Academy Alumni Association
With our children home for the remainder of the school year and attending classes via the internet there is an increased risk of them being exploited. Please read the article below from the National FBI Citizens Academy and watch over our precious future.
The FBI is warning families and educators that due to school closings as a result of COVID-19, children will potentially have an increased online presence or be in a position that puts them at an inadvertent risk. Because of this, the FBI is seeking to help parents, teachers, caregivers, and children understand the dangers of online sexual exploitation and recognize signs of child abuse.
Please share this information with your Chapter's members, community partners, and local media. Questions regarding this release should be directed to your local FBI Field Office.
Online sexual exploitation comes in many forms. Individuals may coerce victims into providing sexually explicit images or videos of themselves, often in compliance with offenders' threats to post the images publicly or send the images to victims' friends and family.
Other offenders may make casual contact with children online, gain their trust, and introduce sexual conversation that increases in egregiousness over time. Ultimately this activity may result in maintaining an online relationship that includes sexual conversation and the exchange of illicit images, to eventually physically meeting the child in-person.
In order for the victimization to stop, children typically have to come forward to someone they trust-typically a parent, teacher, caregiver, or law enforcement. The embarrassment of being enticed and/or coerced to engage in unwanted behavior is what often prevents children from coming forward. Offenders may have hundreds of victims around the world, so coming forward to help law enforcement identify offenders may prevent countless other incidents of sexual exploitation.
Abuse can occur offline through direct contact with another individual. During these uncertain conditions, where time with other adults and caregivers has increased immensely, parents/guardians should communicate with their children about appropriate contact with adults and watch for any changes in behavior, including an increase in nightmares, withdrawn behavior, angry outbursts, anxiety, depression, not wanting to be left alone with an individual, and sexual knowledge.
Parents and guardians can take the following measures to help educate and prevent children from becoming victims of child predators and sexual exploitation during this time of national emergency:
Reporting suspected sexual exploitation can help minimize or stop further victimization, as well as lead to the identification and rescue of other possible victims. If you believe you are-or someone you know is-the victim of child sexual exploitation:
When reporting, be as descriptive as possible in the complaint form by providing as much of the following as possible: