At any given moment, there are 750,000 pedophiles online while 93 percent of all 5 to 15 year-old children use the Internet.  The chances of a child being solicited for sex are high and child sex tourism is on the rise.

What is online child sex tourism? Also known as webcam child sex tourism, this is a new and very popular virtual crime.  Parents and organized crime groups in less developed countries set up a child on a computer with a webcam and an Internet connection. Pedophiles then offer money and other rewards to direct their sexual acts with the child during a live streaming video.

Because poverty (and greed) are a strong motivator behind online child sex tourism, this type of activity may flourish in poorer countries. Desperate parents and crime syndicates envision a quick and easy way to make money without thought about the child’s safety or emotional health.

Private chat rooms made it possible for adults to be anonymous and avoid detection. Due to the nature of the crime, it made it extremely difficult for law enforcement to prove and identify the offenders. However, Terre des Hommes, a Dutch children’s charity group, created a young, virtual Filipino girl named “Sweetie” to go undercover into suspect chat rooms.

As soon as Sweetie identified herself as a young girl from the Philippines, men swarmed her with chat requests. While Terre des Hommes acted as Sweetie, they gathered pieces of information from the men and identified them using Google, Facebook, and other sources.

Until recently, only six men had been convicted of webcam child sex tourism; however, in just ten weeks, Sweetie was able to identify 1,000 predators. Interpol now has all the information of each of these predators.

Although most children displayed on the webcams are from poorer countries, there is still a need to protect your home computer. The demand for webcam child sex tourism originates from Western countries. Monitor and protect your children with parental control software.

Net Nanny monitors any suspicious activity online and can block websites, chat rooms, and content that may be harmful. Visit http://www.netnanny.com/learn-center/ for more information.

Source: http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201405221627-0023755

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/how-police-are-targeting-online-child-sex-tourism/nfzZc/