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What is Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts
Online enticement, the use of the Internet to entice, invite, or persuade
a child to meet for sexual acts or to help arrange such a meeting, is
a serious offense.1
The Internet holds tremendous potential for our nation's youth; however,
the misuse of the Internet to prey on them is a serious problem requiring
action by legislators, families, communities, and law enforcement.2
There are risks for children who use the Internet or online services.
Teenagers are particularly at risk because they often use the computer
unsupervised and are more likely than younger children to participate
in online discussions regarding companionship, relationships, or sexual
activity. A child might provide information or arrange an encounter
that could risk his or her safety or the safety of other family members.
Predators have used E-mail, instant messages, bulletin boards, and
chat areas to gain a child's confidence and then arrange a face-to-face
meeting. This sometimes leads to the child traveling to meet the person
he or she is chatting with or the person traveling to meet the child.
Sometimes the other party is an adult whose intent is to have sex with
the child.3
Based on a study of 1,500 Internet users, ages 10 to 17, approximately
one in seven received an unwanted sexual solicitation between 1999 and
2000. Four percent of these youths experienced an aggressive solicitation,
where the solicitor attempted to contact the child offline. Only five
percent of these solicitations were reported to law enforcement, an
Internet service provider, or other authority.4
What is Being Done About this Problem?
Law-enforcement officials are tracking down an ever-increasing number
of “predators” on the Internet. There is now more specialized training
available to law-enforcement regarding this issue.5
State and local task forces are forming at ever-increasing numbers to
combat Internet-related child exploitation. Through funding from the
U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, 46 Internet Crimes Against Children task force units have
been set up nationwide and currently focus on child sexual exploitation
online. One of the most important tools for law-enforcement personnel
and families was the development of NCMEC’s CyberTipline.
This online reporting mechanism has initiated numerous investigations
and arrests of child predators.
What Can Be Done to Prevent This From Happening?
The responsibility of preventing and resolving Internet crimes against
children is not merely a federal or local issue. Technology has demonstrated
it to be a global responsibility, because it can be a borderless crime.
By informing communities about the many existing resources available
and having caregivers taking a more active role, we can make the journey
through cyberspace safer for children.
118 U.S.C. 2425.
2Janis Wolak, Kimberly J. Mitchell, and David Finkelhor. Online
Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. Alexandria, Virginia. National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2006, vii.
3Lawrence J. Magid. Child Safety on the Information Highway. Alexandria,
Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 1998,
page 3-4.
4Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later, supra
pages 1 and 2.
5David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell, and Janis Wolak. Online
Victimization: A Report on the Nation's Youth. Alexandria, Virginia:
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2000, page 35.
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