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| CHILD
SAFETY ON THE INTERNET was the focus of a seminar featuring (l-r)
Erin Neil, Safe Environments director; Marie Keogh, Catholic Charities
Emergency Services coordinator; FBI Special Agent Joe Dooley; and
Assistant U.S. Attorney James K. Filan, Jr. (PHOTO BY PAT HENNESSY) |
By BRIAN D. WALLACE
When children go
online, it’s no different than having them walk out the front door of
your home for the evening, FBI Special Agent Joe Dooley said a recent
Internet Child Safety Seminar held at the Catholic Center in Bridgeport.
“Parents should
be asking, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘Who are you going with?’ ‘What are
you going to do?’ – all the same questions you’d ask if your children
were physically leaving the house,” said Dooley during the seminar co-sponsored
by the Office of Safe Environments and the Health & Safety Office of
Catholic Charities.
Sobering Message
Speaking before more than 100 educators, social workers, and community
workers, Dooley, who is also supervisor of the Connecticut Computer
Crimes Task Force, joined Assistant U.S. Attorney James K. Filan, Jr.,
in delivering a sobering message for parents and anyone interested in
protecting children.
“The Internet is
the answer to a pedophile’s dream because it is pervasive, private,
and gives unprecedented access to children,” Dooley said.
Filan, who serves
as Computer and Telecommunications Crime Coordinator for the Bridgeport
Division of the U.S. Attorney’s office, had bad news for those in attendance.
He said that in a recent survey conducted in affluent Connecticut suburbs,
two-thirds of children and teens reported being exposed to adult websites;
65% visited chat rooms; and one-third received sexual e-mails that made
them feel uncomfortable. Dooley added that computer technology has been
rapidly embraced by sexual offenders trolling the Internet to find children
who are using online services in increasing numbers. In an era before
computers, child abusers had a hard time finding and isolating children,
but computers now often invite them into a teen’s bedroom – the first
step in a relationship that could actually lead to arrangements for
a meeting and then a sexual encounter, he said.
And make no mistake
about it: pedophiles are extremely persistent and will spend months
“grooming a child” in order to entice him or her into sexual activity.
Dooley played an actual tape of a young teen who had run away with a
child abuser she met over the Internet. Prior to leaving with the man,
she was online e-mailing him 4-6 hours a day as part of his manipulative,
trust-building strategy.
Warning Signs
In order to detect Internet activities that may lead to sexual abuse,
parents are urged to look for these warning signs:
• Any images of
child pornography that may appear on your child’s screen.
• Gifts such as
calling cards or webcams that may come in the mail.
• Attempts by
your child to circumvent parental software.
• Children using
online accounts that belong to other people.
• Children who
become withdrawn and log increasing time on the computer.
While children of
any age can become victims, young teens going through puberty and discovering
their own sexuality are at the highest risk. Curiosity, growing pains,
and the need for affection make them more vulnerable. Boys tend not
to report sexual advances but are also vulnerable, although young women
are at greater risk, Dooley said.
Many child Internet
crimes are actually committed in those dangerous after-school hours
between 2 and 5 p.m., when parents are still at work. Both men urged
parents to supervise computer activity and bring in someone more knowledgeable
to search the computer if they suspect their child is a risk.
They also recommend
that parents discourage their children from entering profiles or other
personal information, supervise chat room participation, install parental
controls, and move the computer out of the child’s bedroom into a common
room like the living room or kitchen.
(If your child
has been sent child pornography or has been solicited for sex, call
your local police or the FBI. For more information, visit www.cybertipline.com
or call the Health & Safety Office of Catholic Charities: 372-4301,
ext. 322.)
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