by Julie Posey
The Internet sexual predator is usually a male but current studies indicate that up to 6% are female. They come from all social, economic and racial backgrounds and are usually between the ages of 13-70. The few things they all have in common is that they have perfected their skill in selecting victims who will remain silent, have advanced techniques for avoiding law enforcement detection and their goal is to have sex with a kid.
There are over half a million registered sex offenders in the US alone and it has been estimated that 70% of them surf the Internet. This of course does not count the ones whose offense did not qualify them for the local sex offender registry, the ones who pleaded guilty to another crime, the ones given diversion, the ones who have completed their sentence, or the ones that have never been caught. In many cases the whereabouts of even the registered ones is not known.
Chat rooms are where 90% of the first contacts are made between a suspected sex offender and a young person. The names of these chat rooms can range in something as generic as Kansas1 to Dads4SexyDaughters and other names that are much more graphic than most people can imagine. From there the conversation quickly moves to a private instant message, then to the telephone, then to postal mail and then to the face-to-face meeting where the sexual abuse incident occurs.
There are specific phases that the suspected child molester will go through in his victim selection process. These steps can take place over just a few days or it can take several months but the eventual goal is to lure a young person to a personal meeting where he can involve the young person in sexual acts for his own gratification.
Victim Selection - During this phase, the potential child molester makes contact with the young person. He then verifies all of the information the young person has placed in his or her profile. He does this by asking the kid questions and by piecing together other information he finds on the Internet. When the kid gives out his last name, name of school and the name of the city or town where he lives, the predator then goes to online map sites, school sites and directories to obtain as much information as possible.
Survey of Family Dynamics - This is the phase where the potential child molester learns how well the young person is supervised, who the others are that live in the household and what the habits of the family may be. The predator will usually ask if the child lives with both parents or has any siblings. Then he’ll inquire about how and what time the kid gets home from school. He will then inquire about whether or not the kid is alone during the say while parents work and even asks who checks the mail.
Introduction to Secrecy - During this phase, the potential child molester begins to try to build a trusting relationship with the young person. He may tell the kid that the relationship needs to be kept a secret because nobody would ever understand it or he may imply that the young person could be in trouble if his parents or other adults ever found out. He will then teach the kid how to permanently erase e-mail messages and attachments, manipulate the chat software so screen names appear differently or don’t appear at all on the buddy list. He may also instruct the kid about how to avoid parental controls and monitoring software.
The dialog between the young person and potential child molester usually becomes very sexually explicit and often includes step-by-step masturbation lessons.
Introduction to Adult Materials and Child Pornography - It is very common for the potential child molester to expose the young person to erotic adult materials, hardcore adult pornography and child pornography. These items are sent vial instant messenger or e-mail. This is usually done for two reason; It wears down the child’s inhibitions and it serves to give the child the message that sexual acts between adults and children is normal and acceptable in the mind of the potential child molester. The predator will also use the pornographic or erotic materials to demonstrate specific acts that he intends to perform with the child during the face-to-face meeting. They frequently include everything from oral sex to bondage and many times bestiality
The child may be encouraged to take sexually explicit photos of himself or herself and send them to the potential child molester. The kid can also be encouraged to perform sexual acts on his or her Web cam for the potential child molester.
Offline Contact - Not long after the initial contact, the potential child molester will want to have telephone conversations with his intended victim. These conversations usually include advanced masturbation lessons and the suspected child molester is usually making it real obvious to the young person that he is masturbating and wants the kid to masturbate and discuss the details.
The potential child molester is likely to be sending gifts to the child at this point. They may be arriving at the kid’s home or they may be sent “general delivery” so that they can be picked up at the post office. I’ve seen gifts ranging from stuffed animals, games and jewelry to condoms, lingerie, and adult toys.
The Face-to-face Meeting - This is considered the most dangerous phase of all and it is important to know that in most areas, the suspected child molester has not broken the law or if he has it isn’t a very serious one. The crime occurs when he shows up intending to have sex with a child or does follow through with his plans for sexual assault. The potential child molester arranges a discreet personal meeting with the young person. The first meeting usually takes place at a fast food restaurant or other public place such as a mall or city park. Within just a few minutes, the child is taken to a rented motel room, the home of the sex offender or even the victim’s home.
What can parents do?
Talk to your children about how important it is to never send their picture to someone they’ve met on the Internet. Talk to your child’s school and let them know that they need your permission to post a picture of your child in online news releases, sporting events, year books and other parts of school Web sites.
- Keep the computer in a common area of the home and never in the child’s bedroom.
- Do not allow your child to use a Web Cam, digital camera, or video camera, or voice chat without your very close supervision.
- Do not allow your child to possess storage devices for the computer including jazz drives, zip drives, CD-ROM’s, additional hard drives, external hard drives, jump drives, or video capture cards. These devices are what are used to store photos and exchange photos and video clips and require your very close supervision.
- Do not allow your child to have access to “wiping” or “evidence elimination” software. It is difficult if not impossible to recover evidence from a computer that has been “wiped.”
- Monitor your child’s phone calls and postal mail. Child molesters will often use toll free numbers, send prepaid phone cards, or cell phones for kids to use when contacting them.
If you know or suspect that your child has been approached by a child molester or pedophile online, report it to your local law enforcement agency immediately.
Tags: sex offender behaviors
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