Million Kids Exploited - Sextortion on the Rise

The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center warns about a huge increase in the number of cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced by adults into sending explicit images on line.  According to the report, most victims report that the initial contact with the perpetrator is mutual after meeting on a dating website and chatroom apps.  Very quickly the perpetrator starts the exchange of sexually explicit materials and encourages naïve young people to encage in video chat or exchange illicit photos or videos.

With online learning we are seeing a significant increase in the number of people spending many hours using Internet devices making them much more available to be contacted by someone with ill intent.  Additionally, with the implementation of stay at home online learning the average age of internet users has dropped significantly, which now includes millions of prepubscent children.

On this weeks podcast, Opal Singleton discusses the challenges of preparing very young people to recognize when they are dealing with a predator and what to do about it.

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