The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office continues to take a proactive stance against online predators, according to ECSO officials.
In light of this week’s arrest of a 25-year-old man who solicited a teenager for sex, the ECSO is reinforcing its commitment to educating the public and working with local schools to educate children.
"Sexual predators are not only in our community, but are also all around our state and the nation," Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie said.
Online predators use sites including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and other chat rooms. Statistics show that one in five children is solicited by a predator online and only 25 percent tell a parent.
The ECSO offers the following advice for parents to keep their children as safe as possible online:
Reasons the Internet can be dangerous for children and teens
False identities are easy to create
Making new friends online is easy and convenient, but it is much different than doing so in-person because you can’t see who is at the other end of the computer. The Internet makes it easy for someone to be anyone else in the world. For example, if your child is using social networking websites online, they have to enter in their age. They could easily lie themselves or they could be talking to someone else who is.
Internet predators
Often times, the individuals who lie about their ages are Internet predators. They are the ones who target children. Unfortunately, many children, teenagers and their parents cannot tell an Internet predator until it is too late, like when the predators try to approach your child or contact them in-person.
So many Web sites to choose from
The Internet is a good way to research school projects because there are so many websites to choose from. With that said, having so many Web sites to choose from can be dangerous. Your child can gain access to social networking Web sites, adult chat rooms, pornographic Web sites and Web sites that are violent in nature. Unless you have parental controls set up, your child can easily access any type of website with a standard Internet search.
Not all information is private
Unfortunately, many individuals, including both children and parents, do not know that the information that is posted online isn’t always private. For starters, most teens have their MySpace profiles set to public as opposed to private,
meaning anyone can view it. There are also online message boards that are indexed by the search engines. This means that others can view the conversations that were discussed, even years down the road.
They are in control
When your children use the internet, they are the ones who are in control. This can be OK if your child is older and mature, but you honestly never know. You may ask your child not to communicate with strangers online, give out their phone numbers or share pictures with strangers, but that doesn’t mean that they will follow your rules. For that reason, be sure to monitor your child’s internet use.
Signs your teenager may be in trouble online
They get on the computer at the same time every day
Children and teenagers can easily become targets of online child predators, but the process doesn’t always happen overnight. Some child predators pretend to be the ages of their targets. They then work to gain the trust of those targets, which can take a few days or a few weeks. You may be able to tell if this is happening, though, if your child gets on the internet at the same time, every single day. This is a good sign that they are communicating directly with someone, who may not have pure intentions.
They are secretive when they use the computer
How does your child act when using the computer? Does your child try to hide from you what they are doing online? Automatically shutting off the computer or putting a game on the screen is a good sign that your child may be doing something they shouldn’t be doing online — such as having direct, personal conversations with a stranger, who may be a child predator.
They are very happy when getting off the computer
If your child is overly happy when they sign off the internet, they may be on the path to trouble. This sign can be a little bit tricky, though. Your child may be happy because they just finished a long school project, but you honestly never know. If your teenager is communicating with someone online, they may be in the process of starting a relationship, which they are happy about. Unfortunately, many teenagers do not realize that anyone can hide behind a computer. That is why it is important to talk to your child about the dangers of starting an online romance.
They are very depressed
As previously stated, your child may be very happy when using the internet, but another warning sign is that they are depressed, especially when they sign off the computer. Some teenagers use the internet for harassment. If your teenager has a falling-out with one of their friends, they may find themselves being harassed online. If that is the case, your child may seem very down, depressed and withdrawn.
"If any of these signs apply to your child, you will want to take action right away," said Effingham County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor. "There are additional signs that you will want to be on the lookout for, the biggest being a change in behavior. If you do suspect that your child has or is about to run into trouble online, be sure to talk to them as soon as possible."
—Provided by the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office
A Rincon man was arrested Tuesday on charges that he solicited a 14-year-old girl for sex.
Lamar Beaupre, 25, had been conversing online with the middle-school student after meeting her on Facebook, according to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office.
"The conversations started turning sexual in nature," said ECSO spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor.
Investigators obtained the logs of several chats between Beaupre and the minor, Ehsanipoor said. Their investigation also turned up nude photos they determined Beaupre sent to the teenager from his cell phone.
Beaupre went as far, Ehsanipoor said, as to approach the 14-year-old in a store one day after the girl mentioned to Beaupre she was going to be there.
"At one point, she was actually at a store with her mother, and he attempted to grope her," Ehsanipoor said. "He saw her in one of the aisles, and he made sexual advances toward her. The mom found out afterward."
Although detectives sometimes pose as minors to nab sexual predators, the ECSO pointed out that this was a case of an adult actually befriending and enticing a child.
"This was an actual child. He found a 14-year-old," Ehsanipoor said. "We do know that (Beaupre) met her on Facebook, and we found that he has a lotof underage children as his Facebook friends."
Deputies arrested Beaupre at his Rincon home Tuesday afternoon. Beaupre was charged with enticing a minor for indecent purposes, distribution of material depicting sexual conduct, and computer and electronic pornography and child exploitation.
The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office is a member of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The task force is made up of numerous agencies throughout the state, to catch people who use the internet or other wireless devices to prey on children.
"There are predators who spend all day on the Internet seeking children to entice for sexual or other indecent purposes," said Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie.
Since June 1, investigators working in conjunction with the ICAC Task Force have identified and arrested six offenders in and around the Effingham County area, as well as assisted several other Georgia counties in identifying offenders in their areas.
ICAC Task Force investigators work closely with state and federal agencies to push for child predators to receive the maximum sentences for their crimes, according to the ECSO.
Another mission of the ICAC Task Force is educating the community not only on the dangers of internet predators, but also the importance of preserving personal information and knowing boundaries of social networking sites.
"We encourage parents to have access to their children’s Facebook accounts and their cell phones, to know what they’re doing and who they’re talking to," McDuffie said.
