- 95% of parents didn't recognize the lingo kids use to let people know that their parents are watching
- 89% of sexual solicitations are made in either chat rooms or Instant Messages
- One of out of every five kids has received unwanted sexual solicitation online
- 75% of youth who receive an online sexual solicitation did not tell a parent
- 76% of parents don't have rules about what their kids can do on the computer
- 4,000,000 children are posting content to the Web everyday
- 15,000,000 youth use Instant Messages
- 80% of offenders were quite explicit about their sexual intentions
- 73% of cases include multiple sexual encounters
- In half the cases, victims are described as being in love with the offender or feelings close friendships
- On average, 75% of residents live within one mile of a registered sex offender.
- For the sex offender, the internet is the most effective tool ever invented.
- 80% of children ages 7-18 receive inappropriate e-mail, instant messages or text messages on a daily basis.
- 37% of on-line teens have used IM (Instant Messenger) to write something that they would not have said in person.
- On the internet, everyone's child is a target.
Why the Internet is the perfect place for the child sex offender. It provides the offender with:
- An unsupervised environment
- Instant gratification
- Easy and affordable access
- Tremendous storage capacity
- Perception of privacy and anonymity
- Opportunity for instant communication with children using e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, newsgroups, clubs, Blogging, MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
Where do Predators meet our children?
- Chat Rooms such as Yahoo, AOL
- MySpace, Facebook
- File Sharing Sites
- Instant Messenger