Private Detective Service for Wisconsin Families
Protecting your children is the number-one priority for every parent. While rapid advances in digital technology have led to numerous communications breakthroughs and a golden age of interconnectivity, there will always be someone lurking in the shadows looking to exploit the weak and vulnerable.
Online predators are always looking to use the newest technology and communications platforms to find new victims. If there is a means, they will use it to press their advantage.
It’s impossible to always monitor your children online. The age of a single internet-connected computer in a central family room are over. The internet of things continues to overtake our homes and personal lives. Smartphones and tablets give your children persistent full-time connections to all of the good and bad the internet has to offer. Laptops are mobile and can be used anywhere there’s public WiFi.
Online video games can give internet predators another avenue to build inappropriate relationships with your children.
Online Predators Will Groom Children over Time
Most interactions on the internet are harmless, and some can even become real friendships. Unfortunately, internet predators will exploit the natural curiosity of children and teenagers under the guise of becoming “friends”.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports more than 1/3 of all children are exposed to unwanted sexual content. Of those, only 27% ever told their parents or legal guardian.
Internet predators and sex traffickers build relationships with children through public channels, such as chat rooms, social media or smartphone apps. They will target children by giving them attention, showing empathy toward their problems and will actively try to create a wedge between the victim and their friends and families.
Predators will exploit the sexual curiosity of adolescents and slowly integrate sexualized content into their conversations and will often send pornographic material to their victims.
When the time is right, they’ll try to arrange a face-to-face meeting. Distance is frequently no obstacle for digital predators. Many will travel across country to meet their victims, and some have been known to buy plane tickets for their targets.
Runaways are Most-Frequent Targets of Sex Trafficking
The NCMEC found 1 in every 7 runaway children became victims of sex trafficking in 2013. Runaway girls and boys are equally likely to be victimized.
Sex traffickers will frequently target their victims in advance using the same techniques as other online predators, encouraging children to run away from home. All online predators use gifts, false promises and fake empathy to groom their victims, before traumatizing them with physical or psychological abuse which makes them feel powerless to escape.
Warning Signs Your Child is Being Groomed by an Online Predator
The tools used by internet predators may change, but their methods remain the same. Your child might not tell you about potentially abusive online interactions. Even so, a combination of the following warning signs may be an indication your child has become the target of an internet predator:
Excessive Time Spent Online
Internet predators will devote most of their lives to finding new victims. Most have regular jobs, but will spend nearly all of their time away from work trolling chat rooms and other platforms looking for children online. Their peak times will be after school, at night and on the weekends. Children who are spending a majority of their free time online are more likely to draw the attention of predators.
Phone Calls and Text Messages from Unfamiliar Numbers
Your cell phone bill should include a list of all phone calls and text messages sent and received from every line on your plan. Frequent long phone calls and messages to unfamiliar numbers, especially those with out-of-state or non-local area codes, should be a red flag for parents.
Get together with the parents of your children’s friends and make sure you each know all of your children’s phone numbers and all of the phone numbers of the people your children are most likely to contact. Your monthly phone bill could be your first line of defense against predators.
Mysterious Gifts Received in the Mail
Online predators will always try to convince their targets they have a real bond of friendship. One of the most effective ways to do this is by sending gifts. Make sure you are aware of all the packages being delivered to your children via mail or parcel delivery service. Keep track of who is sending these packages, and don’t be afraid to ask questions about how and why they are being sent.
The NCMEC provides additional warning signs and online safety resources for parents, teachers and children through their NetSmartz workshop.
Milwaukee Private Investigator Finds Evidence of Abuse
Without hard evidence, police or prosecutors may not be able help before it’s too late. If you are worried your child may be the victim of online sexual abuse or if they are being groomed by an online predator, it’s important to know there are investigative resources available to you right now.
Spindletop Investigations is here to help you find the evidence you need to take appropriate action.
As certified digital forensics examiners, we have the tools and experience it takes to root out internet predators and keep your children safe online. Don’t wait until your child becomes another statistic, call Spindletop Investigations today and ask about our flat family intervention investigation rates for digital acquisition and forensic analysis.
Disclosures of Legal and Ethical Responsibility
As a licensed and bonded private detective agency in the State of Wisconsin, Spindletop Investigations is required to immediately report any instances of child pornography found during the course of an investigation to law enforcement, and cease any further investigative action.
Hire the digital private investigator in Wisconsin who will help you keep your children safe from online sex offenders.
Back To Capabilities