Recognizing Sexual Predators, Offline and On

As mentioned earlier in this book, sexual predators can "look" like anyone . They can be strangers or people who know you; they might approach your children on their way home from school or while playing in the neighborhood, or befriend them online. Some predators who already know your children use the Internet as a way to make additional contact with them so they can build a "special" bond without you realizing just how much interaction they're having.

Just as you keep an eye on who interacts with your children offline, it's important to have a clear sense of who is contacting your children online, and to be mindful of any changes in their behavior and how they respond to the adults with whom they have contact.

Recognizing predators and predatory behaviors can be complicated, but a great deal of research has been conducted on this topic, and there are many good resources available that can help you. Here are some Web sites to start with: http://beachildshero.com/traits.htm and www.kimberlyscottage.org/obsessed.html . A good book to reference is Protecting Your Children From Sexual Predators by Leigh Baker. You can find additional resources in the back of this book.

You should have an understanding of predatory behaviors, and you should use technology to help you monitor and manage who has access to your children online, and how frequently they are conversing . You can find more information about available tools in "Technology Toolkit" in Part Four of this book. These tools cannot replace your vigilance , but they can go a long way toward providing a safer environment.

How Predators Choose Their Victims

Criminals choose victims for a variety of reasons, but there are some patterns you can identify. Finding a victim to target for an online-initiated crime has three basic steps:

Identifying a viable target, whether that target is property or a person.

If the target is a physical object (a car or house), the predator needs some way to locate the object. Opportunity for access is keythe ability to gain online access to children, young people, or adults as well as any content that helps identify a location for potential offline access is the first goal.

Think About It

Many child sexual predators already knew their victims and used the Internet as a means of facilitating crimes; 50 percent of victims live within a 50-mile radius of their predators (Wolak et al., 2004).

If the target is a personchild or adultwith whom the predator wants to make physical contact (not just steal their identity), the goal is most often to build a relationship with the victim. The predator starts to collect information that will build an outline of the target and begin to identify themwhere they live, what they look like, their name and age, and, to help them make a personal connection, their emotional state .

Matching the target with what the predator wants.

If the goal is to get money or tangible goods, such as IDs, cars , or other possessions, the predator sifts through the target's information to find relevant secondary informationphotos of a new boat or car, postings where the victim brags about an Xbox or flat-screen TV, references to expensive artwork or jewelry , and so on.

If physical harm is the predator's objective, then gaining the target's confidence becomes important. The predator wants any information that can help him or her to learn a victim's habits, likes and dislikes, location, and so on.

Planning the best time to "strike" and the best method to employ .

For a burglar this might mean waiting until the target is on vacation. Did you leave a notice on your e-mail to tell people you will be away and will respond next week when you're back, or talk about your upcoming trip on your blog? All of these pieces of information tell something about you, and often something about your possessions.

Find Out More

For more information about dealing with those who are out to steal your money or possessions and how to protect yourself, see Chapter 14, "Step 11: Get Savvy About Financial Scams and Fraud."

Flylib.com

Category list

Similar pages

Recognizing Sexual Predators, Offline and On

Recognizing Sexual Predators, Offline and On

How Predators Choose Their Victims

Similar products