Law Enforcement SHOULD be able to pose as minors on the Web in order to Catch Online Predators

By: Courtney E. ToomerSection 3

The Statistics of Child Predators

The average pedophile will commit 117 sexual crimes in their lifetime.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, 33% or girls & 14% of boys are sexually abused before the age of 18.

Majority of child sexual abuse cases are never reported.

Statistics on Online Child Predators

It is predicted that 1 out of every 5 children have been sexually solicited on the web this past year

Only 5 % of sexual offenders hide the fact they were adults from their victims.

80 % of sexual offenders were honest about their intentions with youth on the web.

In 73% of reported crimes, the offenders meet their victims on repeated occasions.

Predators & the Web

The web gives sexual predators access to millions of potential victims.

Allows the predators to gain the trust of the victims

Lets the predators identity remain anonymous.

Overly Trusting

Many children feel comfortable communicating with strangers on the web.

They will reveal personal information about themselvesFull NameAgeSchool & Residential Information

Our society needs to protect these children from potential harm

State & Federal Laws

There are 43 states that have online protection laws.

Pennsylvania has the Unlawful Contact With Minor LawThe only state that has a law that does not

directly talk about computer communications.

The most popular among Federal Laws there is Megan’s Law.

Justice

States Without

Currently there are 7 states that still do not have any Online Predator laws Oregon Washington Montana Wyoming Iowa South Carolina Massachusetts

Perverted Justice is an agency that exposes online sexual predators.

They work with law enforcement by posing as minors in order to catch the offenders.

They are responsible for 544 convictions, with the most recent conviction on April 8, 2011.

They became more popular for their assistance on Dateline NBC’s: To Catch A Predator.

To Catch A Predator

Premiered on November 2004, on Dateline NBC

Gives a behind the scene look of how the police and Pervert Justice catch on online predators

Hosted by Chris Hansen

Video

Top 10 States With Convictions Through Perverted Justice

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Benefits of these Sting Operations

These operations allow police to capture 1000s of sexual offenders.

Has the potential to intimidate offenders not to solicit minors online.

Offenders cannot lie there way out of the situation because everything they said online is documented.

Every arrest helps protect more & more children

Conclusion

Child predators are never going to be eliminated from society

The rapidly growing digital world is opening new avenues for them

New methods of committing crimes = new methods of convicting criminals

Setting up predators is a beneficial to society because it protects our children and punishes the offenders.

Support this Effort!!

Reference Page“Internet Crime Conference Targets Child Predators.”

dontletthemhurtourchildren.blogspot.com. Madeleine, The Icon of Missing Children. 8/4/09. Web. 4/13/11. http://dontletthemhurtourchildren.blogspot.com/2009/08/internet-crime-conference-targets-child.html

Online Sex Predators. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2007. Web. 4/11/11. http://www.unc.edu/courses/2007spring/law/357c/001/chrishansen/

Perverted Justice. 2004. Web. 4/13/11. http://www.perverted-justice.com/

“Shocking Statistics.” sentrypc.com. 4/13/11. http://www.sentrypc.com/statistics.htm

“Statistics: Online Sexual Predators.” enough.org. 4/16/11. http://www.enough.org/inside.php?id=2uxkjwry8

“The Gay Teacher.” Dateline NBC: To Catch a Predator. NBC. 2007. Web. 4/16/11. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZhsfT9wGp0>