1. Overall, 91 percent of students from nursery school through 12^th grade used the Internet. The use of these technologies begins at young ages; 67 percent of children in nursery school were computer users, as were 80 percent of those in kindergarten. About one quarter (23 percent) of children in nursery school used the Internet, and about one-third (32 percent) of kindergarteners did so. By high school, nearly all students (97 percent) used computers, and a majority (80 percent) used the Internet. (“Rates of Computer and Internet Use by Children in Nursery School and Students in Kindergarten Through Twelfth Grade:  2003”, Issue Brief, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, June 2005.)

2. On-line child pornography and child sexual exploitation are the largest crimes against children problem (sic) confronting the FBI.(Facts and Figures 2003, “Crimes Against Children,” Federal Bureau of Investigation.)

3. Today computer telecommunications have become one of the most prevalent techniques used by pedophiles to share illegal photographic images of minors and to lure children into illicit sexual relationships.(Innocent Images National Initiative, Online Child Pornography/Child Sexual Exploitation Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation Publications, September 24, 2003.)

4. In fact, online CP/CSE (Child Pornography/Child Sexual Exploitation) is one of the most significant cybercrime problems confronting the FBI. Between fiscal years 1996 and 2002, there was a 1,997% increase in the number of IINI (Innocent Images National Initiative) cases opened (113 to 2,370) throughout the FBI. It is anticipated that the number of cases opened and the resources utilized to address the crime problem will continue to rise.(Innocent Images National Initiative, Online Child Pornography/Child Sexual Exploitation Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation Publications, September 24, 2003.)

5. Child pornography has grown into a multi-billion dollar business and one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet. (“Child porn among the fastest growing Internet businesses,” National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Press Release, August, 18, 2005.)

Arrests in the United States for the possession of child pornography, during a one-year period from 2000 to 2001, produced alarming results. According to investigators, the majority of those arrested had images of children who had not yet reached puberty. Specifically, 83% had pornographic material that involved children between ages 6 and 12; 39% had material involving children between ages 3 and 5; and 19% had images of infants or toddlers under age 3.(“Child porn among the fastest growing Internet businesses,” National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Press Release, August, 18, 2005.)

If any of these situations arise in your house, either through the Internet or on-line service, report them immediately to law enforcement.  They are:

1. Your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography;
2. Your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is under 18 years of age;
3. Your child has received sexually explicit images from someone that knows your child is under the age of 18.

(“A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety,” U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation Publications.) 

“Facts Internet Child Predators Don’t Want You to Know”

PLEASE NOTE:  The following facts were taken from “A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety,” U.S. Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation Publications. 

The guide was prepared from actual investigations involving child victims, as well as investigations where law enforcement officers posed as children.Most children that fall victim to computer-sex offenders spend large amounts of time on-line, particularly in chat rooms.

1. Children on-line are at the greatest risk during the evening hours. While offenders are on-line around the clock, most work during the day and spend their evenings on-line trying to locate and lure children or seeking pornography.

2. 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 up sexual discussions and for sex education. Child pornography may be used to show the child victim that sex between children and adults is “normal.”

3. 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 on-line is a thrill for a computer-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.

4. 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. Computer-sex offenders have even sent plane tickets in order for the child to travel across the country to meet them.

5. Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.

6. Your child becomes withdrawn from the family. Computer-sex offenders will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and their family or at exploiting their relationship.

7. Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else. Even if you don’t subscribe to an on-line service or Internet service, your child may meet an offender while on-line at a friend’s house or the library. Most computers come preloaded with on-line and/or Internet software. Computer-sex offenders will sometimes provide potential victims with a computer account for communications with them.

   You can make a difference in your community. Recently that fact was proven when more than 6,000 e-mails were sent to the FCC to question ICANN’s recent decision to allow pornographers a special domain of XXX, in addition to all the other domains they can use. Because of the public outcry, the FCC cancelled its hearing on the issue and wants to further study it. What is true for Internet pornography is also true for Internet crimes against children.

   Equip yourself with knowledge.  You’ve already taken the first step and are reading this booklet. At FreedomISP, we’re committed to helping you do just that.

   Since 1998, we of FreedomISP have been in the business of protecting children and families from the harmful aspects of the Internet. Our mission is three-fold: 

   Equip parents and other concerned adults to protect children from Internet pornography, hate sites and other menacing places by providing them with a worry-free, server-side Internet filter.

   Enable like-minded organizations to become one of our Affinity Groups. This partnership provides an organization’s members with members-only e-mail addresses (yourname@yourorganization.net) and the organization receives  donations equal to 10% of their members’ monthly subscriber fees.

   Educate parents about safe Internet usage, principally through our non-profit

   sister organization, the FreedomISP Foundation.

   To continue to equip you in the fight, here are other resources you may find helpful:

   http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguide.htm

   FBI’s parents’ guide to the Internet

   http://www.netcaucus.org/about/

   Congressional Internet Caucus—concerned about the whole range of Internet issues, including children’s use of the Internet.

   http://www.getnetwise.org/about/

   A non-profit web-wide partnership of Internet corporations, non-profit organizations and Internet experts to help you have a safe online experience, provided as a public service. Extensive information on all manner of Internet topics, including child online safety.

   http://kids.getnetwise.org/safetyguide/

   Parents’ Internet Safety Guide

   http://www.missingkids.com

   National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They often have the latest statistics and information on cyber-exploitation of children.

• According to the Justice Department: Three years ago there were 28,000 X-rated websites, generating over $925 million in revenue. Now, three years later, there are 280,000 X-rated websites generating over a trillion dollars in business. (Source: Wall Street Journal: Monday November 26, 2001)
• One in five children who go regularly online will be approached by strangers for sex. (Source: Crimes Against Children Study) Pornographers disguise their sites (i.e. "stealth" sites) with common brand names, including Disney, Barbie, ESPN, etc., to entrap children. (Source: Surveillance Study, March 1999). Envisional, a UK company that specializes in searching the Internet for trademark violations, said it had found nearly 12,000 examples of toy names being used this way. (Source: Times Media Limited, November 17, 2000) Pornography, perversion, hatred, crime, the occult, drugs and death. These are seven things the average family does not want invading their home yet are available 24 hours a day through the internet. In a fast passage of time the internet has become the most exploited instrument of perversion known to man. (Source: Wicked Wild Web: "Exposing the Dark Side of the Internet") There has been a shocking increase in the Sexual Exploitation of Children on the Internet. Child porn and mind-numbing atrocities involving children as young as toddlers and infants have been fueled by the internet. (Source: Cover story Newsweek: March 19, 2001) Children spent 64.9 % more time on pornography sites than they did on game sites in September 2000. According to: NetValue (Source: Business Wire, 12/19/2000) John Herrington, chief executive officer of Snug Networks showed how prolific pornography sites were by typing in certain key words in the Google search window. Within 3.7 seconds, 784,000 matches appeared. (Source: Snug Networks, 2001)
• "I don't think anybody is grasping the severity of the problem," said Patricia Adams, president of College Capital, an educational based website. "About 62% of users at any one time are on pornography sites." (Source: Adams, College Capital, 2001

Click here for more information about the FreedomISP Foundation