“They Look Completely Normal” | Inside the Mind of an Online Predator Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/cnBcPvSMqa4 Episode 130 of The Wild Chaos Podcast is streaming NOW on YouTube and all major podcast platforms! Who is Garrett Gross, and what is Operation 17:2? Garrett Gross is a former professional MMA fighter, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, husband, father, Christian and founder of Operation 17:2, an organization focused on protecting children and exposing adults who attempt to sexually exploit minors online. But the man doing that work today has a past most people would never expect. Before Operation 17:2, Garrett's life was filled with fighting, arrests, cocaine, partying, addiction and chaos. He openly shares how violence became part of his identity at a young age, why he loved fighting, his journey into professional MMA, and how success still failed to give him the purpose he was searching for. At one point, Garrett says he was offered $10,000 to travel across state lines and assault a man he was told was a child predator. He accepted. That story becomes even crazier as Garrett describes cocaine, dangerous connections, and the world he was living in before eventually confronting the direction of his life. Years later, Garrett's relationship with Jesus Christ, becoming a husband and father, and his desire to protect children helped completely redirect his purpose. Today, that mission is Operation 17:2. To learn more about @Op17two visit: https://op17two.com/ or follow Garrett on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialgarrettgross/?hl=en Garrett takes us inside how Operation 17:2 uses decoy accounts and online conversations to identify adults attempting to communicate sexually with people they believe are minors. He explains the grooming and manipulation patterns he says his team repeatedly encounters, including adults attempting to identify vulnerabilities in a child's home life and asking questions about whether the child's father is present. One of the most disturbing lessons from Garrett's work? The people they encounter don't necessarily look dangerous. They can look completely normal. Garrett discusses encounters involving fathers, husbands and people who appear to be ordinary members of their communities, reinforcing why parents cannot rely on appearances alone when teaching their children about online safety. This conversation goes far beyond catching alleged child predators. Bam and Garrett have an unfiltered conversation about what creates broken men, childhood trauma, violence, addiction, masculinity, Christianity, marriage, fatherhood, accountability, justice, forgiveness and redemption. Can you have compassion for a person while still demanding consequences for what they've done? Can someone genuinely change after years of destructive behavior? What does biblical masculinity actually look like? How can fathers better protect their children online? Why are so many men struggling to find purpose? And what does it mean to actually know God rather than simply claim Christianity? Garrett argues that protecting the next generation doesn't begin only with catching predators. It also means building stronger men, stronger husbands, present fathers and healthier families. His message to fathers is simple: Your kids need YOU, not more things. This is the story of a man who once used his strength to fight for himself and now believes his purpose is to use that strength to fight for others. From professional MMA and cocaine to Christianity, fatherhood and Operation 17:2, Garrett Gross doesn't hide who he used to be. Because without the old story, you can't understand the man he became. Episode 130 of The Wild Chaos Podcast with Garrett Gross is streaming now on YouTube and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to The Wild Chaos Podcast for raw, long-form conversations about military service, law enforcement, survival, addiction, faith, fatherhood, redemption, entrepreneurship and the stories most people are afraid to talk about. GARRETT GROSS / OPERATION 17:2 TOPICS: Garrett Gross Operation 17:2 Garrett Gross MMA Garrett Gross podcast professional MMA fighter Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt online child predators online child safety child grooming awareness protecting children online predator decoy operations Christian testimony Jesus Christ addiction and redemption cocaine addiction fatherhood biblical masculinity Christian men men's mental health and purpose marriage and fatherhood Wild Chaos Podcast Bam Marshall #WildChaosPodcast #GarrettGross #Operation172 #ProtectOurChildren #MMA 🔔𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. https://www.youtube.com/@wildchaospod/?sub_confirmation=1 🔗 Stay Connected With Us. 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