Introduction
While
on-line computer exploration opens a
world of possibilities for children,
expanding their horizons and
exposing them to different cultures
and ways of life, they can be
exposed to dangers as they hit the
road exploring the information
highway. There are individuals who
attempt to sexually exploit children
through the use of on-line services
and the Internet. Some of these
individuals gradually seduce their
targets through the use of
attention, affection, kindness, and
even gifts. These individuals are
often willing to devote considerable
amounts of time, money, and energy
in this process. They listen to and
empathize with the problems of
children. They will be aware of the
latest music, hobbies, and interests
of children. These individuals
attempt to gradually lower
children's inhibitions by slowly
introducing sexual context and
content into their conversations.
There
are other individuals, however, who
immediately engage in sexually
explicit conversation with children.
Some offenders primarily collect and
trade child-pornographic images,
while others seek face-to-face
meetings with children via on-line
contacts. It is important for
parents to understand that children
can be indirectly victimized through
conversation, i.e. "chat," as well
as the transfer of sexually explicit
information and material.
Computer-sex offenders may also be
evaluating children they come in
contact with on-line for future
face-to-face contact and direct
victimization. Parents and children
should remember that a computer-sex
offender can be any age or sex the
person does not have to fit the
caricature of a dirty, unkempt,
older man wearing a raincoat to be
someone who could harm a child.
Children, especially adolescents,
are sometimes interested in and
curious about sexuality and sexually
explicit material. They may be
moving away from the total control
of parents and seeking to establish
new relationships outside their
family. Because they may be curious,
children/adolescents sometimes use
their on-line access to actively
seek out such materials and
individuals. Sex offenders targeting
children will use and exploit these
characteristics and needs. Some
adolescent children may also be
attracted to and lured by on-line
offenders closer to their age who,
although not technically child
molesters, may be dangerous.
Nevertheless, they have been seduced
and manipulated by a clever offender
and do not fully understand or
recognize the potential danger of
these contacts.
This
guide was prepared from actual
investigations involving child
victims, as well as investigations
where law enforcement officers posed
as children. Further information on
protecting your child on-line may be
found in the
National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children's Child
Safety on the Information Highway
and Teen Safety on the Information
Highway pamphlets.
What Are Signs
That Your Child Might Be At Risk
On-line?
Your
child spends large amounts of time
on-line, especially at night.
Most
children that fall victim to
computer-sex offenders spend large
amounts of time on-line,
particularly in chat rooms. They may
go on-line after dinner and on the
weekends. They may be latchkey kids
whose parents have told them to stay
at home after school. They go
on-line to chat with friends, make
new friends, pass time, and
sometimes look for sexually explicit
information. While much of the
knowledge and experience gained may
be valuable, parents should consider
monitoring the amount of time spent
on-line.
Children on-line are at the greatest
risk during the evening hours. While
offenders are on-line around the
clock, most work during the day and
spend their evenings on-line trying
to locate and lure children or
seeking pornography.
You
find pornography on your child's
computer.
Pornography is often used in the
sexual victimization of children.
Sex offenders often supply their
potential victims with pornography
as a means of opening sexual
discussions and for seduction. Child
pornography may be used to show the
child victim that sex between
children and adults is "normal."
Parents should be conscious of the
fact that a child may hide the
pornographic files on diskettes from
them. This may be 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.
While
talking to a child victim on-line is
a thrill for a computer-sex
offender, it can be very cumbersome.
Most want to talk to the children on
the telephone. They often engage in
"phone sex" with the children and
often seek to set up an actual
meeting for real sex.
While a
child may be hesitant to give out
his/her home phone number, the
computer-sex offenders will give out
theirs. With Caller ID, they can
readily find out the child's phone
number. Some computer-sex offenders
have even obtained toll-free 800
numbers, so that their potential
victims can call them without their
parents finding out. Others will
tell the child to call collect. Both
of these methods result in the
computer-sex offender being able to
find out the child's phone number.
Your
child receives mail, gifts, or
packages from someone you don't
know.
As part
of the seduction process, it is
common for offenders to send
letters, photographs, and all manner
of gifts to their potential victims.
Computer-sex offenders have even
sent plane tickets in order 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.
Your
child becomes withdrawn from the
family.
Computer-sex offenders will work
very hard at driving a wedge between
a child and their family or at
exploiting their relationship. They
will accentuate any minor problems
at home that the child might have.
Children may also become withdrawn
after sexual victimization.
Your
child is using an on-line account
belonging to someone else.
Even if
you don't subscribe to an on-line
service or Internet service, your
child may meet an offender while
on-line at a friend's house or the
library. Most computers come
preloaded with on-line and/or
Internet software. Computer-sex
offenders will sometimes provide
potential victims with a computer
account for communications with
them.
What Should You
Do If You Suspect Your Child Is
Communicating With A Sexual Predator
On-line?
-
Consider talking openly with
your child about your
suspicions. Tell them about
the dangers of computer-sex
offenders.
-
Review what is on your
child's computer. If you
don't know how, ask a
friend, coworker, relative,
or other knowledgeable
person. Pornography or any
kind of sexual communication
can be a warning sign.
-
Use the Caller ID service to
determine who is calling
your child. Most telephone
companies that offer Caller
ID also offer a service that
allows you to block your
number from appearing on
someone else's Caller ID.
Telephone companies also
offer an additional service
feature that rejects
incoming calls that you
block. This rejection
feature prevents
computer-sex offenders or
anyone else from calling
your home anonymously.
-
Devices can be purchased
that show telephone numbers
that have been dialed from
your home phone.
Additionally, the last
number called from your home
phone can be retrieved
provided that the telephone
is equipped with a redial
feature. You will also need
a telephone pager to
complete this retrieval.
-
This is done using a
numeric-display pager and
another phone that is on the
same line as the first phone
with the redial feature.
Using the two phones and the
pager, a call is placed from
the second phone to the
pager. When the paging
terminal beeps for you to
enter a telephone number,
you press the redial button
on the first (or suspect)
phone. The last number
called from that phone will
then be displayed on the
pager.
-
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.
Computer-sex offenders
almost always meet potential
victims via chat rooms.
After meeting a child
on-line, they will continue
to communicate
electronically often via
e-mail.
Should
any of the following situations
arise in your household, via the
Internet or on-line service, you
should immediately contact your
local or state law enforcement
agency, the
FBI, and the
National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children:
-
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.
If one
of these scenarios occurs, keep the
computer turned off in order to
preserve any evidence for future law
enforcement use. Unless directed to
do so by the law enforcement agency,
you should not attempt to copy any
of the images and/or text found on
the computer.
What Can You Do
To Minimize The Chances Of An
On-line Exploiter Victimizing Your
Child?
-
Communicate, and talk to
your child about sexual
victimization and potential
on-line danger.
-
Spend time with your
children on-line. Have them
teach you about their
favorite on-line
destinations.
-
Keep the computer in a
common room in the house,
not in your child's bedroom.
It is much more difficult
for a computer-sex offender
to communicate with a child
when the computer screen is
visible to a parent or
another member of the
household.
-
Utilize parental controls
provided by your service
provider and/or blocking
software. While electronic
chat can be a great place
for children to make new
friends and discuss various
topics of interest, it is
also prowled by computer-sex
offenders. Use of chat
rooms, in particular, should
be heavily monitored. While
parents should utilize these
mechanisms, they should not
totally rely on them.
-
Always maintain access to
your child's on-line account
and randomly check his/her
e-mail. Be aware that your
child could be contacted
through the U.S. Mail. Be up
front with your child about
your access and reasons why.
-
Teach your child the
responsible use of the
resources on-line. There is
much more to the on-line
experience than chat rooms.
-
Find out what computer
safeguards are utilized by
your child's school, the
public library, and at the
homes of your child's
friends. These are all
places, outside your normal
supervision, where your
child could encounter an
on-line predator.
-
Understand, even if your
child was a willing
participant in any form of
sexual exploitation, that
he/she is not at fault and
is the victim. The offender
always bears the complete
responsibility for his or
her actions.
-
Instruct your children:
-
to never arrange a
face-to-face meeting
with someone they
met on- line;
-
to never upload
(post) pictures of
themselves onto the
Internet or on-line
service to people
they do not
personally know;
-
to never give out
identifying
information such as
their name, home
address, school
name, or telephone
number;
-
to never download
pictures from an
unknown source, as
there is a good
chance there could
be sexually explicit
images;
-
to never respond to
messages or bulletin
board postings that
are suggestive,
obscene,
belligerent, or
harassing;
-
that whatever they
are told on-line may
or may not be true.
Frequently
Asked Questions:
My child
has received an e-mail advertising for a
pornographic website, what should I do?
Generally, advertising for an adult,
pornographic website that is sent to
an e-mail address does not violate
federal law or the current laws of
most states. In some states it may
be a violation of law if the sender
knows the recipient is under the age
of 18. Such advertising can be
reported to your service provider
and, if known, the service provider
of the originator. It can also be
reported to your state and federal
legislators, so they can be made
aware of the extent of the problem.
Is any
service safer than the others?
Sex
offenders have contacted children
via most of the major on-line
services and the Internet. The most
important factors in keeping your
child safe on-line are the
utilization of appropriate blocking
software and/or parental controls,
along with open, honest discussions
with your child, monitoring his/her
on-line activity, and following the
tips in this pamphlet.
Should I
just forbid my child from going on-line?
There
are dangers in every part of our
society. By educating your children
to these dangers and taking
appropriate steps to protect them,
they can benefit from the wealth of
information now available on-line.
Helpful
Definitions:
Internet
- An immense, global network that
connects computers via telephone lines
and/or fiber networks to storehouses of
electronic information. With only a
computer, a modem, a telephone line and
a service provider, people from all over
the world can communicate and share
information with little more than a few
keystrokes.
Bulletin
Board Systems (BBSs)
- Electronic networks of computers that
are connected by a central computer
setup and operated by a system
administrator or operator and are
distinguishable from the Internet by
their "dial-up" accessibility. BBS users
link their individual computers to the
central BBS computer by a modem which
allows them to post messages, read
messages left by others, trade
information, or hold direct
conversations. Access to a BBS can, and
often is, privileged and limited to
those users who have access privileges
granted by the systems operator.
Commercial
On-line Service (COS)
- Examples of COSs are America Online,
Prodigy, CompuServe and Microsoft
Network, which provide access to their
service for a fee. COSs generally offer
limited access to the Internet as part
of their total service package.
Internet
Service Provider (ISP)
- Examples of ISPs are Erols, Concentric
and Netcom. These services offer direct,
full access to the Internet at a flat,
monthly rate and often provide
electronic-mail service for their
customers. ISPs often provide space on
their servers for their customers to
maintain World Wide Web (WWW) sites. Not
all ISPs are commercial enterprises.
Educational, governmental and nonprofit
organizations also provide Internet
access to their members.
Public Chat
Rooms
- Created, maintained, listed and
monitored by the COS and other public
domain systems such as Internet Relay
Chat. A number of customers can be in
the public chat rooms at any given time,
which are monitored for illegal activity
and even appropriate language by systems
operators (SYSOP). Some public chat
rooms are monitored more frequently than
others, depending on the COS and the
type of chat room. Violators can be
reported to the administrators of the
system (at America On-line they are
referred to as terms of service [TOS])
which can revoke user privileges. The
public chat rooms usually cover a broad
range of topics such as entertainment,
sports, game rooms, children only, etc.
Electronic
Mail (E-Mail)
- A function of BBSs, COSs and ISPs
which provides for the transmission of
messages and files between computers
over a communications network similar to
mailing a letter via the postal service.
E-mail is stored on a server, where it
will remain until the addressee
retrieves it. Anonymity can be
maintained by the sender by
predetermining what the receiver will
see as the "from" address. Another way
to conceal one's identity is to use an
"anonymous remailer," which is a service
that allows the user to send an e-mail
message repackaged under the remailer's
own header, stripping off the
originator's name completely.
Chat
- Real-time text conversation between
users in a chat room with no expectation
of privacy. All chat conversation is
accessible by all individuals in the
chat room while the conversation is
taking place.
Instant
Messages
- Private, real-time text conversation
between two users in a chat room.
Internet
Relay Chat (IRC)
- Real-time text conversation similar to
public and/or private chat rooms on COS.
Usenet
(Newsgroups)
- Like a giant, cork bulletin board
where users post messages and
information. Each posting is like an
open letter and is capable of having
attachments, such as graphic image files
(GIFs). Anyone accessing the newsgroup
can read the postings, take copies of
posted items, or post responses. Each
newsgroup can hold thousands of
postings. Currently, there are over
29,000 public newsgroups and that number
is growing daily. Newsgroups are both
public and/or private. There is no
listing of private newsgroups. A user of
private newsgroups has to be invited
into the newsgroup and be provided with
the newsgroup's address.
Download PDF version
Federal
Bureau of Investigation
Cyber Division
Innocent Images National Initiative
11700 Beltsville Drive
Calverton, MD 20705
Contact your local FBI office for
further information
