Feds warn teens about online sex predators

Federal officials alarmed by the rise of online predators who use fear and intimidation to blackmail teenagers into sending sexually explicit photos of themselves are trying to educate youths about how to avoid becoming victims.

Computers and webcams are "the most effective tool ever used by predators. . . . They provide a whole new world of possible victims, instead of the few they might meet in their neighborhood," said Special Agent Danielle Messineo, the FBI's Long Island-based specialist on crimes against children.

Messineo, who grew up in Suffolk County, said the national program is intended "to head off a problem before it grows" any greater.

"Remember, anything that is on your computer and on your webcam can be circulated forever," Messineo, a 17-year-veteran, told a dozen girls recently at the Farmingdale Gymnastics Academy in Farmingdale during one of her talks to young people -- from kindergarten to college age -- and parents' groups.

Alyssa, a 15-year-old who attended one of Messineo's talks, said the agent opened her eyes to "how dangerous the Internet could be. . . . How dangerous people on the Internet could be."

While she had heard teachers and parents talk about Internet safety before, Messineo provided much more detail about predators lurking online, their ability to hack into computers and safety tips.

"It's better coming from an FBI agent who knows more about the topic. She made it seem real," said Alyssa, who talked to Newsday in the company of her mother.

'Sextortion' growing

Incidences of "sextortion" have been increasing in the past five years, Justice Department and FBI officials said, helped along by the explosive growth in the use of computers and webcams, and the rising acceptance among many teens of sexting, or using technology to send graphic images of themselves and messages to their friends.

"It is a growing trend across the country . . . a new and disturbing phenomena in child exploitation in every community -- middle America, rural, cutting across every socio-economic group," said Francey Hakes, the Justice Department's national coordinator for child exploitation prevention.

Sextortion occurs when child predators trick or hack their way into a teenager's computer to find and capture embarrassing or revealing pictures, said Allen Bode, a federal prosecutor who heads the Eastern District's Project Safe Childhood, the Justice Department's national unit targeting crimes against children.

Once in possession of the photos, they pressure their victims to provide them more pictures by threatening to tell their parents, teachers and friends, or to make the images public by posting them on websites, Bode said.

Preying on shame, fear

Threats playing on shame, guilt and fear are fundamental and powerful tools to get the young victim to cooperate, Bode said.

Predators usually succeed because they exploit a time "when teens are insecure, at a low point," Messineo said. "And all teens have low points, even the most popular ones in the school."

Criminals count on the victim being "paralyzed with fear," and teens often are unable to understand the consequences that giving in to the demands will have on their lives, Messineo said.

"If you are threatened, immediately tell your parents or teachers. Don't do anything with the computer," she said, adding that it could contain information that might help authorities find the predator.

Federal officials said the Justice Department doesn't keep specific figures on the incidences of the crime because it is so new and because it is prosecuted under various criminal categories encompassing child pornography and computer hacking.

But they said they have noted an uptick in calls from U.S. attorneys across the country asking for assistance in how to deal with the problem and how to prosecute such crimes.

Nick Savage, one of the FBI's experts on the victimization of children, says the overall number of young people pressured by such coercion could be staggering.

He said one "sexploiter" may contact hundreds, if not thousands, of young people in his blackmail attempts.

For example, Savage said, in one Florida case two predators hacked into the computers of 3,800 young people and dozens of the victims agreed to provide more explicit pictures of themselves.

Rory Forrestal, a Suffolk County detective who works with federal agents on crimes against children, said the advent of sexting caused by a loosening of sexual attitudes among young people has fueled the rise of sextortion.

"Sexting is out of control," Forrestal said.

His department investigates as many as 10 cases of sexting a year involving children as young as fifth- and sixth-graders, based on complaints from parents or school officials, he said.

Kids same; tech different

But Amanda Lenhart of the Internet and American Life Project of the Pew Research Center doesn't think there has been any noticeable change in the attitudes of youngsters, just advancements in technology.

Teenagers have been sending love notes, drawings, pictures, poetry and, more recently in the past, Polaroids, to their special friends, Lenhardt said.

What has changed, Lenhardt says, is that when things are placed on a home computer or on the Internet or in a chat room, "technology makes it more accessible, spreadable and persistent."

With that in mind, Messineo gave her Farmingdale teen audience her best advice: "Don't put anything on your computer or do anything on your webcam that you don't want the world to see."

Serena, 13, agreed. She spoke to Newsday with her mother nearby.

"The talk opened my eyes," she said. "There are more bad, sick people in the world than I thought. I'm going to have to be much more careful . If I make a mistake, I would regret it."