By Erin Timony, Anais Bernard, Oscar Perez,
Trevor Seines and Dylan Rohn
Agent David Oyos of the Chula Vista Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Project Safe Childhood Coordinator Allesandra Serano talk with youth filmmakers about child exploitation on the internet.
Transcript:
David Oyos: The internet has made it really easy for offenders to access children. Police officers 20 years ago would be trained to look for suspicious people in the parks who were hanging out where kids were hanging out but didn’t have any kids of their own. Now offenders can sit at home in the privacy of their house and they can contact hundreds of kids a day without anyone even seeing their face or knowing exactly what they’re doing.
DO: There are two types of groups who are most at risk of being exploited on the internet. The first group is children who are new to the internet. Those types of youth are more likely to accept friend requests from strangers or people they don’t know. That makes them a very easy target.
Alessandra Serano: Social network sites such as Myspace and Facebook have made exploitation offenses generally far more prevalent. Computers and social media have made that essentially a window into your home.
DO: The internet is used in the sex trafficking of minors because of websites like Craigslist and other websites that allow people to post ads and classified letting people know that there are people available for sexual exploitation. But what they don’t tell the reader is that the female is actual 13 or 14 years old. So the invention of the internet has really made law enforcement’s job difficult and it’s made offenders’ job very easy when it comes to contacting children online.
DO: San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force is a multi-jurisdictional team. The No. 1 purpose of the task force is the safety of children who access the internet. Our second goal is to arrest people who offend against children online.
AS: It’s very difficult to prosecute as a prosecutor. These individuals pick on the most vulnerable people of our society, our children. They need to be held accountable for what their actions do to the children themselves, their families and the communities in which we reside. Demand requires or supports younger and younger children being involved in this.
DO: I would say the most difficult part of my job is talking to children who have been victimized. There’s a child who’s been abused who’s going to be scarred for the rest of their life.
AS: On one level would be the physical damage – broken bones, scars, bruising. I had one who girl who was forced to get an abortion and as a result is unlikely to have children in the future because of the numerous beatings and the forced abortion that she had. On another level, and more long-lasting perhaps after wounds have healed, is the mental damage. And that is the feeling of low self-esteem, lack of self-worth, feeling that they’re nothing, that they’re dirt. And it’s a huge obstacle for them to be able to move forward from the events.
DO: The most important thing that can be done when it comes to protecting youth from child exploitation on the internet is education and parent involvement.
AS: Know where your kids are. Know who your kids are hanging out with. And I’m not just talking about in person, I’m talking about online through various social media.
DO: If a child is educated, they’re taught dos and don’ts of the internet, they’re more likely to make good decisions when they’re online. A lot of kids get in trouble simply because they’re making bad decisions online. If something happens to you when you’re online that you’re not comfortable with, you need to report it. You need to tell somebody about it so we can get it to stop and so it doesnt happen to another youth who goes online.
For more information go to sdicac.org.