Sex Traffickers Are Using Social Media To Target Children

Your personal data isn’t the only thing that’s vulnerable on Facebook.

The rise of social media has been a boon for sex traffickers, making it easier than ever for pimps to target, groom and sell your children, top law-enforcement officials say.

“These predators are watching, and they’re listening. They’re friending. They’re seeing, ‘Oh, she’s not happy with school,’ ‘Oh, he’s upset against his parents,’ ‘Oh, he has issues with his sexuality,’ or, ‘She’s having problems with her friends,’ ” says Inspector Jim Klein, commander of the NYPD’s Vice Enforcement Unit.

“Next thing you know, these predators pick up on this, and they start becoming friendly to the point they’re now separating these victims from everybody that’s important to them.”

Some traffickers don’t even hide what they do.

“We’ve had cases where our pimps are . . . friends with [their victims’] relatives, and they’re posting about pimping out girls and making money,” says Queens prosecutor Jessica Melton.

All they need is a cheap ad and a burner phone.

The classified-ads site Backpage.com was seized and shuttered by the feds this month, but when it was in business, 600 to 800 ads were posted for “prostitutes” in New York state each day, according to the NYPD.

Now Backpage’s rivals are moving to fill the void.

“There are multiple sites that are going up on a daily basis,” said Lt. Christopher Sharpe, head of the NYPD human-trafficking team.

Making matters worse, with transactions taking place on a screen, johns are becoming more callous, says James Goward, chief of the Criminal Enterprise Bureau of the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.

“It’s available for you like getting food delivered by Seamless,” he says.

Source

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Facebook identifies alleged child rapist; Bothell man arrested

Thomas Mahoney, 24, appeared by video in a Snohomish County courtroom Wednesday afternoon, hours after being booked into the Snohomish County Jail in Everett --- on suspicion of child rape and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

According to Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office documents, Mahoney met a then-13 year old girl on Facebook last year.

In September 2016, “when she was 14 years of age, she met with him in Bothell, and they had sex” at his home, according to investigators.

The documents reveal the girl’s family moved out of state, so “Mahoney travelled to California” in May and August of 2017, when he allegedly raped her again.

According to investigators, “Mahoney videotaped” the encounters.

Those videos - and explicit Facebook messages between Mahoney and the girl - are now evidence.

In court, Judge Tam Bui ordered Mahoney’s bail be set at $150,000 and issued a protection order to keep him away from the girl should he bail out.

“I’m not going to specifically delineate the kinds of contact, whether it be electronic, person, phone, whatever method,” Judge Bui told Mahoney.

“It is no contact.”

Mahoney has no criminal history.

He claimed in documents the girl told him she was 19 years old. 

However, the girl's mother told KIRO 7 Mahoney always knew the girl's real age and pursued her anyway.

Facebook has turned over to investigators messages where Mahoney allegedly refers to the girl as “this hot little 14 year old” while describing their sexual contact.

The mom says her daughter has been traumatized by the rapes. 

Mahoney has not yet been charged.

Missing child alerts to become part of all Dutch Facebook timelines:

Amber Alerts for missing children will be automatically placed on all Facebook pages in the Netherlands, thanks to a new agreement between the social media platform, police and the hotline organisation, the Telegraaf reports on Friday.

Amber Alerts are currently shown in the timelines of people who have ‘liked’ the warning system, but that is now set to change, the paper says. 

The Amber Alert will be placed at the top of every Facebook user’s timeline for 12 hours when they log in for the first time. The aim, the paper says, is to ensure missing children are found more quickly. 

Facebook has been working with the Amber Alert operations in the US since the beginning of this year. This is the first European agreement. 

Amber Alerts are issued three to four times a year in the Netherlands and are also spread via mobile phone apps, text messages, emails and motorway information boards. 

They are only used for the most urgent cases, the organisation says.

Source: Missing child alerts on Dutch Facebook timelines

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Social Media Helps Find Missing Seagrove Children:

Four children were found after seven hours of searching in Seagrove. Crews thank law enforcement, volunteers and even social media.

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