A change has occurred regarding the increase of online predators. The internet has been one of the most important technological advancements this century. The internet has allowed people from all over the world to communicate with family, friends, and strangers. But it has also caused major concern. With everyone communicating through online forums, social networks, and chat rooms, it is impossible to figure out who the people are talking to. With the internet, people are able to live multiple lives. With this advance in technology, there has been a major increase of online predators. Predators can create different identities, pick new names, lie about their age, and use another person’s picture as their own. By being well educated …show more content…
Predators take advantage of children’s natural vulnerabilities such as attention, depression, and insecurities. Most internet related crimes often involve adult men who use the internet to meet and seduce underage adolescents into sexual acts. Victims that meet face to face with their offenders are typically already expecting to engage in sexual activity. “In the N-JOV study, 73% of victims who had face-to-face sexual encounters with offenders did so more than once (Wolak 2008).” Child predators find ways to have the victims form a love or romance for them in order to stay with them. According to Internet Safety 101, at least 200 million girls and 100 million boys will be sexually abused before adulthood. Online predators tend to target girls more than boys. In the figure above, the graph explains the percentage of male online predators and the percentages of arrests in 2000 compared to 2006. From this graph, we can tell that most online predators are white males. Very few have history of violence, previous arrests, and substance abuse. There was a drastic decline over time of predators interested in child pornography. In 2000, 40% of the arrests possessed with child pornography. In 2006, there was a major decrease, down to 22% (Wolak). Even though
Many reported offenders are male, with a history of abuse and a troubled childhood. Men are child molesters in at least ninety-seven percent of reported cases (Sanford, 83). One investigation noted eighty percent of sexual offenders had committed their first crime by age of thirty with all by the age of forty. Between 200 and 300 men are prosecuted to every one woman (Sanford, 83). Research has uncovered repeated drug and/or alcohol abuse issues among convicted predators. Lastly, sexual offenders suffer from deviant sexual behavior and attitudes (Henderson, 39).
Child sex abusers find the internet or mobile phones a convenient place to participate in a range of child sexual
There are a vast number of issues concerning child exploitation from the actions of the offender and the victim. Child exploitation is a complex issue that does not have one simple solution; this crime is nothing new, but technology is allowing it to evolve. Child exploitation is moving from sending child pornography through the postal service and targeting only children an offender has close proximity to. Technology and the Internet have widened the opportunities for offenders and have allowed for potentially ay juvenile to become victimized. The recommendations will focus on targeting key issues presented in the Routine Activities Theory; limiting a motivated offender, making targets unsuitable, and creating capable guardians online.
Marcum, G. (2007). Interpreting the intentions of internet predators: An examination of online predatory behavior. 16(4), 99-115.
It is not uncommon for someone to exaggerate the truth or to leave out facts about themselves on the web. In fact, you may even find that the person you thought you knew on the internet is nothing like their profiles in real life. Whether it is to stand out in the crowd or to fool someone into thinking you are someone else entirely, you should not believe everything you see or read online. With photo enhancements, little white lies, and the scam termed catfishing, you just never really know who you are talking to or what their intentions are. Michele Fleming and Debra Rickwood, authors of “Teens in Cyberspace”, determine that parents and the public share the concern of teens encountering predators and pedophiles on the internet and could lead to inappropriate relationships on and off the web. The young generation typically communicates with peers and people close in age, however, Fleming and Rickwood advise “Even though many teens appear Net-savvy, they still need to be reminded of the potential dangers lurking online. There may be many friends in cyberspace but there are undoubtedly a number of
We understand the need for and are prepared to provide necessary transparency for members of the public who want to know more about pedophiles, sexual assault, sex offenders, and the role that you can play in keeping your community protected. Unfortunately, sex crimes are not the exception in our country. Statistics indicate that one in every five girls and one in every seven boys are sexually abused by the time they reach adulthood (CSOM, 2006). “One in six adult women and one in 33 adult men experience an attempted or completed sexual assault. 1 in 6 female children and 1 in 20 boys are victims of sexual abuse” (NCVC, 2015). Sex offenses represent under 1% of all arrests, with adults accounting for about 80% of arrests and juveniles 20% (FBI, 2005). Males account for approximately 95% of arrests (FBI, 2005).
One of the main hazards that Social Networking can bring is Sexual Predators. Vicki Haddock a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle believes, “the internet was once seen as a Golden information superhighway” (Document C). In which people were able to see the next generation of what was called the promise
With the creation of computers and Internet, high-tech crimes are occurring more frequently than few decades ago. According to a report made by the U.S. Department of Justice; “one in five children (10 to 17 years old) receives unwanted sexual solicitations online” (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008). One of this online sex-crime against children is known as child enticement. The Florida statute 847.0135 states that an individual is involved in online child enticement when “[…] utilizes a computer on-line service, Internet service, or […] to seduce, solicit, lure, or entice, or attempt to […] a child or another person believed by a person to be a child to commit any illegal act […] relating to sexual battery […]” (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008). Therefore, online sex-crime investigators must use the appropriate protocols during an investigation to avoid a lawful criminal defense based on law enforcement entrapment.
It should be noted that statistics show that 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age 18; 1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 18; 1 in 5 children are solicited sexually while on the internet (Darkness2light, 2009c). Also children who are ill, disabled, or otherwise perceived as different are more likely targets of abuse(Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2009).
2008). Unfortunately, majority of youths who are targeted by the online predators and accept invitations to meet in person tend to acknowledge that they will likely be engage in sexual relationship(Wolak et al, 2008). Thus, these factors illustrates that children in Canada require great cares and protections from the online predators.
They explain that the telephone were originally marketed as a time saver for commercial use and later, it for residential use where it took telephone companies over twenty years to advertise and market the sociability of the telephone even though they were aware that was being ‘misuse’ by them . Cassell and Cramer try to discuss that the relationship between the production and consumption of technology been part of the culture that facing in the society. The media’s represent in both perpetrators and victims of online crimes.. The media continues to portray the stereotype where the fact that statistics cited in this article suggest that the majority of the one in seven solicitations that young people reported in the latest Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS) do not come from the stereotype of the older male Internet predator but from family, friends and peers. The use of this statistic was convincing, however I was more doubtful about their argument that the victim were not from teen girl even though they acknowledge that the girls aged from 14 – 17 experience the highest rate of online solicitation. They argue the fact that solicitations for girls aged between 14 and 17 had dropped by 11 percent. It try to show that statistics can be used to support any argument. It was interesting to note that even been funded by the YISS, they try to hide their findings base on how to reduce stranger solicitation that could increase exposure to sexual material and
Sex offending can occur a lot of places for example, in schools, at friends houses, but a lot of sex crimes occur through internet solicitation today. According to Mitchell, Wolak, and Finkelhor (2005) found that each year approximately one in five minors receive sexual solicitation from people they talk to online whether it be via chatrooms, or instant messages. Internet solicitation is so popular amongst sex offenders because it gives them anonymity to commit their crimes. This gives law enforcement a chance to proactive in investigating sex crimes that they could previously not, and could allow law enforcement to detect sex offenders before the actual victimization (Mitchell, Wolak, Finkelhor, 2005). There are two types of investigations law enforcement can
We understand the need for and are prepared for members of the public who want to know more about sexual assault, sex offenders, and the role that citizens can play in keeping their communities safe. It is unfortunate that sex crimes are not uncommon in the United States. It is estimated that one in every five girls and one in every seven boys are sexually abused by the time they reach adulthood (CSOM, 2006). One in six adult women and one in 33 adult men experience an attempted or completed sexual assault (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2006). Sex offenses represent under 1% of all arrests, with adults accounting for about 80% of arrests and juveniles 20% (FBI, 2005). Males account for approximately 95% of arrests (FBI, 2005).
The agencies employed by governments to police the web in order to protect the vulnerable have seen an increase in child pornography and online fraud. The speed at which information can be distributed and the number of people that can be reached attracts those that are intent on causing harm. The term “cybercrime” is becoming more widely used. The financial gains that can be made and the anonymity the internet can provide, make the virtual world of cyberspace a haven for criminals. Although the internet has huge benefits for information gathering and social networking, in the wrong hands it can cause harm to the vulnerable and criminals are able to vanish into the underground with the use of false identities that are hard to track online.
There are dangers of online communication such as social networks where users can lie about who they are [4]“Megan thought she was being abused by 16-year-old Josh Evans, she was actually talking to Lori Drew, the 49-year-old mother of one of her former friends who, it is alleged, had set up a fake profile to taunt Megan.” in social networking sites it is very easy for people to