen public safety and fight sexual exploitation of youth and adults. Senate File 3938 appropriates $125,000 to Citizens Against Sex Trafficking (C.A.S.T.) for its Power over Predators (POP) program, a nationwide curriculum that educates middle school, high school, and community members on online safety, recognizing healthy versus unhealthy relationships, and knowing how to seek help when needed.
“This bill is a piece to the puzzle in stopping the sexual exploitation of our children and community members,” said Sen. Lang. “It provides the critical education piece that will help inform our kids and communities how to recognize signs of sexual exploitation, intervene to stop it, and teach victims how to remove themselves from unhealthy relationships and environments.”
C.A.S.T., founded in 2017 and funded solely by community support since then, is dedicated to empowering communities to end sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking, commercial sex acts obtained through force, fraud, or coercion, and sextortion. The organization served over 4,800 community members in 2025 and anticipates reaching more than 8,000 in 2026.
Ashley Moore, Executive Director of C.A.S.T., testified in support of the bill.
“We want to make sure every person knows how to ask for help, knows how to leave that party or that sleepover, knows how to keep relationships that are healthy and not asking you to give something that is uncomfortable, unsafe, or illegal.”
The $125,000 appropriation would support Power over Predators, C.A.S.T.'s largest and fastest-growing program. POP delivers evidence-based education on online safety, healthy relationships, and how to ask for help when needed.
Jennifer Flaherty, a sexual exploitation survivor, shared her personal story of abuse and healing in support of SF3938.
“Power Over Predators gives our youth what I never had—education, language, and tools,” said Flaherty. “If I had been taught Power Over Predators as a young girl, I might have learned what healthy relationships looked like, understood that my story mattered, and known that I was priceless, not dirty and unworthy. And maybe I wouldn’t have had to wait until I was 43 years old until I finally started the process of healing.”
Jaime Bremseth, a resident of Olivia in Senate District 16, shared a heartbreaking personal story during the hearing about her son Carter’s death by suicide after falling victim to online sextortion. The day before he died, Carter was contacted on Instagram by someone posing as a 16-year-old girl. The perpetrator demanded nude images from Carter and then blackmailed him, threatening to send the images to his friends unless he paid money.
The perpetrator was not a teenage girl, but a group of perpetrators based in Nigeria, using sophisticated strategies and tactics to extort victims.
“Our children are being targeted, tortured, and shamed online,” said Bremseth. “Children and adolescents should not have to face these risks. And parents should not have to lose their kids because criminals are blackmailing them. Parents and kids need education so they understand the risks.”
The bill would provide a Request for Proposal through the Minnesota Department of Human Services, open to any providers in the state that can provide this service. The bill was laid over in committee pending clarification of the Senate’s budget targets.