https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/02/sexual-predators-getting-more-creative-preying-teens-over-internet/
Sexual predators getting more creative preying on teens over the internet
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Katey McPherson, a digital safety and wellness advocate, says it's all about awareness and education when protecting kids online.
By Jason Barry
Published: Sep. 3, 2022 at 1:56 AM GMT+3
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Trusting teenagers don’t always know when they’re being targeted online. According to digital safety advocates, more and more sexual predators are finding new ways to prey on kids over the internet.
Kyle Thompson, 47, of Mohave Valley, was recently sentenced to 30 years in prison for manipulating two 15-year-olds into having sex with him after he pretended to be a Hollywood movie producer during conversations on a social media site.
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Tempe mom Amanda Schneider said her 14-year-old was recently targeted by a sexual predator who befriended her son on a video game platform. The predator online claimed to have a life-threatening illness, then slowly turned the conversation to sex. “The whole experience was shocking,” said Schneider. “It was violating, we felt like we had an intruder in our house.”
Schneider was able to step in and stop the conversation before any in-person meeting took place. But other families aren’t as fortunate.
Katey McPherson is a digital safety and wellness advocate who works with parents and kids on ways to protect children from predators online. She said it’s all about awareness and education. “Most parents have not sat down on an ongoing basis, and talked to their kids as young as 7 and 8 years old about what is a tricky person look like on the internet,” said McPherson. “What do they sound like? What’s a good stranger or a bad stranger, and as they age, what are things out there that you have access to?”
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Last year, there was a 97% increase in online enticement involving a child, according to the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children. “I know when people think about predators, they think of a creepy guy behind the screen,” said McPherson. “But there are women doing this, older teenagers, 19 and 20 year olds luring and grooming kids, too.”
Several digital apps are available to help parents monitor what their kids are doing online. For more information on one of the parental control tools available, visit https://www.bark.us/.