Trinity Mount Ministries

Showing posts with label Child Exploitation Prevention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Child Exploitation Prevention. Show all posts

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Trinity Mount Ministries - FBI warns predators are targeting children playing video games

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The FBI warns predators are trying to take advantage of children playing video games.(WOIO)

By Sara Goldenberg

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The FBI is warning predators are targeting children.

Kids and teens spend hours over the summer playing video games, and they still have a few weeks left until back-to-school.

Video games can be a lot of fun, but 19 Investigates found sexual predators can be lurking anonymously behind the keyboard.

FBI New York released a PSA called “It’s Not a Game” urging parents to watch out for their children online.

“As soon as that instant message pops up on your child’s browser or on their smart phone, there could be a sexual predator on the other end. It takes only a few days—sometimes just hours—to groom your child into sending compromising photos to the person on the other end of that chat. Then the threats begin,” the FBI agent said in the video.

You can watch the PSA in full here.

We spoke with a local parent, Mallory Diebel, and her 11-year-old son Slade, who loves to play video games.

“I like that it’s a getaway from real life, where you can basically do whatever you want,” he said. Roblox and Minecraft keep him busy for hours.

His parents try to stay involved in what he’s playing.

“It’s a whole new world from when me and my husband were young and playing Sega and Nintendo,” she said. There has been one big change since then.

Users can message each other now, and that’s where the FBI warns threats can come in.

500,000 predators are active online every day, according to the FBI.

Kids ages 12 to 15 are most at risk.

Diebel wants to give Slade his independence when he’s playing.

But she continues to keep tabs on what he’s playing and who he’s talking to.

“We do check in with him every once and awhile to make sure he’s not giving anything private out about yourself, where we live, your name, if we’re home, not home, different things like that,” she said. She’s noticed many of the video games put in more parental controls and restrictions on chats.

But she still keeps an eye on public servers.

“When you’re talking about strangers and a person you see in front of you, it’s easy to say, they’re kind of giving me a weird feeling. Same thing that happens with online,” she said. So what can you do, besides set parental controls?

Experts say know your child’s ID and password and tell him or her you will randomly check them.

You can keep your child’s computer in an open area of your home.

But the best thing you can do is talk about the dangers together.

That’s something Diebel is already doing with her son.

“It’s just having those little, hard conversations that they may not want to have, but it’s still important to keep that communication open,” she said. We checked with the Cuyahoga County Internet Crimes Against Children task force to see how many cyber tips they’re getting so far this year.

The task force says it has gotten 6,393 cyber tips statewide through July 25.

They’re getting more cyber tips than last year at this time.

10,321 cyber tips came into the task force in 2020, setting a record.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

HSI partners with local law enforcement in child exploitation takedown


Operation Broken Hearts – Child Sex Crimes Arrests, Phoenix Police Department

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) collaborated with the Phoenix Police Department, Mesa Police Department, Tempe Police Department, Chandler Police Department, and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for Operation Broken Hearts. The week long sting operation began in early February resulted in nearly 40 arrests of suspected child predators.

“This multiagency operation is just one of many examples that underscores the importance of working together with our local and state law enforcement partners to take these alleged predators off the streets,” said Scott Brown, special agent in charge for HSI Phoenix. “The relentless work by all resulted in an impressive number of arrests. We will continue our unwavering commitment to serve and protect our community against anyone seeking to sexually exploit our most vulnerable population.”

Operation Broken Hearts was an undercover operation targeting sexual predators engaged in child sex crimes and human trafficking. Throughout the operational period, officers and undercover detectives placed ads on websites and apps which are commonly sought out by suspects seeking illegal sex acts with children. These 37 suspects solicited and/or brokered deals for various sex acts and were subsequently arrested.

Each year, these agencies come together to conduct operations of this type in a continuous effort to reduce the demand that fuels child and human sex trafficking from our communities. The suspects in the latest operation ranged in age from 21 to 66-years-old.

Like all defendants, those accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.