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Net luring a concern for RCMP
Theresa Seraphim
for Spotlight
A recent suspected case of Internet luring in Slave Lake is prompting RCMP concerns about the safety of youth.
Sgt. Bob Dodds of the Slave Lake detachment says resisting online predators can be difficult.
“They’re very smooth, very convincing,” says Dodds.
“It’s amazing what stories people will fall for.”
The Slave Lake case involved a March 5 complaint after a mother caught her teenaged daughter disrobing in front of a Web cam, says Dodds.
He notes that the luring can cross boundaries quite quickly.
“Depending on the age of the (young) person, it’s child pornography.”
Dodds says it’s understandable that young people would be lured.
“We all want friends; we all want to belong to something,” he notes. Adolescence is often a time of strife between teen and parents, and the online person being willing to listen is very tempting.
“Pretty soon, you’re hooked,” says Dodds.
He recalls only several incidents of luring in the two and a half years he’s been in Slave Lake.
“But, it’s the kind of thing that’s going to increase,” Dodds predicts.
Sgt. Brian Pattyson of the High Prairie detachment says he’s not aware of any incidents there, but, like Dodds, he expects to hear of more in the future.
Both Dodds and Pattyson have one big piece of advice for parents.
“Make sure your computer is where the parents are walking back and forth,” says Dodds. That way, the youth won’t do anything inappropriate and the parents can see everything.
It’s important for parents to keep the lines of communication open, says Dodds.
“If you don’t show an interest (in them), they’re going to go places you don’t want them to go.”
For youth, there is one big red flag, says Dodds.
“(Be wary of) anybody that asks you to do something that you wouldn’t do with somebody in the same room,” he stresses.
Dodds says it’s also important for youth not to believe any promises the other person makes.
“Assume it’s a lie,” he states.
“If somebody asks you for something, they want something (in return).”
Pattyson says such traps can be sidestepped by avoiding unfamiliar people online.
“It basically all boils down to knowing who you’re talking with,” says Pattyson.
Another safety measure, both Dodds and Pattyson say, is to beware of how much information you put on social sites like Facebook
This, says Pattyson, includes posting children’s photos.
“That’s a big no-no,” because it can make them a target, he says.
When luring occurs, it has a major effect on more people than just the victim, says Cpl. Blaine Oster of the High Prairie RCMP detachment’s General Investigative Section.
“It affects their families, it affects their friends,” says Oster, adding the effects on victims are also devastating.
“It affects their trust in other people. It causes them embarrassment,” he notes.
“It will be with them for the rest of their lives.”
Oster says that’s why it’s important for parents be alert to signs of possible luring.
“Look for a change in behaviours, a lot of time spent on the computer, closing (computer) windows when an adult comes into the room, changing grades in school, using the excuse of doing a lot of homework on the Internet,” says Oster.
Oster says while there have been no luring cases in High Prairie, there have been cases of child pornography.
“Now it’s illegal to take a photograph, or have a photograph of a young person, or to disseminate or possess it,” he notes.
Section 72.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada lays out the various charges connected with luring a child.
These may include assault, assault with a weapon, sexual assault, procuring, abduction of a person under 16, sexual exploitation, incest, child pornography, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, committing bestiality in the presence of someone under 16, or exposing oneself to someone under 16.
Oster says that while some perpetrators, when caught, say they’re innocent because they didn’t know the youth’s age, that is no longer a defense.
“He or she has to take reasonable steps (to ascertain age),” he says.
And, says Oster, it is “he or she” – women can also be perpetrators, and both sexes may go for youth of either gender. But whatever the tastes, the luring tends to follow one particular pattern.
“The perpetrator may interact with the victim (by pretending to be) a child,” says Oster.
As far as punishment goes, charges stemming from physical contact tend to be more indictable than other charges, he says.
The RCMP has set up Integrated Child Exploitation (ICE) teams – containing RCMP officers, city police officers, computer experts and other technical experts – in northern and southern Alberta to deal with matters like luring.
Dealing with such harsh situations on a constant basis is not an easy task, says Oster, who has had his share of such cases.
“They’ve got to debrief quite often. It’s no doubt a stressful job.”
Oster says there are filters that parents can put on computers to lessen the chances of luring.
But Designex.net owner Mitchell Matula of High Prairie says he has never heard of such a filter, and it would be hard to implement.
“Each web site has its own kind of code. It would be like trying to make it work on a billion kinds of platforms at once,” says Matula.
“I wish there was some kind of software out there that would prevent (luring) but it would take an insane amount of artificial intelligence (to devise it).”
Matula says some sites have places where a user can report such incidents or monitor a user’s behaviour via his or her IP address, tracking the person to their house.
“It’s really tough to weed out people like that.”
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Youth can be lured over the Internet into doing things they normally wouldn’t do and it’s important for parents to watch the signs that this might be happening, say RCMP. A recent case in Slave Lake has caused RCMP concern. (Photo illustration by Theresa Seraphim)
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