Internet Exploitation of a Child

Parent's Guide

Sexual offenders and predators use the internet as a means to gain the trust of unsuspecting children and even adults for the purpose of sexual exploitation. There are certain patterns called "grooming" that they use that parents should be aware of and on the lookout for. The "grooming" process is the systematic effort to lower the inhibitions of the child to serve two purpose, (1) to satisfy the Predator's desire to exploit children and (2) to ensure the child's willingness and cooperation in not reporting or disclosing the abuse to anyone. These methods would include, but not limited to the following:

Step #1:

1. Predators will seek out their victims in "chat room."

2. They will preview their target's profiles.

3. They will initiate contact through "instant messaging."

4. After contact with the target they will most likely refer them to a "private chat room or link."

5. They will tell the child what the child wants to hear, which is gleaned from the conversation online.

6. They will "flirt" with them occasionally using words or phrases with sexual connotations.

7. They may even forward to them "adult porn images or videos."

Step #2:

8. They will initiate repeated contacts, always remaining casual in order to gain the target's trust.

9. They will elicit the target to provide a phone number.

10. If the phone number is provided they will begin using sexually explicit language.

11. Once the predator believes a level of control over the target has been established they move to step #3.

Step #3:

12. They will suggest meeting the target in a public place.

13. They will emphasize the target's "comfort."

14. They will play on the target's weaknesses such as insecurity, dysfunction family, abuse at home.

15. The predator will strongly emphasize the "privacy" issue.

16. At the "meeting" the predator will want to move the target somewhere private for the act to take place.

Warning Signs for Parents:

1. Be on the lookout for unknown telephone numbers on your bill.

2. Watch for unknown numbers on your child's cellular phone bill.

3. Be cognizant of unexplained or suspicious, mail, packages or gifts received by your child.

4. Does your child spend a great deal of time online?

5. Do you find any type of pornography on the computer?

6. Does the child become more withdrawn?

7. Does the child turn the monitor off when you are present?

8. Look for changes in behavior, mood swings, withdrawal, fearfulness, and excessive crying.

9. Bed-wetting beyond the normal period for such activity.

10. Nightmares, fear of going to bed or any other type of sleep disorder.

11. Acting out inappropriate sexual activity or showing unusual interest in sexual matters.

12. A sudden acting out of feelings or aggressive and rebellious behavior.

13. A regression to "infantile behavior."

14. A fear of particular places, people, or activities especially being alone with certain people.

15. Suspicious or unexplained physical discomfort such as redness, pain, or an itching in private areas.

16. Learn about "pedophile jewelry", which is a new trend in those engaging in this type of behavior. These

pedophiles use jewelry and stickers to indicate to others their interests and intentions to exploit children.

These practices have been displayed on Good Morning America as well as several other news outlets

including the New York Times. Many of these type of website's come from Eastern Block countries that

tolerate this type of behavior. For instance the "man-boy-love" organization are displaying the "triangle" or

"butterfly" symbols on their newsgroups or website's.

What to Do if Exploitation is Discovered:

1. Don't under react or minimize the information

2. Don't over react or panic

3. Don't criticize the child

4. Do seek medical attention and notify law enforcement

5. Do support the child and their decision to tell

6. Do show love and support through words and gestures

7. Do emphasize that the child has done NOTHING wrong!

8. Do keep communication open

9. Do Consider counseling or therapy for the child as well as the entire family

Child Exploitation Statistics:

1. 93% of school age children from elementary to high have "online" access.

2. 68% of online students will log on somewhere other than home/school.

3. 20% of online students will receive an unprovoked sexual solicitation within a one year period.

4. 79% of online students will accept or make a phone call in response.

5. 64% of online students will continue the electronic contact for more than a month.

6. 48% of online students will send or receive images.

7. 74% of online students will meet the contact face to face.

8. 73% of online students will meet the contact three or more times.

9. Of those that meet face to face 46% will meet in a public place.

10. Of those that meet face to face 39% will meet at the predators or the victim's home.

11. Of those that meet face to face 13% will meet in a hotel or motel.

12. Of those that meet face to face 24% will engage in a sexual act.

13. Of those that engage in a sexual act only 10% will disclose the incident to anyone.

14. Of those that engage in a sexual act only 3% will ever be reported to law enforcement.

15. One child molester that was apprehended has seven (7) spiral notebooks containing 1,360 pages consisting of

36,700 entries of victim's names and acts and broken down into descriptive categories.

MySpace.com Phenomenon:

1. MySpace.com is a social networking website that offers an interactive, user submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos. it also features an internal search engine and an internal email system. it is headquartered in Santa Monica, California while its parent company is headquartered in New York City.

2. MySpace.com is the 4th most popular English language website.

3. MySpace.com is the 6th most popular website in ANY language.

4. MySpace.com is the 3rd most popular website in the United States.

5. MySpace.com accounts for 80% of online social networking activity.

6. MySpace.com employees over three hundred people.

7. MySpace.com opened its 100,000,000 account on August 9, 2006.

8. By September 8, 2006 it had opened its 106 millionth account.

9. It attracts new registrations at a rate of 230,000 per day.

10. There are few questions required to set up a MySpace.com account but if the user chooses to edit their profile they will see questions such as these:

- Gender, age, age grouping, marital status, reason for being on MySpace, zip code, photo of user

- Ethnicity, body type, height, weight, tobacco usage, alcohol usage, sexual orientation of user

- Education level, religion, income, does the user have children

 

11. There is also a "NaughtyPoll.com" linked to MySpace.com that anyone over the age of 14-years old can fill out:

- Examples of questions asked are how old are you, what is your sexual orientation

- How many sexual partners have you had

- What is your choice of underwear style

- Plus other even more intimate questions that will not be listed here.

 

12. Why is MySpace.com and other similar website's so popular?

- "Because people can connect with established friends, make new friends, and seek out 'like-minded'

individuals without the pressure and anxiety of face to face socializing" according to USA Today's edition

of January 8, 2006. Also there is a great need for teenagers, at this stage of their life, to be noticed. These

type of websites provide them with an excellent forum for that purpose.

 

13. FBI Safety Tips for Parents with Children Using MySpace.com:

- Discuss safeguards with your children and explain the need for your involvement in setting up restrictions

for access to their accounts.

- Ensure your child is not misrepresenting their age on the internet

- Utilize any safety tips offered by the respective social networking website's

- Restrict your child's interacting on the internet to those friends that they know and you know

- Discourage your child from posting personal information on the internet

- Have the child's computer placed in a common family room

 

14. When photos, stories, and profiles are placed on the internet they are there FOREVER! Even job recruiters and

background investigators are beginning to scan the more popular interactive blog sites for information for perspective

employees. What was placed on as a teenager will follow them for the rest of their lives!

Parents please talk to your children!