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The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office officially launched our “Juvenile Safety Initiative” on May 19, 2023, and since that that time our agency has continued to promote information to educate parents and juveniles on online safety. Today, we would like to educate our community on “The Perpetrator”.
The latest online predator statistics reveal that half a million of these perpetrators are a threat to children on any given day. Victims are usually females aged 12-15, which they find on social media. At any given time, it is estimated that there are 500,000 internet predators actively pursuing children through multiple online profiles. Estimates also show that as many as five million predators are on the internet. Online predator stats reveal that 20% of kids have been sexually solicited online and 75% of the children did not tell their parents. As much as 90% of parents will never know of inappropriate contact. Statistics indicate that 14% of kids have met online predators in person and nearly 75% of them did so more than once. 98% of cyber predators are people children don’t know in real life.
Sex Offender statistics further show that as many as 85% of online predators are hands on abusers of children. Victim statistics show that 67% of victims of online sex offenses against children are female, while 32% are male, and 2% are transgender or gender fluid.
Online Solicitation is the most common sex offense against children on the internet. According to facts about online predators, online sexual abuse ranks 2nd, followed by image based sexual abuse. Unwanted sexual questions are the most common component of online sexual abuse against children. Unwanted sexual talk and unwanted sexual act request follow, along with forced images and voluntary adult partners. The common goal of internet predators is to obtain sexually explicit content from children. Pedophile statistics reveal that in 32% of cases, the goal was to meet and have sexual contact with children. Engaging in sexual conversation and or roleplay with children is the goal in 8% of cases, while 2% of online child predators have financial goals.
Online Grooming is when predators will “groom” the child which will include compliments, praise, “shared” interest, and appear as “caring”. Online grooming with adult perpetrators is the most common online sex offense against children committed by perpetrators that victims know offline. In cases of online grooming with adult perpetrators, the most common perpetrators are acquaintances. In 20% of cases, the predator will pretend to be younger by either lying to the child or providing false data when registering for the online platform. Child predators may offer financial incentives or promises to buy gifts or substances or provide necessities like housing or food. In 33% of cases, predators ask children for sexually explicit photos of themselves, and in 23% of cases, internet predators send unprompted sexually explicit photos of themselves, as an “exchange” for photos from the child.
There are four types of online predators.
- The Gatherer, who collects media containing photographic or video pornography.
- The Producer, which distributes child pornography.
- The Talker, who targets victims in chat rooms and
- The Voyager, whose aim is to meet their victim in person.
Sheriff Tim Soignet urges any parent or child that has experienced similar type online activity or has knowledge of someone committing these types of acts, to immediately contact the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office Detective Division at (985)876-2500, to report the information. Information can also be reported anonymously through Crime Stoppers Bayou Region at 1-800-743-7433, online at CrimeStoppersBR.org, or via the Bayou Tips app on mobile devices.
