Here's How Pedophiles Trick Your Kids Through Video Games

"I've seen kids as young as 6 sexually abuse their siblings at the demand of the predator," said an HPD officer.

Author: Melissa Correa

HOUSTON — Want to feel old? Try to play a current video game.

You're no longer limited to playing with one other person who is sitting right next to you.

"And you probably had to stay in your living room, right? Now, every kid has cellphones and iPads and we give them all this access to the world," said Houston Police Department Sergeant Luis Menendez-Sierra.



Menedez Sierra leads the Houston Police Department's online child sex crimes unit. A lot of the cases are linked to online video games designed for children.

"The video games, parents kind of have this false, safe feeling. Oh, well he’s just playing a video game," said Menendez-Sierra. "But you don’t even think that some of these safe games that are tailored for children, specifically have dangers, because they have chat options, where they can chat with other people."

And not just text chats, which are offered in games likes Fortnite and Roblox. Video games like Minecraft now offer a voice chat option.

And while popular games offer a "kids only" version, videos posted on YouTube can walk you through ways to "hack" into a kid game server.

"You have to be cautious," urges the police sergeant. "Because just as easily as your child logged in as a 9-year old is as easy as I can go in there and pretend to be a 9-year old."

While many parents know that pedophiles look for ways to interact with their children in video games, Menendez-Sierra explains how it all happens.

And it doesn't happen immediately. We're talking months that the predator is chatting with a child while pretending to be a kid, too.

"That’s where they develop that relationship. That’s where they develop that trust. Let’s say you’re playing with me, some game where we’re working as a team. You’re developing a relationship with that person where you begin to trust them. You say, you have my back, right? In the video game, not knowing that the ulterior motive is to get to your child."

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE ONLINE CONVERSATION PROGRESSES

Hey, how are you?

What's your name?                                                             
Where do you live?
                                                                              Do you play often?

What games do you like to play?

**time passes, trust is built**

Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?

Why don't you?

Have you ever done this or that?

**more time passes**

Do you have another device where we can talk?

Do you know how we can share pictures?

I want to see what you look like.

**it progresses from there**

"The next thing you know," says Menendez-Sierra, "inappropriate pictures are exchanged and that's where it barrels out of control."

A LOOK AT THE CASE LOAD

If you think conversations like that are rare, you're wrong. Menendez-Sierra says Houston police are tracking a 200% increase in cyber tips reported in the last three years. He reminds us that a lot of these cases start with that simple video game chat.

"Once they get that one picture, let’s say there’s a picture that’s inappropriate. That the child sends an inappropriate picture, they’ve gotten them, coerced them to do that? It can lead to exploitation."

Police have stacks of evidence that shows how the predator convinces the child to do outrageous things in an effort to get more photos.

"And once the child says, no, well guess what? I know everything about you. I know all your friends. I know all your family. I know what school you go to and I'm going to send them that picture you sent me before, if you don't send me a picture now."

Houston police detectives have seen horrific instances where children have even sexually abused their siblings at the demand of a predator.

"I've seen some as young a six," said Menendez-Sierra who is a husband and father.

He says a lot of the victims have no idea what's going on, because they're growing up in a #SelfieCulture, where it's normal to see adults and older children take photo and photo of themselves.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD?

1) Install monitoring software:

"You do have to pay for the good ones, and it’s worth every penny."

2) Make sure your child only plays the games in front of you.

3) Turn off wi-fi at night-- because kids can also access games through devices        distributed by their school, or from a pedophile who is worried communication      may be limited.

WHAT IF YOU FIND SOMETHING CONCERNING ON A DEVICE?

If you find something concerning on your child's device do not delete the content. Police need you to preserve as much evidence as possible. Take screen shots. Get user names. Save the chats. Do not respond to the person who is communicating with your child. Don't give them a reason to vanish. Collect as much information as possible and call police.

HOW TO LEARN MORE

Houston Police use NETSMARTZ when giving presentations to parents. There is also kid-appropriate training material for kids as young as kindergarten. 

NETSMARTZ is a resource built by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which offers more resources AND offers the option for someone to make a CYBER TIP. You can also call in a tip about cyber crimes against children through a free 24-hour hotline: 1-800-843-5678.

Houston police are a part of this federal task force. You can learn more at ICACtaskforce.org 

The FBI also offers online resources about all of the ways and reasons predators want to access children. 

Trinity Mount Ministries - DOJ - PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD - Justice News - UPDATE - 12/13/2019

PROJECT SAFE CHILDHOOD

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

JUSTICE NEWS

December 13, 2019

Press Release

Pierce County Resident Sentenced to 12 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

December 13, 2019

Press Release

Foreign National Sentenced to Over 13 Months in Federal Prison for Illegally Re-Entering the United States Following Previous Deportations

December 13, 2019

Press Release

Sex Offender Is Sentenced To 30 Years

December 13, 2019

Press Release

Mission Man Indicted for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

December 13, 2019

Press Release

Amusement Park Employee Sentenced To 20 Years For Attempting To Entice A Child For Sex

RESOURCES

Amber Alert

iKeepSafe

INOBTR ("I Know Better")

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Office of Educational Technology Internet Safety

Read the Project Safe Childhood Fact Sheet »

Featured Videos

View the Project Safe Childhood Video Page »

Cyber Crimes Victimizing Kids Up - Funding Down

by Jon Chrisos

Reports of online child sexual abuse imagery are growing exponentially, according to new data reviewed by the I-Team.

In 1998, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received about 3,000 reports.

In 2018, NCMEC received 18.4 million reports containing 45 million images.

Police in charge of fighting it are struggling to keep up.

"If it happened to me it could happen to other kids," Alicia Kozakiewicz said.

When she was 13-years-old, she was groomed, lured, and abducted by an internet predator, Scott Tyree, who is still in prison for the crime.

"He kidnapped me and held me captive in his basement dungeon and he was going to kill me," Kozakiewicz said.

Her disappearance set off a massive, four-day nationwide search while Tyree kept her chained to the floor at his home in Virginia.

"He had been live streaming what he was doing to me online. They turned on the computer and there I was on the screen with my hands bound above my head, crying, bleeding, begging," Kozakiewicz said.

Alicia Kozakiewicz

In 2008, she testified in Congress in support of legislation intended to prevent cyber crimes against children and the increasing amount of photos and videos of child abuse.

"In between the beatings and the raping he will hang you by your arms," Kozakiewicz said. "Support the children, save us from pedophiles, the pornographers, the monsters."

The bill passed in the House and the Senate, but since then, the I-Team finds the problem has only gotten worse.

"It's a lot easier for offenders to find kids. Technology is providing an opportunity for offenders to save more content, share more content," NCMEC Exploited Child Division Executive Director Lindsey Olsen said.

New research published by Google, NCMEC and Thorn says the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse imagery is at a breaking point, exceeding the capabilities of law enforcement to take action.

"These are children, these are babies who are being brutalized and tortured on film for other people to enjoy it," Kozakiewicz said.

Companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter and Dropbox are legally required to report images of child sexual abuse on their platforms.

Since Congress passed the PROTECT law in 2008, reports have increased exponentially from 100,000 a year to more than 18 million.

"We're certainly seeing a drastic increase as well," Maine Computer Crimes Unit Commanding Officer Lt. Scott Ireland said.

The unit is one of 61 task forces nationwide trying to keep up.

"I don't think most people have any idea just how big a problem it is," Ireland said.

Numbers reviewed by the I-Team show last year this unit investigated 505 reports of child sexual abuse imagery, and already this year, they've seen about 900 cases.

The unit has made dozens of arrests this year, including a former top-ranking school official in Bangor and a Skowhegan babysitter. Both men are accused of possessing sexually explicit material of children.

"If we don't bring a case to fruition today these kids are still being victimized," Ireland said.

Despite a proliferation of abuse reports, federal funding for units like this one is flat.

In fact, numbers we obtained from the Department of Justice show funding is consistently less than half of the $60 million a year authorized by the PROTECT law in 2008.

"It certainly makes it tougher. It would help us put more people on the ground doing investigations," Ireland said.

The author of the 2008 law, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Florida), recently sent a letter to the DOJ.

"This program has been underfunded and under supported, due to the lack of prioritization from the DOJ ... Meaning it has failed to make preventing and rescuing children from internet crimes a priority," Wasserman-Schultz said.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was a co-sponsor of the 2008 legislation.

"As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I strongly support increasing resources to identify and prosecute the perpetrators of these heinous acts and to prevent children from becoming victims," Collins said.

We reached out to the DOJ for a response to the letter, but we didn't hear back.

"We have to fund these task forces this is happening, there are predators out there," Kozakiewicz said.

Right now Kozakiewicz is going state by state, working with PROTECT, trying to pass Alicia's Law to provide a dedicated stream of state funding.

The law is on the books in 12 states, but not yet in Maine.

However, the Maine legislature recently approved money to hire four more people in the Computer Crimes Unit.

SEASONAL SAFETY Parent’s Guide to Child Safety - Thanksgiving

Child Safety on Thanksgiving Day

The Thanksgiving holiday does not get a lot of attention over child safety matters, especially compared to holidays like Christmas or the Fourth of July. Yet turkey day does come with a few significant safety hazards that could spoil your family's fun. Here are some tips that will help ensure you have a happy and safe thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving safety risks:

1. On Thanksgiving day there is an increase in child accidents of all types, particularly poisoning.

2. Thanksgiving presents an increased risk of fire dangers and burns from cooking.

3. There is the potential for food poisoning

4. Drunk driving deaths spike around the Thanksgiving holiday.

Keeping children and family safe on Thanksgiving day:

1. Focus on child supervision. The biggest threat to kids on Thanksgiving day is that you often get a combination of visiting family members (which means preoccupied adults) and children who are left to their own devices, frequently in the strange and new environment of a relative’s home. Add to this mix the hustle and bustle of adults preparing extravagant meals, and you get a recipe for accidents. So don't let supervision lapse on Thanksgiving day. If possible, assign a particular set of adults to monitor the children. This ensures others don't presume that someone else is watching them, only to have it turn out that everybody thought someone else was watching them. Also employ older kids to help monitor the younger ones, and make sure they know what safety risks to watch out for. (Read them our safety book for kids: What Bigger Kids Can Do)

2. Child poisonings tend to spike on Thanksgiving, since relatives tend to be visiting or children are staying over at a relatives house, where childproofing is often lax. Medication carried in purses or suitcases is often a source. So if you have relatives over, ask them at the door if they have any medication with them, and store it in a locked cabinet. If visiting a relatives house, ask them where any poisonous items are kept so that you can steer your children away.

3. A hidden source of danger on Thanksgiving comes from those who cook their turkey by deep frying it. Every year, firefighters respond to several thousand house fires caused by families deep-frying their turkey. So if you decide to cook your turkey this way, do so safely: Do it outside whenever possible, and have a grease-fire rated fire extinguisher on hand to put out a fire should one start. (Remember that water will make a grease fire bigger, not put it out)

4. Monitor the drinking of all your guests, and do not let anyone get behind the wheel while intoxicated. Keep alcoholic beverages in a separate area from kids drinks, so that kids don't accidentally grab the wrong one.

How to safely cook a holiday Turkey

To ensure that your Thanksgiving feast does not turn into a nightmare of regret a few days later, follow these simple steps for safely cooking your holiday turkey:

1. The safest way to thaw your turkey is in the refrigerator. Putting it in a sink with cold water can give any bacteria that may exist a chance to grow. Give your turkey plenty of time to thaw - frozen turkeys are a common source of food borne illness, since they may result in uneven cooking that leaves raw spots where bacteria can survive.

2. Cooking the turkey thoroughly is the only way to destroy potentially harmful bacteria. The oven should be set to a minimum temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Simmering a turkey overnight at lower temperatures may result in food-borne illness.

3. You should cook a whole turkey to the point that a food thermometer registers at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit in the innermost part of the thigh. Don't rely solely on a "pop-up" temperature indicator that came with the turkey. Double check it with a food thermometer in several places.

4. If cooking a stuffed turkey, check the temperature of both the stuffing and the turkey. Remember that the raw juices of the turkey have leached into the stuffing, making it a potential source of food poisoning, too. So check the temperature of the stuffing and don't remove the turkey from the oven until the stuffing reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Or simply cook the stuffing in a separate casserole tray, which is safest.


5. When it's time to pack up the leftovers, de-bone the turkey and separate it from the stuffing. Refrigerate them both in shallow containers. The safe storage time on leftover turkey kept in the fridge is around 4 days. Beyond that, you're taking your chances with it.

Video Shows Dramatic Rescue Of Kidnapped 8-Year-Old Girl

(CNN/NBC) – Police have released video showing the rescue of an 8-year-old Fort Worth, Texas girl who was kidnapped in broad daylight.

The man who kidnapped the child, 51-year-old Michael Webb, was sentenced to life in federal prison last week.

According to evidence presented at trial, Webb grabbed the little girl as she and her mother were walking down a neighborhood street.

Web admitted to authorities that he fought off the girl’s mother and drove the child to a hotel room where he held her captive.

A family friend spotted Webb’s Ford sedan and called 911.

The video shows the tense moments heavily armed officers found her and took Webb into custody.

“My hope is that this family and this community will find solace in knowing that he will never be able to harm another little child again,” said US attorney Nealy Cox.