2. What is a Pedophile? The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders says a pedophile is: The recurrent, intense presence of sexual urges and fantasies of at least six months' duration, involving sexual activity with prepubescent children.
3. What is an Online Pedophile? An adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes. They may use internet sites such as myspace, facebook, or twitter, and they may also use an instant messaging program using screen names.
4. Is an online pedophile a sexual predator? The term sexual predator is used pejoratively to describe a person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain sexual contact with another person in a metaphorically "predatory" manner. Comparable to how a predator hunts down its prey, so the sexual predator is thought to "hunt" for his or her sex partners. People who commit sex crimes, such as rape or child sexual abuse, are commonly referred to as sexual predators, particularly in tabloid media or as a power phrase by politicians.
5. The Answer? The answer is yes, however a predator hunts sexual partners of all ages, rather than just prepubescent children. (Indiana Law Journal, 76(2).)
6. History In the early 1980’s, through postings on bulletin board systems, pedophiles went online to swap illegal photos. From there, these pedophiles could easily converse with others like themselves. http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahdotcom/safety_kurt2
7. History: An Online Program Was Born In 1995, the FBI created its Innocent Images National Initiative (IINI). Its goals: to break up networks of online pedophiles, to stop sexual predators from using the Internet to lure children from their families, and to rescue victims.
8. Continued Today, 28 of the FBI's 56 field offices have undercover Innocent Images operations. More than 200 FBI Agents work these cases. Some pose as teenagers or pre-teens in chat rooms to identify “travelers” who seek to meet and abuse children. Others focus on dismantling major child exploitation enterprises.
9. Continued Since 1995, we’ve opened more than 10,000 total cases and helped secure nearly 3,000 convictions. http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec03/online120203.htm
10. A Similar Way to Catch an Online Pedophile http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UX2839kI_Y
11. Trends of an Online Pedophile 1. New, inexperienced children online-surf online with your children so they become familiar with the internet. 2. Lonely children- some children don’t have many friends and look online for people to befriend them. 3. Children who are having family problems- these children are looking for someone to listen to them. 4. Predators try to make children trust them, and make children think they are not strangers. http://www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment/kids.html
12. Statistics 1. Forty percent of people charged with child pornography also sexually abuse children, police say. But finding the predators and identifying the victims are daunting tasks(Reuters, 2003). 2. One in five children who use computer chat rooms has been approached over the Internet by pedophiles. (Detective Chief Superintendent Keith Akerman, Telegraph.co.uk January 2002). 3. 13 million youth use Instant Messaging. (Pew Study reported in JAMA, 6/01).
13. Statistics Cont. 1 in 5 received sexual solicitation or approach in last year, and 1 in 33 received AGGRESSIVE sexual solicitation (asked to meet, called them via phone, sent mail, money or gifts). (Online Victimization, NCMEC, June 2000). 25% of youth who received sexual solicitation told a parent. (Online Victimization, NCMEC, June 2000). 44 percent of children polled have visited x-rated sites or sites with sexual content. Moreover, 43 percent of children said they do not have rules about Internet use in their homes. (Time/CNN Poll, 2000)
14. Statistics Cont. 7. A study by the NOP Research Group found that of the four million children aged seven to 17 who surf the net, 29% percent would freely give out their home address and 14% would freely give out their e-mail address if asked. (Telegraph.co.uk January 2002) http://www.enough.org/inside.php?tag=stat%20archives#6