Cyber crime against children represents a criminal phenomenon unique to the 21st Century. The days of monitoring your kid’s online activity by putting the home computer in the living room are long past, because cell phones, PDA’s, wireless laptops, and libraries all offer easy Internet access.
Back in the day, children had to beware of predators lurking in alleys, dark stairwells, in and around parks and schoolyards. While those concerns still exist, a series of legislative efforts has at last made it much more difficult to be a successful pedophile in the United States.
The exception is the Internet, which has emboldened a new generation of cyber-perverts who rely upon anonymity and subterfuge to engage their evil intentions. This small subset lurks behind false profiles as they attempt to lure, groom, and victimize our children. The very predators who cannot penetrate our dead bolts, alarm systems, guard dogs or personal armories have found a back alley into our living rooms under the camouflage of binary code and new world technology.
By the mid 1980’s perpetrators were isolated and fearful as the production and distribution of child pornography in the USA had been nearly eradicated. Unfortunately, cyber-pedophiles have successfully re-invigorated the near dormant child pornography industry by using the Internet to make the production and distribution of kiddy-porn easy and inexpensive. They empower amoral behavior by networking and file sharing with each other. One might say that the problem is epidemic.
The problem has become so alarming that an instant message stating that, “I am a twelve-year-old-boy home alone and I want to have sex with you,” is enough to deploy a convoy of pedophiles willing to risk everything to satisfy uncontrollable urges. The problem has become so alarming that the founder and chairman of the US House of Representatives Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus confidently engaged his own high stakes Internet lure for more than a decade under our very noses. The problem has become so alarming that while we basked in a false sense of security the family living room became the predator’s new playground.
The single characteristic, besides intent, that differentiates child predators from the rest of us is aggression. While we have stood around in benign ignorance they have engaged an aggressive campaign of mayhem and crime against our children. If we hope to stop the victimization we will have to become as aggressive and organized in our efforts as they have been in theirs. We must network, share resources, be creative and demonstrate will and determination.
There is no silver bullet that will end Cyber Crimes against children. Legislation is at best a partial solution, and by itself technology cannot contain evil intention. Law enforcement decoy stings will never eradicate the black heart of a predator. Education and awareness, in the classroom or at home, will only go so far toward protecting kids, because kids are vulnerable by nature of who they are. With few exceptions, Internet Service Providers and Social Networking sites will not even be a component of the solution until they acknowledge responsibility for the content that flows freely through their portals and willingly do something to eradicate the dangers that lurk within.
The Internet is here to stay. It affords tremendous benefits and enables monumental abuses. If we are going to ensure that the World Wide Web does not become a virtual Wild Wild West we have to aggressively engage those who would abuse it. But, by linking arms and working toward a common goal, we can ensure that our kid’s online experience is empowering, positive and safe.
