Police inform parents about Internet safety
Posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007
As the NBC program "Dateline"aired its latest "To Catch a Predator"special, some Fayetteville police officers were busy giving their own presentation about dangers on the Internet.
Sgt. Bill Phelan and Detective Mike Parks spoke to parents of Woodland Junior High students during a Tuesday evening Internet Safety program at the school.
Statistically, they noted, about one in five children online has received a sexual solicitation.
In terms of where these children were using a computer, about 70 percent of the time it occurred at home and 22 percent of the time at "someone else's house," Parks said.
School counselor Melinda Jewell, who helped arrange the visit, said the timing with the "Dateline"special was a coincidence.
On that program," Dateline"confronts men who had surfed the Internet looking to have sex with underage girls.
The presentation comes days after Fayetteville police arrested a local woman, Alesha Marie Carr, accused of posing as a boy to seduce a teenage girl she met online. Carr allegedly drove to Joplin, Mo., picked up the 13-yearold victim, brought her back to Fayetteville and sexually assaulted her.
Phelan said he and Parks give similar presentations twice a year now at Fayetteville's two junior highs, which serve grades eight and nine. They also started giving them at the middle schools, where sixth- and seventh-graders attend classes.
During the presentations, they warn students about the risks of providing too much information online and what to do if someone online solicits them for sex.
One thing Parks and Phelan stressed is that parents should report such incidents to the police. Many of them go unreported, which means the predator will attempt to find someone else, they said.
"They don't give up. They won't stop," Parks said. "If they miss the opportunity to prey on your children, they'll move on to the next one."
Parents also need to discuss the importance of reassuring their children that the parents will be understanding if they report an incident, they said.
A child agreeing to meet someone they met online can be dangerous, Parks said. The person will often pretend to be someone else to arrange the meeting, and they will usually come prepared to do the child harm.
Parks and Phelan warned parents that their children should guard their identities and not reveal personal details about themselves.
"They're very persistent, very patient," Parks said of online predators. "They take their time."
Using a simulated e-mail address, Parks showed how a predator might infer information about a student named "Teresa 01 "and track her down using public information.
"They play detective while they're online," he said. "It doesn't take too much information."
To further illustrate the point of how much information is available, they asked someone to provide their name so they could do a background check.
Audience member Charlie Sullivan agreed to let his name be used, and they were able to look up where he lived almost instantly.
Parks recommended parents keep their child's computer in an open area of the home.
"Be informed," he added. "Learn what you can about the Internet.... Ask your kids to show you places they go."
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