The internet’s impact on sexual exploitation of children - WJBF-TV

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – An anonymous cyber-tip led to a antheral successful Columbia County precocious getting sentenced to national situation for possession of kid pornography, which led to NewsChannel 6 taking a deeper dive into the effect of the net connected these crimes.

Investigators for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office said online tips person helped them find and yet complaint radical who sexually exploit children successful the area.

“If we don’t cognize thing is happening, oregon if we don’t person a hint astir that, we can’t enactment the cases,” said Lt. Allison Foster, an researcher for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office’s Crimes Against Persons Unit.

According to nationalist records, determination are presently 509 registered enactment offenders successful Augusta. To support children and assistance bring these offenders to justice, assemblage members person to talk out.

“If you spot something, accidental something,” Lt. Foster said. “Report it – whether it’s anonymous, whether it’s calling dispatch and filing the existent report. We request to cognize this benignant of behaviour is happening.”

There is simply a downside — portion the net is simply a bully assets to find kid intersexual predators, it besides allows the predators find the children easier. 

“They mightiness conscionable idiosyncratic successful a crippled that they’re playing,” said Kari Viola-Brooke, the enforcement manager of Child Enrichment Inc. “And it mightiness escalate to wherever they’re saying ‘hey, I’ll springiness you these coins oregon these tokens if you amusement maine your backstage parts.’”

To forestall children from becoming victims, Viola-Brooke urges parents to support tabs connected what they’re doing online.

“Monitor your kids connected the internet,” she said. “We wanna travel in, unannounced, and look astatine what our kids are doing. Ask to spot their screens, spot who they’re talking to. It is simply a large interest that I deliberation radical are not truly alert of.”

Local instrumentality enforcement works intimately with kid advocacy nonprofits specified arsenic Child Enrichment Inc. to assistance children successful the country retrieve from this signifier of abuse.

“Law enforcement, DFCS, the territory attorney’s office,” Viola-Brooke said. “They each travel to 1 spot and the kid tin get each the services they need.”

If it is suspected that an acquaintance is progressive with kid intersexual exploitation, an anonymous extremity tin beryllium near astatine report.cybertip.org, oregon the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tin beryllium called astatine 1-800-843-5678.