Today’s technology has many practical and positive aspects, the instantaneous sharing of information and photographs with family and friends being among them. There are various platforms and applications that facilitate this activity, and certainly our young people and teens are up-to-date and much more adept with these programs than their parents. Despite the advantages these systems offer, this is truly a knife that cuts both ways.
The sheriff’s office is increasingly investigating incidents where young people are being first lured and then victimized over extended periods of time by predators that use these tools for nefarious purposes.
In a recent case, several teens were coerced into sending pictures of themselves where they were in various states of undress, although mostly clad. The perpetrator then used the possession of these photographs to essentially blackmail these young people into providing more provocative images of themselves, placing these individuals in a no-win situation where they felt compelled to comply or risk having the initial images shared across the Internet. Some complied out of fear.
Fortunately, after a sustained investigation sheriff’s officials were able to successfully follow the trail left on the Internet, execute a search warrant, identify the suspect, and will be making the appropriate referrals. As with many similar crimes committed using today’s technology, these are difficult cases to solve, and some are impossible.
A very real danger to these victims is that these photographs will go “viral” and be forwarded to networks of individuals who trade in pictures of juveniles posing in a provocative fashion. Whether these images were provided freely or under some form of threat is irrelevant. As we all know, once something is on the World Wide Web, it is there permanently. Many times, embarrassment over the incident stops them from alerting their parents or law enforcement as to what is occurring in order bring an end to the activity.
A positive step toward prevention is to talk with children regarding the dangers of providing any images of themselves they would not be comfortable with the world seeing. Another approach is for parents to routinely inspect the contents of phones they provide as a deterrent to even considering these activities. While some may view this as an invasion of privacy, it is far less intrusive than the alternative. Today’s youth often do not see these tools as potentially dangerous. Most grew up with this technology, and for them it is quite natural to use it in ways many parents would find troubling.
Thankfully, the most recent case was able to be solved, and the victims are being protected from the further dissemination of very personal photographs. However, any that were forwarded prior to law enforcement intervention may well have already been shared.
The Shawano County sheriff’s office takes the victimization of our young people very seriously and will continue to investigate these matters to the best of our ability. Yet, these matters are another example of how technology is consuming an increasing amount of time for detectives and school resource officers.
We are fortunate that over the years the sheriff’s office has accumulated a significant amount of technological resources to look into these situations. We are ahead of the game, but we must have parents speaking with their children about the negative side to these often helpful tools.
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