Sex Predators Go High-Tech To Snare Victims

JACKSON, Miss. - WAPT.com

Chat rooms, text messages, social networking sites and Skype are providing the technology predators use to lure children when their parents aren’t watching, police said.

WAPT Anchor Stephanie Maxwell used Skype to talk to Brad Hafner, who said a predator sent a lewd text message about two weeks ago to his 12-year-old daughter.

"'How dirty are we talking about?' She said, 'It was the front of a boy.' She said, 'Daddy, I don't want to talk about it. It's gross. I don't want to go there.'"

The scenario Hafner described is just a sample of what some children have seen or read on the internet, Richland Police Department Chief Investigator Aaron Hirschfield said. Hirschfield and his partner, Detective Lee Drake, sit in front of a computer for hours, catching cyber predators that are looking for unsuspecting children.

“I fired up the computer, and within a couple of minutes a guy says, 'Do you want to see my cam?' I thought it was a picture and clicked on it. It was a man with a Web cam (masturbating). I wasn't prepared for it,” Hirschfield said.

In May, the Richland Police Department arrested several men from Mississippi who they said showed up in Richland to meet who they thought was a young girl. That was the beginning of the cyber crimes task force.

Hirschfield won't reveal what Web sites or chat rooms they peruse, the name or age they use, or when they log-on, but did say he wants to make it clear that they aren't pushy with the people they chat. Police tell those they chat with on-line that they're talking to someone who's underage.

“We don't want to be the ones saying, 'Hey, come meet us. We want to see you.' We make sure they suggest (it) and make the offer,” Hirschfield said. “They escalate the conversation.”

Rob Lehman is a Child Safety Specialist with Guard-a-Kid and Safeside Kids. He recently spoke to 4th and 5th graders at Gary Road Intermediate School in Byram about the dangers of surfing the Web.

“These kids don't think people are going to get on the Internet and lie to them,” Lehman said. “These people are crafty. They'll say anything -- do anything.”

Lehman showed the students Safeside's Internet Safety DVD. The children were stunned when they saw a grown man chatting with a teenage girl after he claimed he was much younger.

“You don't ever know whether the person you're talking to actually is 10, 14, 16, 35 or 40,” Lehman said.

A Web site called

omegle.com

promotes talking to a stranger. Stephanie was only on the Web site for about a minute before a suggestive message popped up. Minutes later, another conversation began. She let the stranger that she was 12 years old. The stranger then asked if she was “horny” and asked for nude pictures.

When Stephanie was online, there were 2, 780 other people chatting.

“There's no requirement for (selecting) a username,” Lehman said. “You just go in and click into a chat room and you talk to a perfect stranger.”

Stephanie e-mailed the founder of omegle.com, whose blog identifies him as 18-year-old Leif K. Brooks. Stephanie asked him if he thinks his Web site can be a feeding ground for internet predators looking for young kids.

“Here at Omegle, we take our users' safety very seriously,” Brooks said. “Safety is built into Omegle's design from the ground up. If a user feels concerned about anything a stranger says, they can press the 'disconnect' button and all ties will be instantly and permanently severed.”

According to Guard-A-Kid, one out five children between the ages of 10 and 17 has been solicited sexually online. About 75-percent of them don't tell their parents.

The Richland Police Department said it has a no-tolerance policy for cyber crimes and will continue to do more stings like the one conducted in May.

Hafner suggests parents go online to see how their children are using the Internet and who they're talking to.

“You need to look through the history and make sure they're not looking at anything that's inappropriate for them,” Hafner said.

For more information, go to

netsmartz.org

or

netlingo.com

.

PDF:

Predator Awareness Pamphlet For Adults

PDF:

Predator Awareness Pamphlet For Teens

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