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‘Sextortion’ Involving Children On The Rise Among Online Predators

Law Enforcement Say Criminals More Comfortable In Their Anonymity

By
Rachel Johnson (CC BY-ND 2.0)

A top Wisconsin law enforcement official says they’re seeing more online predators use “sextortion” to target children using the internet. An increasing number of children are falling prey to criminals who groom them through web apps.

Matthew Joy, commander of Wisconsin’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said online predators have become bolder in requests for explicit photos and videos from children. Kids or teens are sharing information online that criminals use against them.

“Then, informing the person who has sent those explicit images or videos that they need to send more,” he said. “Otherwise, the holder of those files will disseminate them to family and friends – post them online.”

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Online predators are using more than a young adult’s guilt and shame to extort images, Joy said. Criminals also resort to threats of harm to children and their families.

“I’m going to hurt them unless you send me this – unless you do a live video web chat with me doing x, y and z,” Joy explained.

He said online offenders are doing their homework, researching websites and apps that are encrypted or less likely to store information. He added they’re also seeing a trend of children live-streaming videos of self-harm. He encouraged parents to be aware of what sites their children are visiting online or what apps they may be using on cell phones.

“Kik messenger is very popular right now, has been for several years,” he said. “Whisper is an up and comer that we’re trying to urge parents to learn more about.”

As technology advances, Joy said law enforcement are trying to stay ahead of the changes by working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and internet service providers. They’re seeking ways to retain conversations and chats to prosecute online predators.

Detective John Parenteau investigates cases for the Lake Superior Forensic Technology and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He said more education, training and support is needed.

“When I started out, I was being trained on Windows XP – now we have Windows 10 out there,” he said. “Everything changes a little bit with every new operating system for cell phones, Android, IOS. It’s growing rapidly.”

Parenteau said child pornography cases now make up 42 percent of their caseload.

“These are people that are possessing and distributing child pornography. Sometimes it could be children in our own area that have been victimized,” Parenteau said. “Other times it’s child pornography that’s been on the internet for a while and they collect it.”

The Lake Superior ICAC Task Force offers presentations to parents and children in grades K-12 to educate them about Internet safety.

“We need to change some attitudes, and we need to educate our children so that hopefully they’ll make good decisions,” he said. “There are dark alleys in the real world where we would not want our children to go. There are dark alleys in the virtual world where our children should not go as well.”

Last year, Wisconsin received 1,300 tips of online child exploitation, Joy said. He noted they’re on pace to match that number this year.

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