Wunderlich

1. Internet Predators are out there - online by the hundreds even thousands. It has been stated there were over one million pedophiles online. I am not sure that statistic is accurate, but how I feel personally about it - is I believe it! If there are over 600,000 known sex offenders registered it is not too hard to believe the above number.

2. What is so scary about these online predators is the ones who are truly addicted and are sexually aroused by children have an illness. A really sick illness and will offend over and over again. My friend, Chris Rees, who I mentioned in Part 1 of this article was a former police officer who sat in chat rooms and posed as a 13 year old to catch and arrest online predators, this was in the days before DatelineNBC. He also interrogated child predators and to listen to his stories would just blow your mind. The reason I mention him is because I have learned so much from him and with his help we have created this article.

The Profile of a Predator:

1. They actively look for victims from the time they get up until the time they go to bed. They are constantly looking for ways to get to the objects of their desire. Our kids!

2. Always remember this is an addiction and an obsession and they dont care. Police and laws do not deter them.

3. The starting out pedophile or the curious pedophile will just look at pictures to feed their addiction, and at first this is enough, but after a while, they grow bored with just looking at pictures and pretty soon its not enough. As with any addiction boredom plays a role and the predator wants to discover new things associated with the addiction and their desires.

4. It may start as a curiosity, but over time they become desensitized and now want the new thing to bring them back to that original state of euphoria. Predators use websites with child pornography to satisfy their desires initially.

Child Modeling websites were popular with predators, because they could view all the pictures they needed. Hard core porn sites are available all over the world. Now there are hundreds of social networking websites in which predators have a field day with because there are so many preteens and teens that have profiles on MySpace and other popular social networking sites. This makes it a whole lot easier for a predator to feed his or her addiction.

Private subcultures online were set up in the past where pedophiles could exchange videos and pictures of children in suggestive poses and in very little clothing, etc. The members in these online subculture groups were making child porn requests and receiving what they requested. And, if a particular request was made and not available, they would find real life children to act out these requests, so the requestor could receive his or her fix. Sick? Yes very. But, fortunately, the FBI and authorities over time have busted these operations. But the unfortunate part is two-fold, new ones develop with better technology than the ones before because they learn from their mistakes of getting caught. Also, those thousands and thousands of pictures and videos are still out there on the internet today.

Parents be warned about Child Modeling websites and agencies. Make sure if you decide to have your children try modeling, you do your homework. Make sure that the organization is a legitimate one, because these types of subcultures would operate child-modeling agencies that looked legitimate. They had spent sizable amounts of money on the productions of these modeling studios to make sure they looked legitimate. Parents drop their children off and the rest is very scary.

In recap, there are thousands of websites over the entire world that have private members that cater to pedophiles (soft-core child porn) that have thousands of members. It used to be difficult to access child pornography materials. Not anymore, with instant internet access its fast and easy. As access becomes greater and pedophile communities increase they bond together, they become a stronger force against our children.

What do predators ask your kids online?

An internet predators is someone who can draw out information without seeming like they are. They are masters at manipulation. They can gain information from any child without them even realizing it. Most kids think what they say is innocent and to them it may be but to a predator - children usually play right into their hands and heres how:

They will start up a conversation with a child. With just general harmless questions, so they think. Johnny, "hey its Mark (the predator), what sports do you like"? Johnny: "I like to play Soccer." Mark: Hey Ill bet your really good, do you score a lot of goals, and so on and so on. Until, before you know it Johnny has told Mark about their game last Friday afternoon, at Play-It-The-Park Soccer fields. Sometimes kids say what schools they are competing against for their sporting events. It is extremely easy for a predator to find out where that school is located with a map online. It is also extremely easy to pull up school sports news online for a local community and bingo! He has the identity of Johnnys soccer team and where exactly they play their games.

The point is predators start to build a profile on your child based upon bits and pieces of information revealed in harmless conversations. Like: "Where did you go on vacation?" "What beach did you visit"? "What do you like to do for fun"? "Oh play at the park which park to you like"? As the pedophile is looking at his google map over your neighborhood asking Johnny by name which of the two parks is his favorite? This way Johnny thinks his friend is located close to him and is in his area. This pedophile could be located in New Jersey and talking to Johnny in San Diego, CA. It is so simple to extract information out of kids online and build a profile and before you know it that pedophile is coming to pay Johnny a visit.

There are aerial maps online that show views of neighborhoods, houses and streets. Very quickly a predator can narrow it down where Johnny lives and plan his abduction.

Predators will find an easy target. Kids who they can get answers to questions very quickly and easily. They are very patient and persuasive. Over time they develop relationships with children. They build them up, they sympathize, make them feel special and wanted. Kids with low self-esteem are easy targets.

Kids that have parents not paying attention. The child feels they have no one to identify with in the family. Kids that dont feel a part of the family. The predator will be patient with the child to develop trust and become friends. Remember predators will find ways that you would never think of to get into the life of a child. If he poses as a 13-year old boy and wants to send your son a download of a video game, beware, downloads have backdoor Trojans and worms that get installed on your computer where the predator now has access to your personal information.

Everything they do they do it to bring themselves closer to their object of desire. It doesnt take long to figure out where they play sports, what school they attend. Over time they will put a picture together of your childs name, school, address and what they look like.

Why? Because predators and pedophiles have an addiction. These people will not stop ever if they have access. We need to protect ourselves and our kids as much as possible.

Pedophiles seek jobs and activities that bring them closer to children. They offend and reoffend. Why? Because they are addicted. While being incarcerated for a crime against a child they are already plotting when they get out how they are going to offend again. Most offend within weeks of their release.

They seek jobs that lend to getting closer to kids. Teachers, Boy Scout Leaders, Priests, Clergymen, Maintenance Crews at schools, coaches, etc. Not all are, but as a parent we shouldnt let our children go off with adults for certain functions that without doing our home work.

There are two other very important areas that deal with internet predators. They are Newsgroups and Social Networking Websites. These topics are covered in greater detail by my friend Christopher Rees the former police officer who has put together two Training CDs on Internet Safety for Parents. Please check out his products, he does a great job of helping parents fight against predators and keeping your children safe.

Denise Pellow is the creator and web designer of http://www.kidsbesafeonline.com and http://www.internetsafetytipsonline.com She is a parent and a grandparent, it is her passion to help protect kids online. With a legal background and a degree in technology she stays on top of trends in technology that affect our kids. Use http://www.familywatchdog.us to find child predators in your neighborhood. Identify faces and locations and keep your family safe.