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A summary of FBI findings
One of the best risk-prevention strategies for all parents is awareness of what your child is viewing on line. Take the following points to heart, communicate your concerns to your kids, and promote the disciplined use of the Internet.
According to the FBI, here are common warning signs that may mean your child is vulnerable:
Your child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night.
Children on-line are at the greatest risk during the evening hours. Most offenders work during the day and spend evenings on-line looking for pornography or trying to find and attract children.
You find pornography on your child's computer.
Offenders use child pornography to show the child victim that sex between children and adults is "normal." A child may hide pornographic files on diskettes from parents, especially true if the computer is used by other family members.
Your child receives phone calls from men you don't know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don't recognize.
A computer-sex offender may engage in "phone sex" with children and may try to set up a meeting for real sex.
Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don't know.
It's part of the seduction process. Offenders send letters, photographs, or gifts to potential victims. Some offenders have even sent plane tickets for the child to travel across the country to meet them.
Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.
A child looking at pornographic images or having sexually explicit conversations does not want you to see it on the screen.
What Should You Do If You Suspect Your Child Is Communicating With A Sexual Predator On-line?
- Try talking openly about your suspicions. Explain the dangers of computer-sex offenders.
- Review what is on your child's computer. Pornography or any kind of sexual communication can be a warning sign.
- Use Caller ID to determine who is calling your child.
- Monitor your child's access to all types of live electronic communications (i.e., chat rooms, instant messages, Internet Relay Chat, etc.), and monitor your child's e-mail.
Contact your local or state law enforcement agency, the FBI, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children if-
- Your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography;
- Your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is under 18 years of age;
- Your child has received sexually explicit images from someone that knows your child is under the age of 18.
Visit www.fbi.gov for more information
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