FBI Warns of Online Predators
WO police, FBI warn of online predators By RYAN KISH, Daily News Staff Writer 12/02/2005 White Oak Police Chief Joe Hoffman offers parents advice on how to prevent children from being victimized by online predators Parents today need to be involved and aware of the activities of their children on the 21st century's new playground: the Internet. They also need to learn about the seductive anonymity of online relationships and the dangers of revealing personal information. That was the message delivered Thursday night by the White Oak Police Department and the FBI during a seminar for approximately 150 residents at the St. Angela Merici gymnasium in White Oak. "Children today live in two worlds, the physical and the virtual, and adults need to be on guard at all times," White Oak Police Chief Joe Hoffman said. "But unfortunately sometimes that vigilance ends online," FBI Special Agent Denise Holtz, who works cases involving crimes against children, warned that adults using the Internet to prey on children is an ominous sign of the times and that the problem affects people from every type of background. "This is happening in our back yard. It doesn't happen to just 'bad kids,'" she said. Hoffman stressed the need for parental involvement in a child's online activity by revealing some sobering facts from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. A survey revealed that about 80,000 children in grades five through eight spend at least an hour a day online. More than half do so alone, the survey noted, with 25 percent admitting to talking to strangers. Twenty percent of those children have met with online correspondents they've known as little as two hours. "Today's children are the first cyber generation," Hoffman said. He also noted that one of every five children is sexually solicited online. An estimated 50,000 child predators are on the Internet every day. They are especially dangerous because they can recast themselves as another child or a peer on the often faceless Web. By utilizing instant messaging or chatrooms, a pedophile can form a relationship with an unsuspecting child. During this "grooming" process, the predator will say whatever the child wants to hear or be sympathetic to a troubled youngster. Often the adult will fake an interest in music or sports that appeal to youngsters. This causes the child to lower inhibitions and begin to trust their new online "friend." "The turning point occurs when the parents become isolated," Hoffman said. Holtz said parents shouldn't let their children have computers in their bedrooms, and prohibit anonymous chatroom buddies. She also suggested changing a child's screen name so as not to reveal any personal information, and advised parents to block Web sites such as xanga.com and myspace.com, which offer users Web space to create an online profile. Hoffman and Holtz said the most important weapons in fighting the dangers of the Internet are communication and education. They urged parents to talk to their kids and become more computer savvy and also suggest assembling a kit that includes a child's picture, hair and DNA samples, dental records and an accurate physical description. To prevent a potentially tragic incident, parents must remain aware of a child's online activity, Holtz said. "I know I am not going to be popular with the teenagers when I say, 'Parents, I'm a big advocate of spying on your kids,'" she said. "It is, after all, your house." Child predators are almost always white males, often married and leading a double life, Holtz and Hoffman explained. "Predators have always been there. This is just a different generation and they have just evolved," Hoffman said. There are 7,199 registered sex offenders in Pennsylvania, according to the Attorney General's office. Hoffman offered reason for hope at the conclusion of the seminar. "Internet predatory content and abduction is 100 percent preventable, family by family," the chief said. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15680439&BRD=1282&PAG=461&dept_id=182121&rfi=6