Online Predators Debunked

First-I'd like to thank MiamiNew Times for continuing to offer the comment section for those Americans impacted by residency laws and the sex offender laws as a whole. As of this date, 91 comments have posted since Friday, June 15th. Thoughts of hope quickly disintegrated into comments of fury upon learning that a peaceful assembly of women was oppressed by Miami police. If you or someone you know is impacted by these politically motivated offender laws, the links provided here are available for your knowledge and your use to educate the public. Pass them on.

My hopes are that mainstream America is reading and learning how everyday American families are struggling against this perpetuation by law enforcement and politicians to use fear regarding our children against the American public.

A comment from mick caught my attention. Pay very close attention to his words. This sort of scenario is happening throughout this country-it knows no age boundary-it recognizes no gender. We hear so much from law enforcement about "protecting children online"...parents, when talking with your kids about the "dangers of the Internet", I would suggest discussing the flip side as well-how law enforcement-not a sex offender-could be on the other side of the chat-or the music download, as so well stated by mick.

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"...The alleged heinous crime? Unknowingly downloading offensive images hidden in music files. Once viewed and realized to be child porn they were deleted. The detective that had put them there was quick to find the ip address get a warrant from a computer illiterate Judge. It took several weeks for the forensic experts to retrieve the deleted files and bring forth charges. No one was ever harmed..."

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While your chewing on mick's comment, digest this information:

Panel attempts to debunk myths about online predators.

iTnews and Information Week

Myths and misperceptions about online predators are driving adults to misguided efforts to protect young people, according to researchers.

The public impression is that online predators are "Internet pedophiles who've moved the playground into your living room," said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes against Children Research Center (CCRC) at the University of New Hampshire.

The common wisdom is that predators target young children by pretending to children themselves, and they lure children in using personal information gained by trickery or gathered from the Internet, Finkelhor said. Likewise, society thinks believes predators stalk children, abduct, and rape them, "or even worse," he said.

But, actually, teens, rather than young children, are usually the victims of the crimes, Finkelhor said. Victims often run away from home to be with adults they met online, fall in love with the offenders, and work against police efforts to help them, Finkelhor said.

Only 5 per cent of cases involve violence, only 3 per cent involve abduction, and only 4 per cent of offenders concealed their ages from victims, Finkelhor said. And 80 per cent were "quite explicit" about their sexual intentions.

While authorities work with parents to try to protect kids, the kids most at risk have little trust in their parents. They've been victims of physical or sexual abuse, or have substantial conflicts in their family, he said.

Young people often go online to escape from bad situations at home, said danah boyd, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies how young people interact online.

While society views the home as a safe haven, and the Internet as a dangerous jungle filled with predators, for many at-risk young people, the reverse is true. They go online to escape from abusive or absent parents, or - in affluent homes especially - to escape the overwhelming pressure to achieve.

Internet predation needs to be put into perspective. Only 7 per cent of statutory rape arrests were the result of Internet-initiated activities, said Michele Ybarra, president of Internet Solutions for Kids, a non-profit for promoting new methods of improving health and safety of young people.

Cyberbullying is an equally serious threat that's underemphasized.

Young people are often resistant to sexual solicitations, Boyd said. They lump sexual solicitations with online marketing, as nuisances that they delete and move on.

The host of the panel, the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, is an Internet industry association whose mission is to work with lawmakers on Internet issues.

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• danah boyd, Researcher, University of California, Berkeley and Fellow, University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Communications (Blog: apophenia)
• Dr. David Finkelhor, Director, Crimes against Children Research Center (CCRC), University of New Hampshire
  
• Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist, Pew Internet & American Life Project
  
• Dr. Michele Ybarra, President, Internet Solutions for Kids and author of several studies on youth online

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The nation's foremost academic researchers on child online safety presented their research and answered questions over a luncheon panel on May 3.

It's June 18, 2007.

Why are we just now hearing about this?


Because this research changes everything American families have been force fed by our political leaders.

Your kids have been used in the Fear game.

Demand an explanation.

Today.

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Daily Kos Comments here.

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Update

Article published Jul 25, 2007
UNH professor talks to Congress about online predators, sex crimes

DURHAM — The majority of online sex crime victims are not children, but rather teenagers who are well aware of the age and sexual intentions of the offender, according to a University of New Hampshire professor.

David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at UNH, testified before Congress Tuesday that the public's perception of Internet pedophiles tricking children into revealing personal information and then stalking or abducting them is false. Most Internet sex crimes begin with weeks of explicit conversations that exploit a teen's sexual curiosity and desire for romance and adventure, according to Finkelhor.

"These are not mostly violent sex crimes but criminal seductions that take advantage of common teenage vulnerabilities," he said.

In his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Finkelhor said that 73 percent of underage victims met offenders multiple times for multiple sexual encounters, and that in half of the cases, police described the victim as being in love or feeling a close relationship with the offender. One quarter of victims also ran away from home to be with the offender.

Finkelhor added that deception was not a factor in most cases. He said that only 5 percent of offenders concealed their age and that in 80 percent of the crimes, the adults were explicit about their sexual intentions.

Finkelhor said that victims are often troubled youths with histories of family turmoil and physical and sexual abuse. He said that children are at risk when they are willing to talk about sex online with strangers or interact with people on sex sites and in chat rooms.

As an example, Finkelhor detailed the case of a 13-year-old girl from a divorced family who had met with a 45-year-old man for multiple sexual encounters in motel rooms. He said that the relationship began when the computer-savvy teen entered sex-oriented chat rooms and began conversing with the man, who flattered her, engaged in intimate conversations, and gave her gifts and jewelry. At the time of the man's arrest, the girl resisted cooperating with police.

"To prevent these crimes, we have to take on more awkward and complicated topics and start with an acceptance of the fact that some teens are curious about sex and looking for romance and adventure," Finkelhor said.

He said that prevention efforts should focus on educating teens about drawbacks of a sexual relationship with an adult, such as jail, bad press, and public embarrassment, and use strategies that are effective for communicating with teenagers.

"Like discouraging kids from smoking or drinking, the simple scare tactics often don't work. This challenge too may require deft maneuvering within the teenage psychology to get the message to stick," he said.

Finkelhor added that law enforcement agencies should receive training on how to work with teenage victims and develop new ways for teens to report come-ons and sexual picture requests.

Last week, the Crimes Against Children Research Center announced that one in 25 youth Internet users received a request for a sexual picture of themselves during the last year.

Researchers at UNH also found that only 5 percent of online sex crimes against children involved violence when meetings occurred, and that only 3 percent included an abduction.

The center's research included data from hundreds of national cases as well as two sample surveys of youth Internet users.