17-year-old Meagan Thomas feels her neighborhood is safe, free of criminals.

“Of course it’s one of those things not in my neighborhood, not where I live,” she says.

But when she went online with her mom, they made a discovery.

A convicted molester lives just a few blocks away.

By federal law. all states must make the name and address of convicted sexual offenders available to the public.

SOT TAPE 3392 (1:03:08) Sally Thigpen – Child Abuse Specialist

“So a person who is interested in knowing that information should really get on the internet and look for the information specific to that state,” says Child Abuse Specialist Sally Thigpen, who’s currently a statewide coordinator for Prevent Child Abuse Georgia.

There are 400-thousand sex offenders registered in the u.s.

Some experts estimate there are ten times that many not registered.

“Sex offenders that we don’t even know about. They could live next door to you, they could be in your family, they could be in your church, and you just don’t know who they are,” says Thigpen.

Still, she says, the odds that a child will be molested by someone in the neighborhood are low.and giving kids the name and address of a specific predator nearby may be too scary, especially for young children.

“It would scare me because like, um, what if they came into your house, or mom and dad invited them not knowing. And they might do something to you,” says 9-year-old Michael Thomas.

Experts say it may be important for parents to know about a specific sex offender nearby. but that kids should get a more general message.

“What your responsibility in my mind as a parent is, is to tell your children that their bodies belong to themselves,” says Thigpen, “That it’s safe for them to come and talk to you if something makes them uncomfortable. That you know, they should be careful around all adults. not just one person who lives on their street.”

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

Megan Kanka’s parents never imagined a convicted sex offender lived across the street from their New Jersey home until Megan became his latest victim. The seven-year-old was brutally raped and murdered by Jesse Timmendequas just a few months after he was released from jail after serving a six-year prison term for aggravated assault and attempted sexual assault on another child. The murder caused a public uproar that led to 400,000 individuals signing a petition urging legislation to be passed on the situation. In only 89 days, “Megan’s Law” was passed, leading to the creation of a sex offender registry in New Jersey. Shortly afterward, a federal law was passed mandating all states to create a registry.

By Larry Eldridge, Jr.
CWK Network, Inc.

It’s scary enough as a parent to think that sex offenders could be living in the same neighborhood as your child, but an even scarier possibility exists. The sex offenders could gain access to your children right inside your own home through a somewhat conspicuous source – the Internet. Although it is a great resource tool, some people use the Internet to prey on children. Experts at filterguide.com have developed the following list of tips for parents who suspect their child may be at risk online.

• Your child spends large amounts of time online, especially at night. Most children that fall victim to Internet sex offenders spend large amounts of time online, particularly in chat rooms. They may go online after dinner and on the weekends, or they may be latchkey kids whose parents have told them to stay at home after school. They go online to chat with friends, make new friends, pass the time and sometimes look for sexually explicit information. While much of the knowledge and experience gained may be valuable, parents should consider monitoring the amount of time spent online. Children online are at the greatest risk during the evening hours. While offenders are online around the clock, most work during the day and spend their evenings trying to locate and lure children or seeking pornography.
• You find pornography on your child’s computer. Pornography is often used in the sexual victimization of children. Sex offenders often supply their potential victims with pornography as a means of opening sexual discussions and for seduction. Child pornography may be used to show the child victim that sex between children and adults is “normal.” Parents should be conscious of the fact that a child may hide the pornographic files on diskettes from them. This may be especially true if the computer is used by other family members.
• Your child receives phone calls from men you don’t know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don’t recognize. While talking to a child victim online is a thrill for an Internet sex offender, it can be very cumbersome. Most want to talk to the children on the telephone. They often engage in “phone sex” with the children and often seek to set up an actual meeting for real sex. While a child may be hesitant to give out his/her home phone number, the Internet sex offenders will give out theirs. With Caller ID, they can readily find out the child’s phone number. Some sex offenders have even obtained toll-free 800 numbers, so that their potential victims can call them without their parents finding out. Others will tell the child to call collect. Both of these methods result in the computer-sex offender being able to find out the child’s phone number.
• Your child receives mail, gifts or packages from someone you don’t know. As part of the seduction process, it is common for offenders to send letters, photographs and all manner of gifts to their potential victims. Internet sex offenders have even sent plane tickets in order for the child to travel across the country to meet them.
• Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room. A child looking at pornographic images or having sexually explicit conversations does not want you to see it on the screen. It is a good idea to set the computer in a visible high-traffic area.
• Your child becomes withdrawn from the family. Internet sex offenders will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and their family or at exploiting their relationship. They will accentuate any minor problems at home that the child might have. Children also may become withdrawn after sexual victimization.
• Your child is using an online account belonging to someone else. Even if you don’t subscribe to an Internet service provider, your child may meet an offender while online at a friend’s house or at the library. Most computers come preloaded with online and/or Internet software. Internet sex offenders will sometimes provide potential victims with a computer account for communications with them.

Try all or some of the following techniques if you believe your child has fallen into the trap of an Internet sex offender. Remember, the key to preventing online victimization is to d evelop a trusting relationship with your child early .

• Keep the door of communication open.
• If you have reason to suspect your child is viewing inappropriate sites, do not overact – approach your son or daughter with respect.
• Know your children’s online friends.
• Use a web-based Internet filter for your computer. 
• Check cds, floppy disks and zip disks.
• Check History Files often.
• Spend time with your child as they surf the Internet.
• Ask your child to show you what their IM (Instant messaging) looks like.
• Spend time with your child online and have them teach you about their favorite online destinations.
• Get to know and use “Parental Controls.” 
• Always maintain access to your child’s online account and randomly check it.
• Teach your child about responsible use of the resources on the Internet.
• Find out what safeguards are used at your child’s school, the public library and at the homes of your child’s friends. These are all places, outside your supervision, where a child could encounter an online predator.
• Instruct your child never to arrange face-to-face meetings with someone they met online and not to respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent or harassing.
• Tell your child never to give out identifying information such as name, address, school name or telephone number to people they don’t know.
• Explain to your child to never post pictures of them on the Internet – let them know this has seriously harmed other children.
• Teach your child to come and get you when they access something on the Internet that makes them feel uncomfortable, no matter what it is.
• Teach your child that the Internet is a good source for educational, recreational and creative searches, but it also has dangerous pitfalls that could hurt them.

National Alert Registry

Sex Offender website
Net Safe: The Internet Safety Group

“You know, a face you couldn’t really trust,”
says Prince Wilson, 17.

“A stranger off the streets,” 14-year-old Shenelle
Toppin says.

“Shady,” offers Ashley Moran, 18.

“And … greasy,” 17-year-old Emily Mccluskey
adds.

Those are the stereotypes, but they’re wrong. According
to the National Victim Center, a sexual predator is three
times more likely to be someone the child knows –
a teacher, coach, neighbor and even a family member.

Nineteen-year-old Jennifer Craig knows this fact from personal
experience.

“I kept it a secret for so long that I finally started
having nightmares about it,” she says.

Jennifer says she was sexually molested by someone she had
known and trusted for years. Until recently, she blamed herself.

“Yes, he did make me feel like it was my fault …
because I was so young and thought that everything he did
was right,” Jennifer says.

Experts say that a molester will use that trust to break
down a child’s resistance, suppressing what many say
is a child’s natural feeling that this
is wrong.

“What we do as the older we get, we talk ourselves
out of our feelings,” says Pam Church, a sexual abuse
specialist. “Our emotions or this ‘uh-oh’
feeling responds to environmental cues. What we typically
do is intellectualize ourselves out of them. What we’re
teaching kids and grownups and everybody else to do is listen
to those internal cues.”

Experts say even teens need to be reminded about boundaries.
Explain sexual abuse – what‘s appropriate behavior
and what isn’t, even by family members and friends.
And make it clear, if anything
happens, they should come to you.

“You’ve already opened up a conversation, you’ve
already told them you’re a friend. You’re already
listening without judgment and penalty, which is very hard
to do … so you can have conversation so that they know
that you are there for them,” Church says.

They were friends on
the Internet, on the phone and at school. At the time, Brandi
was a 14-year-old middle school student; Steven Short was
a popular drama teacher. It all changed when he kissed her
in a classroom after school.

“He asked me if I would have sex with him,” Brandi
says. ‘He asked me that a lot.”

Each year, more than 100,000 cases of child sexual abuse like
this are reported. And a recent University of Pennsylvania
study estimates as many as 300,000 cases where child sex is
traded for money, food or drugs. In fact, the study found
that sexual exploitation of children crosses all racial, ethnic
and socioeconomic lines, although children from poorer families
appear to be at a somewhat higher risk. Those who sexually
exploit children include relatives and other adults known
and trusted by the children or their families. Researchers
note that strangers commit fewer than 4% of all sexual assaults
against children.

“[D]ata indicates that probably one out of four little
girls, and one out of six to eight little boys will be sexually
approached or abused or assaulted prior to the age of 18.
That’s a big problem,” says Dr. Nancy Aldridge,
a licensed clinical social worker and sex abuse counselor.

The problem almost always starts, not with strangers, Dr.
Aldridge says, but with someone the child knows. And one way
in which predators lure children and teens is by letting them
break the rules.

“The adult allows them to do things that their parent
wouldn’t, like, ‘We’ll take you to this
party, you can drink, you can smoke, you can do these kinds
of things,’” Dr. Aldridge explains.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (NCMEC) cites the following signs that may indicate
your child is a victim of sexual and physical abuse and exploitation:

• Changes in behavior, extreme mood swings, withdrawal,
  fearfulness and excessive crying
• Changes in nightmares, fear of going to bed or other sleep
  disturbances
• Acting out inappropriate sexual activity or showing an
  unusual interest in sexual matters
• A sudden acting out of feelings or aggressive or rebellious
  behavior
• Regression to infantile behavior; clinging
• School problems
• A fear of certain places, people or activities; an excessive
  fear of going to a certain place
• Bruises, rashes, cuts, limping, multiple or poorly explained
  injuries
• Pain, itching, bleeding, fluid or rawness in the private
  areas

If your child discloses he or she has been sexually exploited,
or has been approached by someone, the NCMEC suggests that
you take the following action:

• Notify the police, sheriff or other law enforcement agency.
  Also, alert the child protection, youth services, child
  abuse or other appropriate social services organizations.
• Seek out appropriate medical attention.
• Consider the need for counseling or therapy.
• Make it clear to your child that telling you what happened
  was the right thing to do and that you will protect him
  or her from future harm.
• Contact the NCMEC’s 24-hour hotline to report any
  information on missing or sexually exploited children: 1-800-826-7653.

National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children
University of Pennsylvania