FBI Cyber Expert Arnold Bell / FBI photo

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news, "MySpace has found more than 29,000 registered sex offenders on its site as of July – four times its original estimate." What's further alarming is that Consumer Reports noted in its "Net Threats" (Sept. 2007) that, "13 percent of their children who were registered at the giant networking site MySpace.com were younger than 14, the minimum age the site officially allows. We also found that many parents haven't prepared their children for online risks."

An expanded playground for cyber perverts

We all know the Internet has become the sexual predator's playground. What's tragic is that, despite such knowledge, too many are still allowing these cyber hooligans into their homes by not monitoring their children's online activity. I'm not just talking about unprotected computers without anti-porn defenses, but the easily overlooked increased access to the Internet that is being provided through cell phones, PDAs and game devices. Even more difficult to monitor (but just as needful to address) is when children are allowed to use friends' electronic gadgets.

Unbeknownst to most, new methods of assault such as drive-by cyber shootings through unencrypted wireless access points (known as war-spamming) are being used to bombard you and your child's e-mail with pornographic advertisement.

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The FBI's new plan of attack

While government agencies abroad are receiving failing marks for protecting their people from e-crimes, America's FBI is fighting to lead the way in exposing and capturing cyber-sexual criminals. While the U.S. Department of Justice still needs to prosecute more of its 67,000 complaints of obscenity on the Internet, the FBI boasts impressive 2000 percent plus increases in arrests and 350 percent in federal prosecutions over 10 years. It even trains law enforcement officials from other countries in the wiles of these online marauders.

The FBI's Innocent Images National Initiative is on a mission to train the world how sexual predators disguise themselves online in order to lure and prey upon children. The Innocent Images International Task Force has aided more than 30 law enforcement officers from roughly 20 countries (United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Ukraine, Belarus, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, Croatia, Latvia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Sweden, Fiji, Cyprus and Europol) to address the global crime problem of online child exploitation.

Arnold Bell, Special Agent from the FBI's Cyber Division, commented, "Six out of 10 kids online have gotten an e-mail or instant message from a perfect stranger ... and more than half have written back. One in 33 kids has been aggressively solicited to meet their 'cyber friend' in person. [Up from one in five, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children] One in four kids, ages 10 to 17, has been exposed to unwanted sexual material online."

I commend Arnold and his colleagues for leading a quest to stop and capture these reprehensible child stalkers, six of whom have been recently shown on television and another four are shown on the FBI's website. Dozens of other cyber criminals are wanted as well for various illegal offenses against children. Saddest of all, most of these pedophiliac thugs are likely using various cyber devices right now to quarry our children.

Signs your child could be exploited

The first step toward resolution is to accept that, if it can happen to others' children, it can happen to yours. The FBI has given us "signs your child is at risk." Are any of these characteristic of your child's conduct or behavior?

• Your child spends large amounts of time online, especially at night.

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

• Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.

• You find pornography on your child's computer.

• Your child is using an online account belonging to someone else.

• Your child receives phone calls from men you don't know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don't recognize.

• Your child receives postal mail, gifts or packages from someone you don't know.

If so, it's time for you to awaken from online slumber and denial and protect your child(ren) from the corruption of Internet intruders.

What you can do to protect children

So what's a parent, grandparent, guardian, neighbor, teacher or concerned citizen to do? The same thing that you would do if a predator was trying to break into your house. Establish boundaries. Build up the borders. Stop the intruders. Protect the children!

Here are some practical steps you can take to do just that.

1. Read "A Parent's Guide To Internet Safety" to become even more familiar with online crime and how to prevent it. Further resources for parental help with various electronic media can also be found at the website for Obscenity Crimes.

2. Review what is on your child's computer and other electronic devices. If you don't know how, ask a friend, co-worker, relative or other knowledgeable person. Require your access to your child's e-mails, and inform him or her of the online dangers and how to spot them.

3. If your computers are not protected by anti-porn software, don't wait another day to download it. I personally use and recommend the defensive systems found at max.com. Its service can filter peer-to-peer communications, e-mails, instant messages and chat room exchanges. Other resources can also be found at Obscenity Crimes website.

4. Introduce your children to Web Wise Kids, which seeks to empower young people to make wise online choices.

5. Put the family computer in the room where you spend most of your at-home time. If your child uses a laptop, make sure he or she uses it in your full view of the screen.

6. Use the Caller ID service to determine who is calling your child, and call your phone company to purchase the option to block your family's numbers from appearing on others' caller ID.

7. Report all online obscene criminal activity. Information submitted to Obscenity Crimes is forwarded to U.S. Attorneys in the 50 states and to the Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in Washington.

8. If you suspect your underage youngster has received pornography, been sexually solicited or is in communication with a child predator, talk openly to him or her about it. If your suspicions prove to be true, contact your local FBI office or make an online report to the Cyber Tipline or call by phone at 1-800-843-5678.

9. You can also check the National Sex Offender Public Web Site or your individual State's Sex Offender Registry Web Sites to see the names and locations of cyber-pedophiles in your area and beyond.

The truth is that the Internet is a huge blessing and a huge curse. It's a fantastic and quick source for disseminating news, reading commentary, sending and receiving communications, exchanging goods and services, etc., but its corruptive purposes run as deep and wide as its benefits. As agent Arnold Bell put it, "The Internet is a great place, but there are certain parts of town you don't want to be." Personally, I think it's time we ran the online hoodlums out of town – for good.