Online sexual predators prey on kids

#Middlebury #Police #SexualPredator

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Middlebury may be a very safe town in many ways, but it is no safer from online sexual predators than any other town or city. Middlebury police recently arrested a 29-year-old New York man who transported a Middlebury teenager to New York City after meeting the teenager on an online social media app. The man was charged with risk of injury to a minor and criminal sexual assault in the second degree, his bond was set at $500,000, and he was incarcerated.

Middlebury Police Chief Pat Deely said the investigation into this event is ongoing. He said it’s not the first of its kind. Several years ago, a paraprofessional at Memorial Middle School was arrested for using social media to send messages with sexual content to students there.

Deely said protecting children has to start with education. “We used to tell kids, ‘Don’t talk to strangers,’” he said. “Now comes the Internet. We have to tell kids not to talk to strangers on the Internet.”

He said parents need to talk to their children about the dangers of the Internet, even though children these days can have a better understanding of the Internet than their parents. Launching of 5G will make that even more important, he said, because it will make for faster communication and better connectivity.

He said kids need Internet access for online learning, but parents have to monitor their Internet use. “It all falls back to the parents,” he said.

To help parents with this task, we share a May 5, 2020, FBI press release from Grand Rapids, Michigan, in which United States Attorney Andrew Birge offered tips to help parents and guardians keep their children safe from online predators. Birge said, “With schools and entertainment facilities closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, kids are using the Internet more and more. Unfortunately, that means online child sexual predators have increased access to them.”

1. Discuss Internet safety with children of all ages that are online. Many children do not realize that people may not be who they claim to be online. Similarly, many do not understand that someone who seems like a friend online could have a deviant motive.
2. Set limits around who your children are allowed to communicate with. You may consider limiting young children to communicating only with people you have personally met. For older children, you may consider limiting them to communicating only with people they have met in person.
3. Set limits around the kinds of devices and applications your children use. Online child sexual predators often use new technologies to avoid detection by law enforcement. If your child is using an application you have not heard of before, consider researching the application online or testing it out using your child’s account.
4. Use technology to protect them. Many devices and programs allow parents to set parameters around which applications children may use and for how long. Similarly, many of these programs allow parents to see what their children are doing while using those applications.
5. Pay attention to warning signs. Children who are sexually exploited are often embarrassed and hesitate to tell parents or other authority figures about their experiences. Pay attention if your child is withdrawing or changing their mood while their Internet activity increases.
6. Report suspected abuse. Reporting can help minimize or stop further victimization. If you believe your child has been sexually exploited online, contact the United States Attorney’s Office, your local F.B.I. office, or report online at www.cybertipline.org.

For additional information and resources on staying safe online and at home, visit www.end-violence.org/safeonlinecovid.