Pedophiles Prowl the Internet

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Feb 28, 2000 | by Catherine Edwards

Most parents approve of their kids' use of the computer, but many adults are unaware that pedophiles are surfing the Internet 24 hours a day, looking for underage prey.

Every day Donna becomes a crime victim. Willingly. She turns on her computer and logs onto the myriad of chat rooms and bulletin boards available on the Internet. Chat forums with names such as "beaniebabeez" are listed right alongside "young gurlz" and "m4mbarely legal" (the "m" stands for men). Instead of using her regular screen name she chooses names such as "susieq86" and "brat13."

Posing as a 13-year-old, Donna does what many curious teens might do in her situation. She bypasses the "beaniebabeez" site and enters the "barely legal" site. Within seconds she is solicited for sex by older men -- pedophilia, right in the comfort of her own home.

Accidentally or not, more than half of America's teen-agers have come into contact with obscene material on the Internet. For the first time ever, pedophiles intent upon seduction can tour the world, entering children's bedrooms at will.

Donna, who has asked that her last name remain confidential, happens to be a concerned parent and citizen activist who goes online posing as a teen so she can help local law enforcement nab sex criminals. Now she works closely with local cops. Her first target to be convicted was not a dirty old man in a trench coat, but a prominent and well-respected school principal. The FBI tells Insight that the average online pedophile is a white male age 25 to 40 with no prior convictions.

The problem is serious. Donna tells Insight that "most parents don't even know what a screen name is, but their kids do and that's the danger." Despite the best efforts of activists and law-enforcement officials to educate the public, many parents are unaware that their kids are viewing objectionable material and communicating regularly with people few would allow to cross the thresholds of their homes.

"I have worked on this issue for six years and my belief is that parents are still not understanding what the real dangers are to their children and families" says another Donna -- Donna Rice Hughes, author of Kids Online and senior adviser to Familyclick.com. "They are not taking the initiative to implement tools to protect their kids, so we have children falling through the cracks. Pedophiles and pornographers are exploiting technology for their advantage, and they are way ahead of parents."

Internet technology has galloped ahead at a faster pace than the laws that regulate it. Law enforcement has been hard-pressed to keep up with the growing number of cybercrimes committed on a daily basis.

Take the Feds, for instance. The FBI set up an office in 1994 in New Calverton, Md., called Innocent Images. That office has a squad of 20 agents who go undercover online posing as children. The total number of staff in the Maryland office is more than 50, and Innocent Images now runs similar operations out of 10 field offices. Its annual budget is $10 million.

These agents strike up conversations with men and women in chat rooms. Sometimes both parties pose as kids. Some pedophiles reveal their age and ask for sex outright. If a meeting is requested, the agent goes to the arranged meeting spot and the online friend finds himself face to face with the FBI. "These guys show up with film, cameras and vibrators in a bag," says Special Agent Peter Gulotta. "We have evidence of their online conversations; it is not hard to convict them." Agents undergo regular psychological testing to ensure they are not mentally disturbed by their online activity, which can last as long as 10 hours a day. The FBI keeps these assignments short.

The agents look for two types of criminals: transmitters and travelers. It is illegal to transmit child pornography over the Internet, and it also is illegal to travel across state lines to have sex with a minor. And it doesn't matter if the victim turns out not to be a minor when the pedophile gets there, explains Gulotta, the "traveling with intent" is crime enough. "We have no shortage of customers," he says, but many escape the net. In 1998 Innocent Images identified 702 instances of traveling or transmitting; in 1999, the number increased to 1,500. Since 1995 they've apprehended 478 people, with a 99 percent conviction rate.

Patrick Naughton, 34, a Disney executive on the West Coast, recently was charged with crossing state lines seeking sex with a 13-year-old girl after arranging to meet her via the Internet. Last December a jury convicted him of possessing child pornography; he faces trial again in March on the traveling charges.

Despite lack of specialized funding some local prosecutors realize that they must be proactive in this area. Jeanine Ferris Pirro is the district attorney for Westchester County, N.Y. Elected as a Republican in 1994, she has made cybercrime detection a priority. Pirro established a unit to detect high-tech crimes and in late 1999 sought approval to convene a grand jury to seek indictments in these cases.