Protect Your Child Online

A team of detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is based in Wyoming, USA, is in the United Kingdom to help local law enforcement agencies in combating online child exploitation. The detectives are in Huddersfield and are helping to profile those who download images of child pornography online, and is in the process of locating over a thousand incidents of image sharing in and around the area. Over five hundred cases of child pornography image sharing have been documented as originating from Huddersfield, over three hundred have been traced to Dewsbury, and over a hundred are from Brighouse.

The detectives are working on a map that has been generated from the traces made on offenders over the last three years. The traces are being done through online sharing of images via peer-to-peer networks, where there are files as brutal as videos where children are being raped. The detectives work undercover, where they pose as either children or abusers. Their work has led to them being offered or given access to hundreds of such videos and images in Huddersfield.

The detectives are working as part of a team that works internationally. Called Operation Peer Precision, the group gathers international police officers from eighteen countries all over the world. Should there be illegal downloading detected in the United Kingdom, the team will alert the CEOP, or the Child Exploitation and Online Protection, which will then work with the British police force. Thanks to their work, the team has identified over thirteen million online exchanges of child pornography, which has led to over a thousand nationwide prosecutions.

The work of these detectives will certainly make a dent in the field of investigating online crimes against children, but you too have to do your job in protecting your children against such sexual predators. Start by doing a lot of research in online exploitation by visiting such websites as, the home page of the Enough Is Enough group. This group works by raising public awareness of the issue of child exploitation online, and provides articles and tips on how you can avoid child predators and keep your children safe and informed. Next, talk to your local police officers on how you can protect your children from sexual exploitation online, and who you can contact just in case your child encounters a sexual predator.

These are only a few tips that you may want to take into account as you protect your children from sexual exploitation. For more information, talk to the authorities, and constantly monitor your children’s online activity.

Sarah Mahany is only eighteen years old, but she has been charged for prostituting a child online by advertising through the Internet. Mahany is facing charges of soliciting prostitution, the procurement of a juvenile, inducement of child prostitution, as well as to contribution to child delinquency. The arrest and charging come after an investigation of the Denver Police Department, in which a child-prostitution operation was being probed. Mahany was tracked down after being connected with allegations of prostitution. The eighteen year old is out on a ten thousand dollar bond.

Child prostitution and sexual exploitation are running rampant online, despite the efforts of governments in controlling websites, and despite the efforts of law enforcement officials all over the world in roping in criminals. Child exploitation rings seem only to grow ever wider, and more and more children are disappearing every year after being lured into the sex trade. With such statistics, you will need to help your child avoid being lured, or, at the very least, avoid being traumatized because of his or her innocent activities online.

First, do as much research as you can on the facts. Visit websites such as Enough is Enough, where you can gain access to articles tackling techniques in avoiding cyber-criminals and exploiters. Such techniques will involve keeping your children away from websites at which such predators may congregate and start prowling. These websites may include social networking sites, public forums where people of various ages can talk to each other freely, and even public chat rooms where anonymity is even greater and people are more difficult to track down.

Second, talk to your children about the dangers of the Internet. Remind them to avoid certain websites, and to always report to you if someone is asking to meet up with them, or if someone is asking for confidential or important information about your children and your family. If possible, sit with them as they surf the Internet, and lead them to child-friendly sites that will allow them to enjoy the benefits of working online. Moreover, encourage them to talk about how they use the Internet, and be interested in where they go in the World Wide Web. If you are able to keep your kids open on their activities, you will not have a hard time protecting them from online predators.

These are only a few tips that you may want to follow as you protect your children from online predation. For more information, do research on child exploitation online, and talk to your local law enforcement on how they can help you protect your children.

The Internet is a powerful tool for networking, finding jobs, and doing research, but it can also be used as a tool to lure and exploit children. Children will not necessarily know who is a stranger and who is a friend online, and the power of anonymity can be dangerous. You as a parent or guardian will need to know all about sexual exploitation that can happen online, or, at the very least, how your children can be harassed or led into believing that they are encountering someone they can trust.

Over and above the control that you exert, however, you will need to know how to educate your children in avoiding danger even if you are not there to guide them. Visit websites such as Enough is Enough , where you can find more resources on how to detect the presence of a sexual predator, where sexual predators will usually cluster, what websites you may want to tell your children to avoid, and how your children can design their profiles online to keep sexual predators from hounding them or even stumbling on their profiles.

You also need to know who to talk to in your area about your concerns on sexual predation, and these people should also be on call just in case you encounter such an episode. Your local investigators are also obligated to attend conferences and symposia regularly in order to keep themselves updated on the latest in their field. In one such case, Lou Archbold, investigator for the state’s attorney’s office at Lake County, was part of a training session that is designed to train federal officers who investigate cases of child exploitation. The national conference, Project Safe Childhood, is sponsored by the Department of Justice, and is fashioned to strengthen partnerships where various law enforcement agencies are involved, especially in dealing with online sex offenders.

If you are in doubt about your child’s activities online, do research on different software or filter packages that will allow you to keep your children from accessing certain websites. In particular, look for ways for them to avoid social networking websites where their profile pages can attract sexual offenders; moreover, do your best to make them avoid chat rooms especially where young people congregate and are allowed to mix with people who are much older. Lastly, tell your children not to meet up with anyone who asks to meet them online. If you are able to start protecting your children at home, then you will help the federal government succeed in protecting more children.

Child pornography, the online exploitation of children, and sexual predation are all problems that both parents and children face whenever they have to spend time online. Websites such as Enough is Enough  promote the propagation of knowledge on how to detect sexual predators, how to know their tactics, where they tend to congregate, and how to avoid them. However, such websites are often not enough, what with the almost impenetrable networks of child exploitation throughout the world. Thanks to funds, however, organizations such as the Canadian Centre for Child Protection can help children keep their innocence.

The Canadian federal government recently awarded two million dollars to fund the Centre, which is based in Winnipeg . The funds are for the Centre to continue its work in investigating cases involving the online exploitation of minors, as well as to prevent such cases of exploitation from occurring. These funds are also designed to help the Center to receive more leads through its CyberTip website, which the public can use to report any leads that it has on suspected child exploiters. Moreover, the funds will be used to develop better educational materials, as well as to increase public awareness of the problem of child exploitation online.

The Centre fields about twenty thousand reports of suspected online luring, child prostitution, child pornography, and even sex tourism where children are involved. Thanks to the Centre, reports have led to thirty arrests, as well as the removal of nearly three thousand websites. The funds will certainly help the Centre make even more arrests and use its resources to the fullest in order to combat the problem.

If you are a parent, or if you are tasked to guard very young children, you have a large job on your hands in protecting them from online predation. Sexual exploitation can take place anywhere, so if you wish to keep your young wards even safer, you will need to know where predators congregate. Online forums, blogs, and social networking sites can be the hunting grounds of predators, so make sure that your children are either avoiding such sites altogether, or you are sitting with them while they are visiting in and participating at such sites. Tell them to report anything to you that makes them uncomfortable, such as when someone asks to meet up with them, or asks for personal or confidential information from them. Moreover, know who to contact in your area just in case your children become the victims of potential sexual predation online.

A special agent working for the Department of Justice in Wisconsin, USA, Eric Szatkowski, talked about the dangerous underbelly of the Internet through five presentations. Two will be given in the morning in Hayward’s Middle and High schools in Hayward, Wisconsin, and another two presentations were made in the afternoon at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Middle and High schools on February 13th, 2008. A final talk will be given at the Lac Courte Oreilles Convention Center at 7 pm that evening, for the benefit of the community’s adult members.

Currently working with Wisconsin’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Szatkowski is based in Milwaukee, and is one of the United States’ leading officers in protecting children from sexual predators, specifically those who use the power of the Internet to lure and exploit children. Szatkowski spearheaded the arrest of about a hundred to a hundred and fifty men from both his home state of Wisconsin, as well as around the country. Szatkowski will be presenting on practical advice for protecting children, the techniques that Internet predators use, how to use software to keep your children safe online, the risks posed by various social networking websites, and examples of online sexual predation drawn from real life.

If you have children at home who like to spend time online, then you will have to be extra vigilant in protecting them from possible sexual predation and exploitation online. Start by telling your children to come to you if they have questions about things that they find online, and tell them to go to you immediately if strangers are talking to them and making them feel uncomfortable. Learn as much as you can about the techniques that Internet predators use, and keep your children away from social networking sites that may look like an easy breeding ground of predators. Moreover, keep your children from meeting with people who are inviting them for a meet up online.

You may also want to visit websites of organizations that protect children from online exploitation. For instance, Enough is Enough  works to protect families and children from dangerous Internet activities that could directly involve them, such as pornography and sexual predation. The website is filled with information about how to keep your home and Internet safe. You can read articles on how to spot sexual predators, where to go if you need help, and who to approach if you have questions on how to keep your child safer online.

The Virginia police had successfully tracked almost 20,000 hard drives that contain child pornography. However, they admitted that they lack the resources to prosecute the offenders.

In Virginia, only a small number of police officers are trained to go after online child predators. Of the 48 officers that were assigned to it, most of them are working on the case on a part-time basis. This leaves them with the fact that they lack the capacity and the resources to prosecute the 20,000 predators that they have uncovered. In the police’s investigation, they further discovered that half of the people who own these drives have previous records regarding crimes against children.

As an answer to the situation, the justice department is gearing for a legislation that would apportion some $18 million to expand Virginia’s Internet Crimes task force and focus more on the ones that are committed against helpless children. The goal is to train more officers and coordinate more efforts to target cyber criminals from operating in our midst.

Currently, the counties of Arlington, Alexadria, and Fairfax are the areas where strong campaigns against cyber criminals are implemented. In recent operations, the undercover nettling of 60 child porn criminals from December to January of this year became very successful.

The number of task forces and groups joining the police is constantly increasing in the jurisdiction of Northern Virginia. As the affiliations of both public and non-government organizations are rising in number to stop child offenders on their tracks, the same children are benefited from it all.

Story has it that about 2,000 reports on child exploitation happening online is being received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It is good to know that the Virginia police are getting more and more prepared and responsive to reports like these.

In the coming years, as the funds allocated for the Virginia Internet Crime task force is coming into place, the police departed is expected to be more effective in keeping child offenders at bay. It is the public’s high hopes that child offenders would soon be driven out of the state and prosecuted in the full extent of the law.

With more and more people joining the campaign against child molesters, it is become a lot easier for the police to combat the problem at hand. With the necessary resources, they would definitely be more competent in protecting the welfare of all the children in the society.

It seems that one of the drawbacks of modern technology is the rise of child pornography rates. In January this year, an undercover police operation was performed to jail the people who are responsible in spreading child pornography materials all over the Internet. Numerous people surfaced as suspects. Another undertaken operation done on February 11 revealed the identity of a 56-year-old man of Sympatica Crescent as an individual who processed the malicious materials which feature child exploitation. Two units of computer and a lot other media storages were seized from the identified man.

There is no doubt to it. Child pornography as a crime is never totally bustered. There are millions of people who seek to make money in the easiest way possible by taking aside the harmful effect that their acts may pose on the children. With the growth of social networking websites, the scale of child exploitation also heightens. Indeed, these social networking portals are likewise the hangouts of these cybercriminals.

So that they will successfully mislead the operations on child pornography investigations, these individuals secure their IP addresses and location, lie about their names and ages, and make use of proxy or Wi-Fi connections. These predators then eye on the youngsters who make use of their computers, Intenret, and mobile services in surfing the World Wide Web. They mistakenly give out their personal information to the people who make friends with them online without suspecting that these details will be used for child pornography. As you see, the breakthroughs in modern technology allow the editing and revision of things. With the personal details at hand, these cybercriminals can easily maneuver the circumstances without the knowledge of their preys. They can create malicious pictures and videos and then bear the identity of their unsuspecting victims. After which, these materials are then posted over the Internet to give satisfaction to the paying individuals who crave for these carnal pleasures.

Child pornography investigations show that the victims are often the youngsters whose parents are either not around or are simply too lax to let them do their own thing. Professionals suggest the use of monitoring and filtering software on the children’s computers so that they can be protected against any form of harm. When everyone is ready to battle off the dangers posed by any form of cyber crime, the children and their young minds can remain inside a safe shell.

Technology had once promised everybody of all the good things that it can offer. Indeed, the Internet is the ultimate source for all topics, special and current events, news, researches, and a lot others. However, little do the people realize that it can also be the most dangerous place for the children. For now, there is no denying the fact that the cyber space has become the breeding ground for the cybercriminals and abusers and thus, posing net terror.

Are you certain that you can always keep your cool and remain confident that your child is safe as he browses through the web pages? Are you aware of the websites that he visits? And finally, are you well informed about the activities, conversations, and online friends that your child engages with? There is a great threat on your child as he freely accesses the Internet. Let us just say that there as these individuals who care the least for whatever effect they may pose on to the young users of modern technology. They are up to commit really terrible crimes and one of which is child pornography.

Clear your mind and accept the fact that net terror is just lurking anywhere and at any time. It is ready to attack almost anybody. The websites that promote pornography entice the young folks to participate in the act. It is as if they are offering the sweetest-looking candies to the children. As ridiculous as it may seem, children can nonetheless be allowed to enter into any form of sexual relationship whether or not it is web-based. There are these people who manipulate their young minds. They are forced to perform some malicious stunts and then they are taken some shots or video coverage. After which, the material will be processed until it is posted in the Internet for everyone who is willing to subscribe for the hidden network and pay a price.

Any form of sexual act imposed on the children is vividly a form of harassment, exploitation, and abuse. Child pornography is a crime which the government must combat and expel. By and large, the parents are more so held responsible in keeping watch of their children. After all, they are every nation’s asset so why let them be corrupted by the evil elements? It is just the best time to keep them protected and unharmed.

Nowadays, households are employing computers as well as Internet connections so there is the large possibility for children to be exposed to child porn. Parents can be really very busy for the entire day that they just leave their children all by themselves. In fact, in Virginia alone, the law enforcement officials have been able to pinpoint at least 19,000 computers which bear the pornography files. It may be an easy thing to uncover the computer units that contain these child porn materials but not when it comes to finding out whoever is responsible for marketing them over the Internet. Going online is indeed as fast as the wink of an eye and so is the risk heaped on the children upon their exposure. As everyone knows, children bear young, pure, and innocent minds. They mimic whatever they see. They easily get overwhelmed so the fact that there is the large opportunity of them getting corrupted poses a grave danger on their entire being. 

Time and again, the need for competence and going on with the flow of Internet business pushes everyone to come up with more unique strategies of selling their products. The only sad part to it is that these evil-rooted minds concoct businesses which are proven harmful to the children. Child exploitation is one of the hottest trends these days. Many individuals subscribe to secret networks just so they can take the pleasure of viewing human flesh as the sexual subjects.

Child abuse and exploitation is never a thing to be taken for granted. Indeed, child pornography is a crime. In line with this, it matters that the parents concert their efforts in monitoring and keeping an eye on their children. Here are some of the valuable ways in fighting child porn:

• Keep the computer unit away from the children’s own room.
• Parents must get abreast of the computer applications.
• You must be able to know what websites are visited by your children.
• Talk about their Internet activities. Know their online pals and what they usually talk about.
• Block the websites which are solely for adults’ use. 
• Educate your children about the dangers of Internet exposure.

Fighting child porn needs to be taken seriously. The parents are the very first people who are held responsible for watching out their children and protecting them from any form of child exploitation.

Europe has thought about coming up with an effective means of fighting off web-based child porn by the use of the Nordic method. The Nordic method projects the blocking of the malicious websites which project the sexual materials featuring children as the subject. As the researches show, the whole of Europe will sooner or later employ this method to ensure the best interest of the children.

In a recent report, it had been noted that the European Commission then plans to spend as much as 5 million kronor just so the proposed site blocking technique will be pushed through in the rest of the European states. Certainly, the ECPAT, the organization that promotes anti-child pornography that is situated in Thailand, has adhered to the proposal.

There is no doubt that child porn is increasingly becoming a business. The evil-minded proponents of child porn need to update their heinous materials every now and then so that they can entice a larger number of customers. Their customers are very much willing to pay a hundred fold just so they can satiate their cravings. They seem to be very demonic in finding pleasure in viewing sexual materials that contain children as the sexual objects. The main aim of the concerned organizations is to totally block the porn websites and clear out Europe of the business entrepreneurs who deal with child pornography. Certainly, these money-making individuals don’t care about the innocence of these children. They are more than willing to corrupt them for the sake of money.

Likewise, the parents are again placed in the critical position as it is seen to be their ultimate responsibility to monitor or keep an eye on their children’s activities. Computers and Internet connections are becoming household items these days so there is no better way of fighting web-based child porn other than diverting the children’s attention towards other worthwhile activities. Depriving the children of free access to various websites can help too. It is also important that you employ a blocking software so that the children will not get exposed to the scandalous world of child porn. Why not play online games together? Why not watch online movies together? Why not lecture your children on the adverse effect that these child porn websites may bring?

Parents must be wiser than the child porn website administrators. You have to bear the obligation to work hand in hand with your government to retain the purity of the children’s minds by fighting off web-based child porn.