Parents asked to be more vigilant over children’s internet use
November 20, 2009
An investigation by Central Scotland Police has revealed that a shocking number of men are using internet social networking sites and chatrooms to lure children into sexually explicit conversations and even into situations which allowed them to commit rape. Operation Defender was set up in order to track down people who were abusing the internet to groom youngsters in order to obtain photographs and in some instances meetings which resulted in sexual assault.
The investigation found that 1,700 men were engaged in sexually explicit conversations with young people over the internet and has so far managed to snare 215 abusers. The investigation has involved more than thirty police officers who have been liaising with Interpol and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre to monitor chatrooms and track down offenders.
Chief Superintendant Gordan Mackenzie of the Central Scotland Police said that he has been witness to youngsters using the internet in a variety of ways that put them in danger from sexual predators. He urged parents to be more intrusive when it came to monitoring their children’s use of the internet by checking the sites they were accessing and asking them what activities they were engaged in whilst online. He also wanted to point out that the police were using ever more sophisticated technologies to track down those who were using the internet as a tool to commit offenses against children and warned those who were doing so that they would eventually be caught and brought to justice.
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